So I have bad news, I'm debating selling the G... The two cars im seriously considering is an E46 M3 02-06 or a 1994+ TT, T-top Supra. seeing as I have never owned ether, I'm looking for people who ether have personal experienced these cars or a friend that has or had one. Or at least talk me out of selling the G! I'm not looking for performance differences (not trying to start a flame war), but reliability, build quality and so forth. Any help will be awesome! I did some reading on a supra forum comparing the two, both seemed to have issues and then was argued to the point that the thread was useless.

 

The bimmer will be expensive to maintain, as even most reliable garages won't touch them, especially an M. My e36 m cost me as much to maintain as it did to buy, and that was only 2.5 yrs. However the build quality is second to none and far surpasses the G in overall quality. Reliability is the key here.
Also, I agree that the supra is one of the most handsome cars on the market, especially for an early to mid 90's vehicle. The problem here will be finding one that has low miles an hasn't been beat to hell. That will be similar with the M3.

You have to understand that someone that buys an M, or an AMG (STi, EVO, TT supra etc) probably bought it with the idea that they were gonna beat on it. If the original buyer popped for the extra performance package, it was used for speed and possibly modded a bit too. if that buyer didn't want to go sideways or launch from a red light like knievel, they would have bought the 318i or the regular impreza rather than their performance counter part. Finding one of these unmolested TT supras would probably be the hardest task. And one with low milage will cost $20k+ in the states. (in Canada they are much cheaper).

 

^ See thats what scares me. I drove the G hard, not to breaking point. But werent these cars supposed to be driven hard? and 20K+ is ok with me. i mean as far as cost of maintenance for my G, mind you stealership costs, I've technically totaled my car...

 

@jonesmeister11...You are right...agreed ....1+

 

Finding a Supra in mint condition will be tough, what you'll be looking for is a garage queen with low mileage and that won't be cheap. Everyone I know that's had these really cool Supras hasn't kept them for long especially the mega hp ones that cost some heavy $ to maintain. Used M3s get severely beat on too unless you can find a "Granny" that bought one by mistake....
Gary

 

Hey I bought my car as a garage queen with low miles for 8300 cash blue book value on it almost two years later is still 14000ish so hey there out there but honestly I see TT supras with low miles in the 40k range and I honestly wouldn't buy a beamer used no matter what kind the run into alotta problems my familys had 4 since I was younger they hated them even my uncle says his Z4 is terrible you you definately have a good search ahead of you

 

I have a Supra and a G. I will have a long post when I get back from lunch/a few long meetings this afternoon.

Jeremy

 

Vincenz
thank you for the honest unbiased opinion. So you have a supra? I mean I eventually want a 500 whp car. I know the Supra is somewhat easy to do to, but the m3 is newer and like I said eventually... I gotta a lot of time ahead of me, hopefully. I have read be careful because the supra will most likely have a turbo leak, the oil will leak a tad and other things I can't remember right now.

and Marshall I'll read as soon as you post! Gotta love e-mail to iPhones!

 

I bought my stock TT @ 119k miles in 2007, the height of the economy. The prices nowadays are about $3-5K less than back then. For me, getting a bone stock car, no accidents, etc was key.

I attended a supra meet a couple weeks after and my bone stock car dyno'ed 302whp/300tq. That is with nearly 120K miles. I had the timing belt, serpentine belt, water pump changed since I didn't know what the previous owner did.

I went to BPU the first year (~390-400whp) then singled the following year (~500whp) on 100% stock long block and fuel system. I am running a plug and play Vi-pec standalone. Mods have been done by me and a couple buddies.

Reliability? Perfect. I haven't had any issues in the 30k miles of ownership (she's now at 150k miles!). I drive this car everywhere and store it during the winter. I'm trying to average 7-10k miles a year. All I've done are simple fluid changes. THAT'S IT. I usually take this car out after a long day at work and just drive drive drive. Drive to nowhere essentially. Put 40-60 miles straight then back in the garage. Do I beat on my car? I wouldn't say so. She does see redline a few times when I bring her out in the open/mountain roads.

I think you hear about issues other people have because they push the platform so much. I set my goal at a small single turbo and accomplished it. I'm VERY happy with my car. Dead reliable and can take it anywhere. Only things I would consider doing now are reupholstering the seats or getting racing seats since mine are crap (remember, 150k miles!) and changing out to urethane bushings.

One thing I do regret is switching out my perfectly running stock twins @130k miles and going single immediately. I really miss the sequential set up and the general lack of issues regarding inspections (NYS sucks). First mods should have been BPU and suspension. The car has some body roll and coiloevers and sway bars fix that. I honestly really really LOVE my Supra. I don't know if I can ever really part with it. I've considered selling her and financing a GTR, but I just don't know.

Only cons I've had are- paranoia when going anywhere, attention (can be a pro, lol), getting a couple dents cause people are *******s in parking lots, scraping on speed bumps (stupid low exhaust, but can be fixed) and followed by cops/ricers.

I do like my G. It's a great daily. And I'm still planning on tracking her sometime this year if I get the time. I do get annoyed with my CD player skipping, the rattles! (my Supra rattles considerably less with more than double the miles), a couple eletrical (maybe? ABS/VDC) issues, and a few unresolved TSBs by previous owner than is now out of warranty, ie out my pocket expenses now. I wish the car had about 50 more hp and that is difficult to achieve without FI. I have debated getting rid of my G for an E46, but the problems with E46's are just ridiculous (ie. subframe cracking, are you serious?)

Once you drive a BPU Supra, especially coming from a G, you will be very pleased. I think the best advice I can give you is find one as close to stock as possible, 6spd, miles <100K, 93-95 model years (better suspension, interior, OBD1, shorter throw shifting, than 97-98), clean title, no accidents. You can find a decent one for ~$25k. The economy sucks now. Determine your goals and stick to them. 500whp is perfect. People who half *** their mods or don't do reliability mods always have issues.

LMK if you have other questions. You can search me on supraforums with the same SN

-Jeremy

 

The 2011+ 5.0 Mustang is better than the E46/E92 M3 and the TT Supra, in stock form or FI with a stock motor/AT/MT. You can find some in auctions now for pennies on the dollar. Hard to find manual ones with all these good for nothing rich *******s buying them who cant drive, but you're not in a rush anyway. https://www.iaai.com/

Why anyone would buy a TT Supra for the same price as a used 2011 5.0 Mustang is beyond me. The Mustangs 5.0 motor is actually stronger, can redline higher, especially the Boss 302, and it handles better not to mention it's a new car. It weighs less than the TT Supra I believe and less than the E92 M3. The Supras rain is long over. The M3 is hyped, highly overrated on HP.

 

^ How many Supras have you seen vs Mustangs... Not trying to argue, but I wouldn't be caught dead in a stang. Reason I want a Supra is it is truly an awesome car. They seem to have held their value even with high miles. Also its a Toyota. Only thing keeping me 100% away from the Supra, other than the previous reason mentioned above, is the seats wear and tear, the age, the interior, and the lack of technology. But for 3 years and more power I think I can deal with that!

 

But can you look me in the eye and tell me the 5.0 looks better than an M3?

 

Boss 302 is a joke, I work at a Ford dealership, we got 2 in, took weeks to sell, while 5.0s and 2 Shelbys were sold before the 302s. If you are buying a new car and financing most of it , you might as well spend another 4-6K and have payments go up a bit per month and buy the Shelby. 560Hp supercharged over ~440 on the 302 and 420 on the 5.0s

Just saying

 

What about an R33/R34? I doubt I can afford an R34, but I've been told that you can find R34's for 25-30 g's? I have yet to see these, but maybe you guys can help!

 

[QUOTE=jonesmeister11;6128719]So I have bad news, I'm debating selling the G... take a good look at what the insurance will cost you on these two...also after owning a BMW for 5 years and reading the Bimmer boards for that length of time it will be very expensive to keep throwing parts at it...also I can see where even reg gas will go to 4.75 gal at some point soon.