BMW Newbie with up to 22k budget. Help please!!
Discussion
Hello everyone and apologies if I am asking something boring or too obvious...I have a budget of maximum 22k and after looking at Autotrader, I am surprised to see that I have at least these car choices:
1. M3 V8 Convertible sub 50k miles
2. M140i, 4/5 years old and sub 30k miles
3. 435d M Sport X drive, Coupe or Convertible, 5/6 years old
4. 440i M Sport, Coupe or Convertible, 5/6 years old
I have a limited experience with sporty cars, having owned a S5 for 18 months and a C63 4.0 liters for around 12 months. I have never driven any of the cars above and do not know what to expect really. The idea of this car is to be my personal “toy” car only. I don’t need to bring the family with me (except some school pickups and drop offs), I will not do any long motorway journeys and I will use the car within a radius of 50 miles from where I live. I would like to have the fastest, more engaging and “exciting” car possible given the budget. I am in Southern Europe at the moment, so roads are mostly dry.
Can you please help me to decide?? Many thanks 🙏
1. M3 V8 Convertible sub 50k miles
2. M140i, 4/5 years old and sub 30k miles
3. 435d M Sport X drive, Coupe or Convertible, 5/6 years old
4. 440i M Sport, Coupe or Convertible, 5/6 years old
I have a limited experience with sporty cars, having owned a S5 for 18 months and a C63 4.0 liters for around 12 months. I have never driven any of the cars above and do not know what to expect really. The idea of this car is to be my personal “toy” car only. I don’t need to bring the family with me (except some school pickups and drop offs), I will not do any long motorway journeys and I will use the car within a radius of 50 miles from where I live. I would like to have the fastest, more engaging and “exciting” car possible given the budget. I am in Southern Europe at the moment, so roads are mostly dry.
Can you please help me to decide?? Many thanks 🙏
superbau said:
Hello everyone and apologies if I am asking something boring or too obvious...I have a budget of maximum 22k and after looking at Autotrader, I am surprised to see that I have at least these car choices:
1. M3 V8 Convertible sub 50k miles
2. M140i, 4/5 years old and sub 30k miles
3. 435d M Sport X drive, Coupe or Convertible, 5/6 years old
4. 440i M Sport, Coupe or Convertible, 5/6 years old
I have a limited experience with sporty cars, having owned a S5 for 18 months and a C63 4.0 liters for around 12 months. I have never driven any of the cars above and do not know what to expect really. The idea of this car is to be my personal “toy” car only. I don’t need to bring the family with me (except some school pickups and drop offs), I will not do any long motorway journeys and I will use the car within a radius of 50 miles from where I live. I would like to have the fastest, more engaging and “exciting” car possible given the budget. I am in Southern Europe at the moment, so roads are mostly dry.
Can you please help me to decide?? Many thanks ??
Toy - I'd pick the M3 V8 every time out of those. Unlikely to depreciate much, and, well..... V8 at over 8k rpm = big smiles1. M3 V8 Convertible sub 50k miles
2. M140i, 4/5 years old and sub 30k miles
3. 435d M Sport X drive, Coupe or Convertible, 5/6 years old
4. 440i M Sport, Coupe or Convertible, 5/6 years old
I have a limited experience with sporty cars, having owned a S5 for 18 months and a C63 4.0 liters for around 12 months. I have never driven any of the cars above and do not know what to expect really. The idea of this car is to be my personal “toy” car only. I don’t need to bring the family with me (except some school pickups and drop offs), I will not do any long motorway journeys and I will use the car within a radius of 50 miles from where I live. I would like to have the fastest, more engaging and “exciting” car possible given the budget. I am in Southern Europe at the moment, so roads are mostly dry.
Can you please help me to decide?? Many thanks ??
If you're actually going to use it a lot as a daily, I'd probably go with the 440i. It's more grown up and balanced that the M140i, and it isn't a Diesel. The M140i is a car that needs a few mods to be good - uprated suspension and LSD being a good place to start.
Of this list, it’s be the M3 hands down. If it’s a toy, stuff like the fuel bills are not an issue.
An M140i would be a poor choice as toy and I say that as an ex-owner. Very good at being a fast daily with very cheap running costs given the performance but pretty poor at delivering fun one you’ve got beyond the acceleration. The chassis is very flawed which over time became the downfall of my car.
The M3 feels like a much more exciting car to drive, there is an intangible zing to it in terms of the engine and way it screams to the redline. The induction noise is lovely. Cabriolets are an absolute bargain too compared to the coupe or saloon albeit less sharp. But you’ll get to hear more of the lovely noises that it serves up.
An M140i would be a poor choice as toy and I say that as an ex-owner. Very good at being a fast daily with very cheap running costs given the performance but pretty poor at delivering fun one you’ve got beyond the acceleration. The chassis is very flawed which over time became the downfall of my car.
The M3 feels like a much more exciting car to drive, there is an intangible zing to it in terms of the engine and way it screams to the redline. The induction noise is lovely. Cabriolets are an absolute bargain too compared to the coupe or saloon albeit less sharp. But you’ll get to hear more of the lovely noises that it serves up.
superbau said:
Hello, thanks for the suggestion! Where does the M240i sit in terms of performance and excitement levels?
That’s very subjective….Power is the same as the 140i; so 340bhp and lots of torque.
Excitement is very subjective; for me personally the B58 engine is nowhere near as exciting as the S65 be that power delivery or noise.
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