Downgrading from an m3 touring?

[willttqs]

I have had the m3 touring for around 6 months, and it is only 2 and a half years old, part exchange value is around £2k less than I paid for it .

I am tempted to sell and get a less expensive car for 3 reasons

1: a fair bit of money tied up in it
2: pretty firm ride.
3: unlikely to ever track it

I am looking at the possibility of a c43 or a m340 or even a m440i coupe (love the green)

I could even go back in time for f82 but realise ride wil be firm too.

I would be looking at getting £20k or more back.

It is a family car and carries two kids on booster cushions.

What are your thoughts ?

[raspy]

Would any of those alternatives have a noticeably less firm ride?

What about Alpinas? I always read that they used to find a magical way of improving the ride comfort without compromising handling, over the standard car from BMW.

[Prohibiting]

All pretty fast hardcore cars. If you want something softer, then you need to look at non-performance. Something maybe like a Volvo V90?

[paralla]

I found a Golf R estate made a fantastic family wagon, if you can find one with DCC they are very comfortable, easy to live with, surprisingly fast and won’t break the bank to run.

[willttqs]

I think the biggest thing for me really is probably the thought of having less cash tied up in a car and always worrying about it getting car park dents etc

I would want something that still looks good inside and out, I have had a golf before but not the estate.

[Wills2]

Just trade it in for a an M340i Touring, the interface will be familiar as will be the overall form factor, softer ride + £20k in exchange for losing 140hp and that M nuggetiness.

[ninepoint2]

Octavia vRS Estate

[ZX10R NIN]

Alpina

[braddo]

Merc E63 estate. Proper space for a young family and air suspension for much better comfort.
Example:



https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202604101...

There are always some around the £25k range. The C class don't have air suspension and 3-series estates are ridiculously small inside.

[Black_S3]

Have been toying with the idea of similar cars(maybe a little older) to your 'downgrade' myself and the M3 touring is out of the question for me price wise at 65-70k. Even a B9.5 RS4 avant can be had for aprox what seems like 15k less.... Ditch the estate and the RS5s look very good value.

My sensible head is saying:

40k budget S4 Avant - sadly diesel, nothing against that except I've had countless diesels. But this is looking like the sensible choice.
40k budget SQ5 - again diesel
40k RSQ3 - maybe too small
35k budget C43
Possibly a GLC43/63 but havent reseached them at all yet.
Macan S/GTS is also on the list to look into
Pamera??

theres also the golf R estates for approx 25k but it definitley doesnt fit in the same catergory as the lot above - despite similar performance numbers....

Then theres the thinking that this has every possibility of being my last ICE daily which leads me to sort of the competiton to the M3 - if I dont do it now I'll never get the chance to daily something with a crazy petrol engine and I'm stuck thinking I'll regret not stretching that little bit further for either:

B9.5 RS4 Avant - 50k Budget
RS5 - 45k budget
C63 estate - 45k budget

[SWoll]

willttqs said:

I think the biggest thing for me really is probably the thought of having less cash tied up in a car and always worrying about it getting car park dents etc

I would want something that still looks good inside and out, I have had a golf before but not the estate.

Are you going to fel any better about a car park dent in a £50k car instead?

If you're looking for something practical, fun and with decent ride quality you could do a lot worse than a Macan GTS. Facelift MY22 cars can be had for just over £50k and the added ride height and standard air suspension do wonders for comfort.

[willttqs]

Madam might be an idea, my current thought is m440i for 40k or m3 for less than £45k.

Then use the remaining £20k ish to upgrade my wife’s car so that it is a bit more of a family car

[Rob 131 Sport]

willttqs said:

I have had the m3 touring for around 6 months, and it is only 2 and a half years old, part exchange value is around £2k less than I paid for it .

I am tempted to sell and get a less expensive car for 3 reasons

1: a fair bit of money tied up in it
2: pretty firm ride.
3: unlikely to ever track it

I am looking at the possibility of a c43 or a m340 or even a m440i coupe (love the green)

I could even go back in time for f82 but realise ride wil be firm too.

I would be looking at getting £20k or more back.

It is a family car and carries two kids on booster cushions.

What are your thoughts ?

Whilst I ve never been in an M3 although I did seriously consider an M4 when I bought my car, so I can t really comment on the firmness of the ride. I didn t buy the M4 because within my price range of £50k in 2022, I was looking at 18 month old examples with 20k plus miles.

I can tell you that the 22 Plate M440d that I have with adaptive dampers is a really smooth ride. It actually rides better than the G30 530d it replaced.

I don t think you ll be disappointed with an M340 or M440 as a replacement for your M3 and wouldn t really look anywhere else. I looked very closely at the San Remo Green that looks great, but decided against it as I ve got a Jaguar in a similar colour.

Edited by Rob 131 Sport on Monday 11th May 23:24

[andyalan10]

Volvo V60 T8 - 450bhp, around £40k for a one year old top spec car. £34k for a 2 year old.

[Wills2]

I think a Mercedes e-class 53 coupe/estate would be an alternative suggestion, bigger inside than the m440i coupe or M340i touring.