I could give you an opinion, but it should be obvious what it is.

 

A 6spd Z4?

 

Haha - funny story about the Z4....

Got in an argument (through my ex gf of 3 years) with her dad (may he RIP) that he had told her he really likes the Z4 and wants one with my response being that its a total chick car. I think he took offense to that heh

I'm gonna go drive an M3 just to see what I'm missing out on but it's probably not gonna happen. I do have 60K miles of warranty left on my car although it's starting to feel the effects doing nearly 20K per year.... Just had my cars 2nd birthday (April 30th, 2008)

I wish I had the cash to respray front/rear bumpers and get all the damn chips, nicks, and scratches out of the paint and clean up some curb rash. And I'll never do a light interior ever again - shows it's wear so fast. My leather looks like sh*t - all creased everywhere but I've been able to get out a majority of dirt/stain spots with those Armor All Orange Interior Wipes - I leave a can in my car, it's great. Current GF and I sat in traffic behind an accident cleaning my interior once ha! She's a keeper

Any recommendations on leather? Our leather is kind of sh*tty/cheap... should I just use some conditioning products or have it professionally conditioned? I really miss the leather in my old 528i - It was perfectly worn in, super soft and plush - seats looked and felt great after 150K miles. My mom's new 525i has pretty cheap, vinyl feeling leather too (and no it doesn't have BMW's "pleather")

 

Yes, our leather is crap compared to the dakota and nappa leather BMW uses. I clean/condition mine with Zaino (Z9 and Z10). Love the stuff. Funny about the Z4...the M Coupe is a totally different story though.

Oh wow, you couldnt have bought a worse BMW for reliability. 2002 was the first year for the 745. Everyone of those things we sold new in the first 12 months came back. Most of them for weeks, not days. But, you live you learn...

 

What exactly does one learn here? Don't buy a 2002 BMW 745 again?

This is more of a "you live, you'll get burned...deal with it" type of scenario.

 

Haha, well that works too. I was hoping he would take away the fact that it is a gamble to buy a high-end car with so much techno wizardry the first year of production. It happens with every 7 series BMW introduces. There is no way to completely test these vehicles in every scenario before being introduced.

 

Yep, life is a gamble, and I've had very good luck for all of my vehicles over the past 30 years except the 745, the damn thing is a beautiful car and the huge interior is quite jaw-dropping when you first see it. I do love the M3 & M5s and I wouldn't hesitate to get one of those if it had a good amount of waranty left. And yes I have learned a little since then too, lol.

 

Speaking of M5s - I'd love to get back to my old 528i body/interior in the form of an e39 M5.... drool

I love those cars, they will be one of the all time classics.

And yep - an M coupe is an incredible machine. I used to be in LOVE with the Z3 based M Coupe

(You may notice a trend, late 90s, early 00s M cars are my absolute favorite cars of all time)

 

I drive an e46 330i right now and am looking to get a G next. If you can afford about 1500 dollars a year for maintenance then definitely get the M3.

The maintenance you have to do on a BMW is different than other cars.

Here is what you need to do: go to the library and see if you can get archives of Bimmer magazine and find the latest buyers guide for e46s--it has been in the last few months because I am a subscriber. They lay out exactly what to look for and what kind of maintenance costs you will likely encounter in great detail.

I love my BMW and would be getting another one but my BMW mechanic has told me not to drive one of the new ones out of warranty unless I get a new income stream.

 

I'm trying to do the opposite right now. Got an E46 m3....looking to get into a 2nd gen g.

 

trade

haha why are you looking to trade? M3 just getting up in age?

 

I almost got an E46 convertible M3 instead of my G.

It makes me sad every day of my life

Car was listed really cheap and sold the day I went to look at it.

But with that said im pretty sure im gonna get an M3 as my next car. I miss my e36

 

I would keep what you have... m3's are easily abused... I personally would never buy a used sports car.

 

I had a 96' E36 318ti (great autox car), then a 99 E36 M3, and more recently a 2006 E90 330i. While I had issues with them all, I wouldn't call them substantial, or too excessive. While the parts are more expensive for the BMWs, they aren't too far off from what parts cost for my 2008 G35s.

If you are willing to take the time to do the basics yourself you can save yourself quite a bit of money. While I did this with my ti and to a lessor degree the M3 I really have no need or want to work on cars anymore, I'd much rather take it to the dealer grab a loaner and do something else with my free time.

With any high end car you will pay more for maintenance and parts, its part of the total cost of ownership. I loved my M3, while it may not be as fast as my now 08 G35s I have fond memories of driving that around the Redondo Beach area and West LA. Driving down Sunset to PCH like a bat out of hell, lol.

I have my 08 G35s, a 2011 Porsche Cayman S, and soon a 2012 X3. Quite honestly they are all pretty comparable when it comes to maintenance, the Cayman doesn't get driven all that much so maintenance while expensive isn't done as often. The G35 is a bit cheaper than my 06 330i was but the savings is nothing to write home about imo. I'm sure the new X3 will be within the same ballpark.

If there is anything I'll warn you about with the M3 is that they eat tires for lunch, and those aren't usually cheap for good sticky tires. Then again my G35 eats through bridgestones like they going out of style too, I'm rambling on now so..

tl;dr
Get what you will be happy with, in the long run so long as you don't get a lemon the cars maintenance costs are not so substantial that you should miss out on getting a car you really want to own.

 

I agree here, My 99 M3 was driven like it was stolen every day of its life with me. I actually felt bad when I sold it since I knew how I drove it daily lol.

Don't get me wrong, I took very good care of the car, I just drove the thing as hard as I could.

While I still drive my cars hard, I think age has caught up to me and I have mellowed out a bit. I think the 99 me would have crashed the Cayman and the G35 already lol.