Boring running cost question - E46 M3

[piemuncher]

Hi All,

I currently run a 4.4V8 vogue (on LPG.. don't hurt me) and a C250CDI Coupe which I'm currently selling due to a natural aversion to paying people to work on my cars, and the fact that they demanded £1800 for service items which, when I kicked up a little bit of a stink, they then included under warranty! (why ask in the first place then!?)

Anyway, back on topic.

I am looking for a replacement for a new commute which takes me from the Surrey countryside into Hampton Court. The car is for me predominantly, and after a brief couple of years with a Porsche 944 I'd like something that has the sense of fun like that, with a little more reliability.

I'm sort of undecided between an MX5, which I'd turbo (but worry about rust on them), a Z4 3.0 manual Convertible 2004 or a E46 M3 manual convertible. Budget is flexible, in that it started at a dirt cheap £2k but could now go to £6-8k if it had to.

So... the question....

Considering that I do all work to the cars myself, and I run a 4.4 V8 stupid car.... Will the running costs of an M3 come as a surprise, or will it be largley inline? Is the M3 worth the premium over the Z4 3.0?

Should I just get my wife a new smart car and I carry on with the Range Rover?

Will brexit be tough or easy? What is the meaning of life?

[Smuler]

piemuncher said:

Hi All,

I currently run a 4.4V8 vogue (on LPG.. don't hurt me) and a C250CDI Coupe which I'm currently selling due to a natural aversion to paying people to work on my cars, and the fact that they demanded £1800 for service items which, when I kicked up a little bit of a stink, they then included under warranty! (why ask in the first place then!?)

Anyway, back on topic.

I am looking for a replacement for a new commute which takes me from the Surrey countryside into Hampton Court. The car is for me predominantly, and after a brief couple of years with a Porsche 944 I'd like something that has the sense of fun like that, with a little more reliability.

I'm sort of undecided between an MX5, which I'd turbo (but worry about rust on them), a Z4 3.0 manual Convertible 2004 or a E46 M3 manual convertible. Budget is flexible, in that it started at a dirt cheap £2k but could now go to £6-8k if it had to.

So... the question....

Considering that I do all work to the cars myself, and I run a 4.4 V8 stupid car.... Will the running costs of an M3 come as a surprise, or will it be largley inline? Is the M3 worth the premium over the Z4 3.0?

Should I just get my wife a new smart car and I carry on with the Range Rover?

Will brexit be tough or easy? What is the meaning of life?

Petrol costs for my E46 M3 coupe, are around 31p/per mile and that's a mixture of sedate driving (getting to my favourite back roads, probably the bulk of the mileage) and then pure driving pleasure on the wonderful mountain roads of Wales.
I'd hazard a guess, the vert being heavier and some commuter cut and thrust driving, you may not get that if you also play with it like I do mine

I've never driven a Z, but assuming the engine is the same as in 330ci then engine wise the M3 is much faster* and sounds a whole lot better. That said it's still a great engine, if you looking for a fun car, fun commute, I can't see how a topless, manual, Z wouldn't be great, surely cheaper to run and I'm not sure with prices rising whether there are many decent M3's around for a commensurate price.

• caveat, when talking performance I'm comparing 330ci coupe to M3 coupe, gap should narrow between the vert M3 and a much lighter (than the 3 series) Z4