What, if anything, after an e92 m3?

[irish boy]

Just wondering what you guys went for after an e92 m3? Mine is 5 years old in January, never given any trouble and still under extended warranty. Probably worth 30k in a trade in, I'd I could stay around that level or stick up to another £10k ish in.

Fuel consumption unimportant, have a panda for the daily. 4 seats not essential. Second car. But of fun. Bit of touring. Also able to turn up a car show/pistonheads meet.

I had a drive in an rs6 v10. Huge presence and desirability, and was fantastic till the first corner when it went all wooden on me.

Looked at the golf R but just seemed so 'ordinary" after the m3.

Went out in a cayman R at the weekend, really wanted to love this one, the handling was absolutely sublime as expected but the engine felt flat after the v8, and the pdk was not as good as the dct, almost too smooth, where the dct bangs and feels alive if that makes sense. Lovely car but another £12k on top of the m3? Felt more of a sideways step.

The best one I've looked at so far has been the wild card choice of a corvette grand sport manual. Proper mans car to drive, very analogue and very enjoyable.

C63's are great but that was my last car, better in terms of noise and power but lacks the handling/steering feel and gear change. Probably a better car till 7/10ths then the m3 is better above that.

The new m4 is lovely but outside budget and don't want a large finance thing.

Tempted to get my annual service done, a couple of tyres and run it another year. When you actually go looking there is very little out there that gives as much for the money in terms of noise, reliability, speed and general fun to drive without spending a fortune.

Edited by irish boy on Monday 8th September 16:06

Edited by irish boy on Monday 8th September 16:08

[irish boy]

Never considered an rs5, truthfully I had discounted them based on the reviews.

M4 certainly appeals, 2 years till they're 40k?

[irish boy]

crazy about cars said:

I've been thinking about selling my E92 M3 too too free up some cash. Been in BMW to get valuation but set my eye on a very nice 63 plate 335i M Sport with all the options (except sunroof) ticked.

I'll admit it'll be very hard replacing the M3 (unless money no object ofc :P)... you'll need some time to warm up to her especially if you've came from a turbo car but once you get it you'll really enjoy the experience of driving the car.

Regarding valuation as a comparison mine is 28k miles 63 plate Comp Pack and I struggle to get over £29,000; that's from dealers though.

£29k seems very low considering there's plenty of 12 plate ones advertised at £10k+ more than that. I've a feeling they are valuing mine at £27k (19k miles) and adding £2-3k as an over allowance.

m5 touring a good shout, Could be a bit of work finding a good auc one, don't know if I'd chance it with no warranty.

997.2 great cars, problem is I had a 996tt a couple of years back which I loved, don't think I could go onto a base car.

[irish boy]

Dufflecoat, your experiences pretty much mirror mine!

[irish boy]

cerb4.5lee said:

jon- said:

cerb4.5lee said:

julians said:

If it was a car for weekends, I dont think I'd be looking at any BMW, they're too ordinary (which is a good thing when you want one car to do everything, but not when you want a weekend more special car).

You make a very valid point regards a BMW as a weekend car and I ran my old Z4M as a weekender and I couldn't agree more because they just lack soul and overall specialness, BMW do make mostly very good daily drivers but for a weekend car you need a manufacturer that offers thrills and excitement and something that makes you want to jump in and drive it just for the sake of it and a BMW just doesn't do that for me.

+1 this. I've just sold my e46 M3, a few months after taking a M135i on. The e46 m3 has always been a second car, but it's just not special enough to make me want to drive it over the M135i most of the time.

Before my main car was a Ford KA, so the M3 felt like an occasion.

I might end up in a westy or an Atom. Once the M135i is off lease, I'll probably go for a new M3 or 997 911 as an only car.

I understand totally where you are coming from and I did struggle with my E92 M3 as a do it all car and it made me want a weekender again, I would have liked a M135i as my daily too so I can see why the E46 M3 would lack some specialness, I would love a caterham or equivalent as a weekender as they would be such an occasion to drive that's for sure and I would also imagine that the new M3 would make a pretty good daily...looking forward to the M2 in the future also.

m135i is out. Bought an ex demo one in 2012, sold it in 3 months as was bored, totally different car to an e92 m3 in my opinion. A great all rounder yes but not the same feeling about it at all.

Going for a drive in an exige today…..

http://www.hollybrooksportscars.com/2014/03/26/lot...

[irish boy]

dufflecoat said:

turboman786 said:

Now......back in an m3.....and absolutely love it!

For me the m3 really is as close to the perfect car, particularly when combined with the mandatory oem exhaust mod

Feel I am going the same way..

What spec now? DCT & Comp? 2 pipe mod? or more.

I had the Eisenmann Race on my old E92, would buy again in a shot. Made the car.

Here she is....

Mines dct, initially had a remus race exhaust, sounded good but was too loud on start up for the neighbours and had a bit of drone so splashed out on a proper m performance exhaust. Perfect. Not loud on start up but sounds stunning as the revs climb. No drone at all. I see where the money is in them now.


Drove the lotus, liked it, incredibly small inside, build quality probably better than I expected. Evora could be worth a look but none over here unfortunately. CSL good shout too but I'd want the best low mile I can find and that would be very expensive, not to mention out of warranty/boot floor etc etc. Should have bought one 6 or 7 years ago, not sure I'll go there now.


Made an offer on the corvette grand sport, just my type of car, they're priced too expensive tho and were £3500 out. If there's no deal to be had I've decided to keep mine for another year. All you other e92 m3 owners, enjoy your cars, only when you start looking about do you realise what a peach of a car they really are.

[irish boy]

Schermerhorn said:

After I move on from my M6, I'm deliberating between these 3

M5 F10 on lease

E92 M3 with DCT, EDC and the latest spec I can get. Even though the V10 is quicker, these things are so much more chuckable.

or....

build a Porsche 964 with "modern" bits and run that as my daily. (Why? I have no idea!)

Edited by Schermerhorn on Wednesday 10th September 12:10

Nice choice. I've had a couple of porsche's, never a 964 but a 993, which I absolutely loved and should have held onto. F10 m5 I've never driven but I hear are very fast indeed, but maybe not as chuckable. M3 dct, as per thread, are great.


Edit, maybe f10's are more chuckable than I thought……

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcm9evmWObk

[irish boy]

What did you go for?

[irish boy]

crazy about cars said:

irish boy said:

What did you go for?

Abarth 595

Very nice. My wife drives an Abarth 500 so I know the brand well. Super little cars.

[irish boy]

x5x3 said:

same here really - what to get next?

drove the new M4 recently and yes it is a nice car but that engine makes the car feel more like a 335, I found myself running in M mode all the time. It reminded me more of my old 335D than the E92

The one thing that has changed for me is that I will soon no longer need 4 proper seats so can consider Porsche etc.

But my E92 is now worth £20K at most - maybe best just to keep it until it dies or I reach 100K miles and BMW will not extend the warranty?

It's unlikely to die. On the American m3 forum there's plenty running 250k plus. Still pulling the same the same times on their 'quarter' as they were then new.