NA vs NA, the M3 is just about what the G aspires to after doing suspension and engine mods.

I drove an E39 M3 manual. I don't know why owners even mod these cars. They are just about on the line for handling vs streetability.

 

i love BMW's but the biggest reason I don't see myself driving one again is the cost of maintenance. Not only is labor ridiculous if you can't do something yourself, but the cost of parts is astronomical.


If you make the G go on a diet its a pretty close comparison, but I love the interior stylings of German Engineers.

 

Just got rid of my 03 g35 sedan for an 04 e46 m3. Let me tell you, a COMPLETLY different type of machine. the g35 is a great car, don't get me wrong, but the m3 is on an entirely different level. The g35 is def a safer bet maintainence wise, but the m3 beats the g35 in every single category hands down.

The m3 was designed for the track, cornering, weight distribution, suspension, everything was taken into effect and no short cuts were taken. I found that the g35 had a lot of tweaking to do in order to be somewhat close to the m3. Although the g35 was an amazing car for the 3 years of ownership I had with it, it just really doesn't have that same look/feel as an m3.


Now to answer you questions.

Pros:

Snow: M3's can EASILY be driven in snow. With the right mind set and a good set of winter tires, you will cut through inches of snow, believe it or not, no problem. Although you must be smart with that amount of hp at your hands.

Style: Nothings beats the style of the e46 m3. It's a classic design that still to this day gets noticed and praised upon by many auto enthusiasts.

Reliablity: As some may argue, it's a BMW. Very very reliable and personally have seen an m3 upwards over 170k miles running strong. You will see a lot of problems/issues arising in m3's souly from the fact that they bought it for ~18k. Reasons being are it wasn't maintained, abused, been in accidents, been to auctions, etc. If you spend the time doing your research on what to look for and what not to look for, you'll come across one that is perfect and will give you years and years of reliability. Personally, I searched for almost 2 years for mine. Mine's an 04, 26k miles, stored every winter, 5,200 miles a year, never driven in bad weather, fully loaded (everything!), maintainence all up to date done by a reptuable BMW dealer. Doing your homework is key. Don't just buy on a whim.

Cons:

Only con I can think of is affording the car. It's one thing to be able to buy the car, but affording it is an entirely different story. Some prices on services: oil changes- 150, inspection 1: 1500-1700 bucks, inspection 2: ~2k, brakes/rotors: 1k. Being that some of these services can be done with a handy DIY, some things are needed to be done by the dealer. Now getting one under warranty, that's a huge plus.

If you get the g35, it will never be an m3 no matter what you do to it. Yes I know Tim (ttrank) has a beastly and amazing sedan, but it's just a different type of machine.

The lower in year you look at m3's, the more prone you are to having an issue. As the years went on for the e46 era, all the issues/glitches were perfected and fixed. However, I would shoot for an 03.5 or higher for an m3 and 22k won't cut it for that.

For you price range, if you want a fun car, check out the wrx sti. it's AWD, got great power, and really a cool looking car. Little sportier looking than the g too. But it all comes down to what you're using the car for and what you want.

I wish the best of luck to you on your hunt for your next car and hope my advice helped you out a little bit.

 

I'd never own a 5 or 7 series due to reliability concerns, but overall, the 3 series has been quite a reliable car and if you guys missed it, BMW ranks above average in terms of long term dependability (ie cars that have been on the market for 3+ years). They've really stepped up their game ever since the E46 debuted. If you're a DIY guy, the 3 series is no more a complicated car than the G. Both are put together well, come a part easily, and go back together easily. If anything, BMWs tend to be a little easier to work on when it comes to under-hood access. The E46 M3 is a bit different though since it's a high-rev performance I6 and is a bit more complicated than the regular I6. With an M3, expect the pads and rotors to be done in 20K miles, clutch in 50K miles, tires in 15K miles, 40-50K mile valve adjustments, and then there's the typical German gremlins like window switches, window motors, etc that seem to occur often. Maintaining an M3 can be somewhat high, but the overall costs are somewhat compared to what many of us have to spend on our Gs because we choose to run high rubber like the M and smoke through pads and rotors in 25K-30K miles.

Another good alternative option would a 330i ZHP. I believe they only made these for year (2004 maybe?). They came with many of the interior bits from the M3, bumper cover, brakes, etc. The gear was deeper than the standard 330, the car had more power due to more aggressive cams and tuning, 18" M-style wheels, and a few other tidbits. The car was good for 14.0-14.2s@99-100mph which is compared with a 05-06 G35 6MT. As for mods, the sky is the limit, just like the G. I'd absolutely love a ZHP and if I wrecked my G tomorrow, I'd be looking for one. They're great auto-x cars.

 

Me and probably Sharif @ Forged Performance would disagree with that also. I cant say he would for sure but his track cars prove it. http://my350z.com/forum/forced-induc...me-attack.html

How is it a G35 and a 350z can take first place in an unlimited and EVEN modified RWD class against BMWs, Porsche GT3s, Ferraris most likely, Corvettes, S2000s and whatever else was there?

"The whole team is thrilled to have captured first place in both Unlimited RWD and Modified RWD. Both the Forged Performance 350Z and G35 both performed cool and clean all weekend long. I have to say, that the G35 is just simply retardedly fast, especially when driven by the very talented Robert Fuller from RobiSpec. In fact, it was so fast, that we couldn't keep the decals from flying off the car. His nasty tire and suspension/aero setup, had the G35 working perfectly all weekend long, and wastegate pressure and 450whp. Not bad for a brand new Forged Performance S1 shortblock, that had about 2 hours of total run time on it, before making the 10 hour road trip to Summit Point."


and http://my350z.com/forum/forced-induc...nashville.html

In my view for a Porsche GT3 which is suppose to be the pinnacle of track car engineering to lose to some turd Datsun from Japan is really pathetic. And that it's +$100,000 and for what? The name Porsche? Looks cool on the street corner but not cool when it's 2nd place to a Datsun. To make it worse it's 2nd to a 240.

 

^^^sick, thanks for the links

 

You're so G/Z brainwashed, I don't know why I bother. I absolutely love my G and every moment I get to drive it on the street, strip, or auto-x. I constantly get called a G nutswinger on other sites because I love to talk about how much the car has to offer. With that said, I know there are many of other cars out there that are FAR better performance platforms. You can get most any car to do some amazing stuff on the road coarse. My friends heavily modded 90 LX 5.0 Mustang with a full suspension and built motor is proof of that and it would easily outrun 99% of the Gs on this site in the auto-x or road course. We're talking about a $5,000 car with $5,000 in modifications that allow it to hang with Vipers, C6s (not Z06s), 911s (non-GT series), M3s (E46s and below), etc on road course races.

I've never said you can't get a G or Z to do the things you're nutswinging from. However, to get a G/Z to do those things costs a lot of money and comes with a lot of compromise. When I say compromise, I'm talking loud raspy exhausts, poor daily driveabilty, harsh and loud suspensions, removed creature comforts, dismal full ecomony, constant babysitting by a mechanic/tuner, etc. You somehow believe that adding twice the power to a G/Z is both simple and a truely turn key setup. That couldn't be further from the truth.

With an M3 or the Thinking Man's Supercar, the 911 GT3, you get a car that generates world class performance while maintaining a nice comfortable ride, docile around town exhaust note, great driveability, good if not stellar MPGs (the GT3 sees mid 20s on the highway) and a car wrapped in a clean design. You can have your 400whp+ trailer queen G. I'd MUCH rather have a basically stock M3 E46 or E92 (hell yes) or even better, my dream car, the 911 GT3. I've owned high HP cars in the past. It's not it's cracked up to be. It's far more fun to have a car that is both quick (13s in 1/4), can generate strong handling/braking numbers all the while do it in a clean and composed manner.

Finally, not to discredit anything Forged has done, but you're referencing Time Attack racing. Let's see what these cars and driver's can do when they have to do more than one timed lap. I would bet you all those cars would be sidelined with breakdowns within 5 consecutive laps.

 

Andrei, you're not actually trying to attribute the results of those very limited race situations to the current discussions are you? I hope not

 

Heavily modded 450whp 350Z beats 911 GT3 at a Time Attack event therefore 350Z > 911 GT3 in all race events therefore 911 GT3 is a overpriced POS. I guess Porsche and associated race teams never got that memo while cleaning house during numerous endurance races like Le Mans or World Challenge GT events. The same memo was never sent to BMW either.

 

I see where your coming from but lets be serious here. I am willing to bet the civic forums had or will have the same talk about their civic and our G35. Their built civic can out beat our G. You cannot compare cars with performance, you can only compare the two persons wallets. Whos ever wallet is fatter will have a faster car, theoretically. There are some exceptions but you should get the point. FP track car may be "amazing" but how much money and time was spent for it to be that way? You can't compare a G35 with $100,000 into it and a M3 with $50,000 in it. It just doesnt work that way. There are too many variables changing there. Either compare stock for stock, which the M3 wins hands down. Or compare price per price, which again the M3 wins.

Your looking at this all wrong. Just trying to enlighten you!

 

Hey Chris,
Look like you finally got your M3, hows it treating you? You will absolutly love it if you don't already! Did you detail her yet?

 

yess siirrrr. treating me better than I ever imagined. most amazing piece of machinary I have or will ever own. had it for 3 days now (got it this past Sunday). Carbon Black on Cinnamon, in absolute imaculate shape. I can't even describe the condition of it. Interior and exterior really does show the 5,200 miles the previous owner drove a year.

Yup. Got her home and detailed the crap out of her. Here's a pic from tonight. She was already very very clean, but I had to have at it with my PC!

 

I smell something really fishy in this thread LMAO!!!

 

I hope the OP's questions are being answered LOL

 

i drive all types of nice cars all day long at work i've driven plenty of m3's and plenty of g35's. hands down the m3 is more responsive but the style is old and played out. my sedan is more comfortable and more stylish interior wise in my opinion.

I love german engineering but i am slowly being pulled to the darkside of japanese engineering