Anyone gone 996 Cab to E46 M3 Cab?
Discussion
I may be about to become a defector 
As the title says. My £500 E30 is so good I'm considering selling the Porsche and getting an M3 cab instead. Has anyone else gone down this route?
I'm thinking about an 02/03 car, manual (have gone off tiptronic, even though I know the BMW SMG is good)
What are they like to live with as a daily driver? Is the hard top rattle free and waterproof? What sort of MPG am I looking at realistically?
I want to know as much as I can before I start looking around in the next month or two.
As the title says. My £500 E30 is so good I'm considering selling the Porsche and getting an M3 cab instead. Has anyone else gone down this route?
I'm thinking about an 02/03 car, manual (have gone off tiptronic, even though I know the BMW SMG is good)
What are they like to live with as a daily driver? Is the hard top rattle free and waterproof? What sort of MPG am I looking at realistically?
I want to know as much as I can before I start looking around in the next month or two.
Have I totally upset my outlook on all matters motoring with my £500 masterpiece? Been a passenger in an SMG equipped M3 evo and it felt pretty sorted from the left seat, just haven't tried the right hand side as yet. Somehow I'm just not enjoying the 996 as much as the Boxster, whereas the old E30 feels so right. It's hard to quantify, but the 996 just isn't setting my soul alight.
Why else would I be driving around in a £500 BMW when I've got a £30K Porsche sat in the garage?
E46 M3's are nice, fast, well made, practical convertibles but they aint no 911!
To my mind the lack the special feel a 911 has (they just feel like a very good E46 3 series)
As regards your E30, they are a car of great charm and the 325i is probably the car that made BMW what they are today in terms of image and reputation (and no i dont mean the one about drivers being
) they are driving in one of its simplest, purest forms.
To my mind, sounds like you need to be swapping to a 993 Cab
>> Edited by mustard on Wednesday 11th January 21:08
To my mind the lack the special feel a 911 has (they just feel like a very good E46 3 series)
As regards your E30, they are a car of great charm and the 325i is probably the car that made BMW what they are today in terms of image and reputation (and no i dont mean the one about drivers being
) they are driving in one of its simplest, purest forms. To my mind, sounds like you need to be swapping to a 993 Cab
>> Edited by mustard on Wednesday 11th January 21:08
I've got an 03 996 Cab - a year or so ago I tried a mates 02 M3 cab - nice car on a smooth road, but awful on bumpy B roads - especially with the 'must have' 19" rims - loads of scuttle shake - another mate had the same car more recently, but on 18" rims - it was much better, but looked cr*p...! The build quality on the E46 isn't a patch on the older BM's either, so I would only go down that route if you need to carry 4 people on a regular basis. Running costs wise, they would be fairly similar.
>> Edited by mbutchers on Thursday 12th January 09:57
>> Edited by mbutchers on Thursday 12th January 09:57
I am of similar mind to you Bliar.
I traded my SL500 in for the 996 last May. It was bought as an everyday car and I was expecting to put on about 12k-15k per year. I covered 8000 supremely enjoyable miles up to November and then it hit me how much depreciation I was going to be hit with. That made up my mind to sell my old Land Rover (no good on long journeys) and buy an A4 Avant for the motorway mile munching and keep the Porker in the garage for high days and holidays.
The A4 cost me £4k and I'll probably put 40k on it in the next 3 years. In pure depreciation terms it would cost significantly more than £4k to put 40k on the Porsche so financially it makes good sense.
I'm finding now I use the Audi and the Porsche stays in the garage and I put this down to a few reasons:
1). The weather has been crap and not at all condusive to open top, spirited driving. I also like to keep the Porsche bright and shiny and in this weather that would last all of 5 seconds.
2). The Audi sits outside on the drive coz the garage is full of Porsche and Disco and so is much more convenient when popping down the shops.
3). The Audi is a very comfortable drive with auto, leather and a nice 2.4 engine so it's not exactly a chore to use it.
4). The mileage on the Porsche is not going stratospheric.
So my £30k+ Porsche sits in the garage and I use the Audi most of the time but come spring I suspect there will be a reverse. On that basis I would not consider selling the Porsche because I know how much fun it will be in just a couple of months time. If we get some nice days in the interim it's always there if needed.
You'll probably find that if you bought the M3 Cab that would take the place of your 996 in the garage and you'd still use the e30.......till the sun shines.
I traded my SL500 in for the 996 last May. It was bought as an everyday car and I was expecting to put on about 12k-15k per year. I covered 8000 supremely enjoyable miles up to November and then it hit me how much depreciation I was going to be hit with. That made up my mind to sell my old Land Rover (no good on long journeys) and buy an A4 Avant for the motorway mile munching and keep the Porker in the garage for high days and holidays.
The A4 cost me £4k and I'll probably put 40k on it in the next 3 years. In pure depreciation terms it would cost significantly more than £4k to put 40k on the Porsche so financially it makes good sense.
I'm finding now I use the Audi and the Porsche stays in the garage and I put this down to a few reasons:
1). The weather has been crap and not at all condusive to open top, spirited driving. I also like to keep the Porsche bright and shiny and in this weather that would last all of 5 seconds.
2). The Audi sits outside on the drive coz the garage is full of Porsche and Disco and so is much more convenient when popping down the shops.
3). The Audi is a very comfortable drive with auto, leather and a nice 2.4 engine so it's not exactly a chore to use it.
4). The mileage on the Porsche is not going stratospheric.
So my £30k+ Porsche sits in the garage and I use the Audi most of the time but come spring I suspect there will be a reverse. On that basis I would not consider selling the Porsche because I know how much fun it will be in just a couple of months time. If we get some nice days in the interim it's always there if needed.
You'll probably find that if you bought the M3 Cab that would take the place of your 996 in the garage and you'd still use the e30.......till the sun shines.
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