I think buying an M3 is absolutley about status and having a performance car. That's why you plunk down your $60k forit. That's my next car, I don't really give a toss about faster or cheaper, that's the car I want and I'll gladly pay for it.

 

well here in the states were into fixing up cheaper cars to beat the expensive ones. thats wat makes it fun. not status or how much money, but the work on the car u did and the pay off is smoking the "status" cars. so head back to britain if ur not down with that, cuz how would ur "status" look if u pulled up next to a G35 that smokes u. damn people have some loyality toward u car. blaco gots my back and afrikaboombada with the funkidelic crew

 

"btw everywhere I turn I see an m3...it is the german civic....and hard to mod because it is already pushing it on that engine block...for 60,000 buy a new Corvette c6 and call it a day....not a **** mobile(M3)"

Do you know that you can get this chip for the M3 which puts up 100 hp? And who said M3 is just 43 hp? Do you even look at stats? Fastest times I saw M3 0-60 was 4.7, G35 was 5.8-5.9, 0-100 G35 takes about 50 something seconds, and M3 I believe can get there about 18 seconds faster. That is a real big difference in performance.

 

"Excuse me , BMW is a status symbol, just like a Benz,or Porsche etc...dont lie to yourself...if they want speed at a good price...they would buy something else, there are many options...for less than 55,000"

name a few please, Corvette? GTO? The performance Neon? Im sorry that would not just be about status, its about styling and obviously you dont know anything about it. M3 is the ultimate performance car 55k and below, all the car magazines agree. I love my G35, but tired of all these people say M3 is just for the BMW name...

 

I almost got an M3 instead of the coupe back in february. The coupe with premium package is around $35K. The M3 with similar options was around $52K.

The sales manager at a local dealership let me take his personal car out. It had about 6K in Dinan suspension upgrades with the stock 19"s and the understeer was non-existent. I have never been in a car with better handling than that M3. I'd take a stock M3 with that suspension against a G with FI anyday on a road course.

The M3 is a different breed. I couldn't care less about the 'status' part of buying a bmw. The M3 is a beautiful car and it goes like a bat out of hell right out of the box. Unlike the STI or the EVO, the M3 is composed and offers a level of refinement that the former do not.

If it was only 15K apart, I would have gone with the M3. When I got VPP on the coupe, it was an easy decision because I knew I would have to get those suspension parts along with a ti exhaust and a gruppe-m cf intake. If you think parts for the G are expensive, you should see what parts for the M run.

If I had been thinking with my heart instead of my head, I would be driving the M3 as we speak. Those 53 extra ponies are on steroids. There is no comparison. 1 second in the 1/4 mile is huge but 1 second to 60 (I've seen 4.5-4.7 for an MT M while I've seen 5.5 to 6.1 for the coupe) is an eternity.

 

dude work on the reading skills, i said 53hp. 333(hp m3)-280(hp g35)= 53hp. u can also chip the G and get some good results and still spend less. i'm not bashing the m3 performance, i'm sayin that for that kind of money u can buy a nice g35 coupe and make it has fast as the m3 and save some bucks for taco bell. but if u guys still want to ride BMW's ****, then go to the m3 forums. if had a the choice between m3 and g35,give me the G with 15gs left over and see u guys at moroso p.s. m3 handles like crap. it gets rocked in track races.

 

ok u know wat u guys just dont get the point. WITH THE MONEY ($) LEFT OVER FROM BUYING THE G35 COUPE (ALMOST 15GS) YOU CAN MAKE IT SOOOO MUCH FASTER THEN THE M3. SO U GET A LOT MORE PERFORMANCE FOR A LOWER PRICE!!!! if u guys deny that, then i wish wateva state ur from revokes ur license, and puts a restraining order that u must stay 100 feet away from ur wallet cuz u dont know how to spend money wisely.

 

"WITH THE MONEY ($) LEFT OVER FROM BUYING THE G35 COUPE (ALMOST 15GS) YOU CAN MAKE IT SOOOO MUCH FASTER THEN THE M3."

Going with this 'logic,' we should all get a civic, slap a turbo on it, which will make it SOOOO MUCH FASTER THAN THE G35."

This is not to say that I don't see your point because I do. The disparity between a civic and a G is much greater than the G compared to an M. However, your point is akin to a civic owner that is asking why anyone would buy a G instead of turbocharging a civic and saving money. It's probably the same story between BMW and Porche owners and Porche and Ferrari owners, etc.....<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by al503 on 09/15/04 09:11 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

then buy the civic, noo doubt u could make it faster and save money, but these people are talking luxury cars. a civic is not good looking at all, ricer to the max, we're talking bout two very good looking cars that have luxury and one happens to be cheaper and can be made to go faster. so ya my "logic" makes sense in this argument, so please keep testing my logic, i insist, cuz i'll keep coming back till some one actually agrees, instead of the M3 lovely hippies, stop hating on the G

 

I like your persistence. However, I would argue that it is more a matter of you hating the M than us hating the G. I appreciate both cars for their strengths and weaknesses. Both cars strengths outweigh their weaknesses IMO and are great in my book.

 

its not hating on the M3 out of pure hatred for BMW, but these people are putting that damn car on a golden pedistal like it were the messiah of all sports car or something. I love my G. and i had a choice between the g or the m3. the g was cheaper, looked amazing and nothing on the road reseambled it aside from the Z. so with money left over u get a good car that can handle, looks awesome and can be made to out perform these other cars. also unlike a civic, u can take ur G anywhere, bone stock outside, and get peoples attention. i know i do, u cant get that reaction with a civic or anything really in the same price range for sports cars. the thing that glorifies the m3 is indeed the price. people will respect the more expensive car cuz money is a major issue, if i may quote pitbull

 

OK. Your point is well-taken and I understand your position a little better now. While it is not the messiah of all sports cars, it can hold it's own against most except for the truly exotic. If you get a chance, take one out for a test drive. The price difference will not seem quite as big afterwards. I'll almost guarantee it.

 

o i know, i have been in one, 3 of my friends have M3s so i'm fully aware of wat they can do. all i'm saying is, i have seen g35s wit turbos and are amazing to watch. and when it comes to car shopping, many poeple are on a budget, and 15gs could make a big difference to them. but out of all of this goin back and fourth i'm glad to see someone who accepts other poeples opinion. i accept al503's opinion. eveyone is entilted to their own, i just dont like the people who glorify a car that doesnt deserve that much esteem and act like it is unbeatalbe. the whole thing is, that in fact it is beatable and wit the G, with the right mods, in under 10gs, u could take on some of the best. thats it.

 

When I was car shopping, for me there was only two choices, the G35c and the M3. Pricing them online with the options I wanted, it was ~$35k vs ~$55k. A 20k difference. I could have afforded the M3, but in the end I bought the G35c for several reasons:
1. $20k isn't something to sneeze at, I could either buy the G35c with cash or take out a small loan for the M3
2. Some may disagree, but for me, the G35c is a better looking car. The M3 was nice when it first came out, but it's a pretty old design now and given the number of 3-series and M3's in my area plus the new 4-series and V8 M3 coming...
3. I enjoy modding my car and I was more likely to mod a $35k G35c than a $55k M3. I'm waiting for the JWT twin turbo kit myself.
4. I got VPP, so that made the price difference even larger and pretty much sealed the deal. No regrets with my decision yet.