Talk me out of an E92 M3…
Discussion
Thanks for all the replies, everyone 
A lot of good points have been raised for sure.
Regarding economy and range: my 630i is averaging 25mpg and I have a heavily-modified E39 540i show car that does the same, so if an M3 were to average 20mpg in similar driving conditions I think I'd be okay with that, especially doing 4000-5000 miles a year. Both have 70-litre tanks so offer decent cruising range, so I agree that might be a bit of a pain but then again I ran a 1999 5.7 V8 Chevrolet Camaro for just over a year and that had a 63.6-litre tank and averaged 20.5mpg (with a few tanks working out at 16-17mpg…) and 228 miles to a tank and I was fine with that.
In terms of the M3 being too quiet and the brakes not being great, I'd be modding it to some degree so brakes and exhaust would definitely be on my shopping list and I would take care of those problems
In terms of torque, it's been over a year since I handed back my 120d company car, which had an M3-equalling 295lb ft of torque, and have been only driving the 630i, which is way down on power and torque compared to the M3, and the 540i, which has about 10lb ft more but weighs more too so I wager the M3 will feel stronger in terms of mid-range response.
I think the hardest question to answer is what I actually want from the car. Through my job I've been very fortunate to have driven a number of different E9x M3s and I've always loved them and had some amazing drives. they have always been brief flings rather than long-term relationships, though, a week at the longest, and it has been a little while since I last drove one so I am wondering if it will be as good as I remember, though I guess the only thing to do is drive one again and see how I feel.
I love V8s and I miss having a quick car - the last quick thing I owned was a twin-turbo Supra with around 380hp about 14 years ago, which I adored, and which is why I initially though an M235i or 335i would recapture what owning and driving that was like. But out of all the BMs I've owned I've never owned an M car and it feels like I really should and it's hard to ignore at the sort of price they're at.
Regarding it being a buyer's market, that's obviously great news, but I'm curious if people think they're going to do a lot more depreciating? My potential budget started out at £14k, which would have got me a tidy 335i or a tired M3, but then crept up to £16-18k where later low-mileage cars sit and if I can stretch that far then maybe I could stretch a tiny bit further for an Edition. If I did buy one then the only thing I could realistically see myself selling it for would be an F8x M3/4 once they dip into the teens, which could take a while yet.
A lot of good points have been raised for sure.Regarding economy and range: my 630i is averaging 25mpg and I have a heavily-modified E39 540i show car that does the same, so if an M3 were to average 20mpg in similar driving conditions I think I'd be okay with that, especially doing 4000-5000 miles a year. Both have 70-litre tanks so offer decent cruising range, so I agree that might be a bit of a pain but then again I ran a 1999 5.7 V8 Chevrolet Camaro for just over a year and that had a 63.6-litre tank and averaged 20.5mpg (with a few tanks working out at 16-17mpg…) and 228 miles to a tank and I was fine with that.
In terms of the M3 being too quiet and the brakes not being great, I'd be modding it to some degree so brakes and exhaust would definitely be on my shopping list and I would take care of those problems
In terms of torque, it's been over a year since I handed back my 120d company car, which had an M3-equalling 295lb ft of torque, and have been only driving the 630i, which is way down on power and torque compared to the M3, and the 540i, which has about 10lb ft more but weighs more too so I wager the M3 will feel stronger in terms of mid-range response.
I think the hardest question to answer is what I actually want from the car. Through my job I've been very fortunate to have driven a number of different E9x M3s and I've always loved them and had some amazing drives. they have always been brief flings rather than long-term relationships, though, a week at the longest, and it has been a little while since I last drove one so I am wondering if it will be as good as I remember, though I guess the only thing to do is drive one again and see how I feel.
I love V8s and I miss having a quick car - the last quick thing I owned was a twin-turbo Supra with around 380hp about 14 years ago, which I adored, and which is why I initially though an M235i or 335i would recapture what owning and driving that was like. But out of all the BMs I've owned I've never owned an M car and it feels like I really should and it's hard to ignore at the sort of price they're at.
Regarding it being a buyer's market, that's obviously great news, but I'm curious if people think they're going to do a lot more depreciating? My potential budget started out at £14k, which would have got me a tidy 335i or a tired M3, but then crept up to £16-18k where later low-mileage cars sit and if I can stretch that far then maybe I could stretch a tiny bit further for an Edition. If I did buy one then the only thing I could realistically see myself selling it for would be an F8x M3/4 once they dip into the teens, which could take a while yet.
Yes they will continue to depreciate just like it's forebears. All this last v8 stuff may be true but that won't become a factor for another 10 years.
E30, e36 and e46 m3 all dropped to sub 10k in value before starting to appreciate and this will follow the same well worn path
E30, e36 and e46 m3 all dropped to sub 10k in value before starting to appreciate and this will follow the same well worn path
Edited by lord trumpton on Sunday 17th June 10:26
I think you should buy one you obviously have the bug. Just buy it and don't worry about depreciation. It's a stupid thing to worry about and really annoys me when people do it. It's going to depreciate and it's years off being a classic. They are going to enter the phase the e46 was at recently where kids buy them and run them into the ground because they can't afford to maintain them, scene them where they end up having 8 deg of negative camber and two pieces of scaffold out the rear end pointing to the sky or end up as track slags and also run them into the ground. I'd buy one now as I have before they get very tired because many are already dogs and enjoy it.
From experience Torque wise it'll match a golf r, 235i or 240i, 125d up to about 5 or 6000 rpm and then the m3 will do what it does best and pull past those cars where they will be running out of grunt. It pulls strong low down but only to say a 2 litre diesel feel. It's how it was designed. It needs to rev high. I had a play with an a45 this week and it just pulled on me until 6k I think it's the only modern hatch I've encountered that's been able to do that.
An m4 will leave an e92 m3 standing it's got bags more torque.
A c63 amg will pull away in any situation as well.
I think the m3 is a car you buy to enjoy the s65 and fairly decent handling characteristics and accept that it's not going to be the fastest car out there but then where do you go from there to experience a v8 at 8000rpm. Glad I've been able to own one. I've always wanted one since 2008 but due to the maintenance costs and cost of the car and my age I've never been able to afford to run one. The e92 m3 is at the right time of both it's life and mine really.
From experience Torque wise it'll match a golf r, 235i or 240i, 125d up to about 5 or 6000 rpm and then the m3 will do what it does best and pull past those cars where they will be running out of grunt. It pulls strong low down but only to say a 2 litre diesel feel. It's how it was designed. It needs to rev high. I had a play with an a45 this week and it just pulled on me until 6k I think it's the only modern hatch I've encountered that's been able to do that.
An m4 will leave an e92 m3 standing it's got bags more torque.
A c63 amg will pull away in any situation as well.
I think the m3 is a car you buy to enjoy the s65 and fairly decent handling characteristics and accept that it's not going to be the fastest car out there but then where do you go from there to experience a v8 at 8000rpm. Glad I've been able to own one. I've always wanted one since 2008 but due to the maintenance costs and cost of the car and my age I've never been able to afford to run one. The e92 m3 is at the right time of both it's life and mine really.
lord trumpton said:
Yes they will continue to depreciate just like it's forebears. All this last v8 stuff may be true but that won't become a factor for another 10 years.
E30, e36 and e46 m3 all dropped to sub 10k in value before starting to appreciate and this will follow the same well worn path
You think E9X M3s will drop below E36 and E46? The dogs maybe, but not the good ones IMO. E46s have firmed up. I can see a good E9X being a safe place in terms of depreciation.E30, e36 and e46 m3 all dropped to sub 10k in value before starting to appreciate and this will follow the same well worn path
Edited by lord trumpton on Sunday 17th June 10:26
ferrisbueller said:
lord trumpton said:
Yes they will continue to depreciate just like it's forebears. All this last v8 stuff may be true but that won't become a factor for another 10 years.
E30, e36 and e46 m3 all dropped to sub 10k in value before starting to appreciate and this will follow the same well worn path
You think E9X M3s will drop below E36 and E46? The dogs maybe, but not the good ones IMO. E46s have firmed up. I can see a good E9X being a safe place in terms of depreciation.E30, e36 and e46 m3 all dropped to sub 10k in value before starting to appreciate and this will follow the same well worn path
Edited by lord trumpton on Sunday 17th June 10:26
Tony B2 said:
ferrisbueller said:
lord trumpton said:
Yes they will continue to depreciate just like it's forebears. All this last v8 stuff may be true but that won't become a factor for another 10 years.
E30, e36 and e46 m3 all dropped to sub 10k in value before starting to appreciate and this will follow the same well worn path
You think E9X M3s will drop below E36 and E46? The dogs maybe, but not the good ones IMO. E46s have firmed up. I can see a good E9X being a safe place in terms of depreciation.E30, e36 and e46 m3 all dropped to sub 10k in value before starting to appreciate and this will follow the same well worn path
Edited by lord trumpton on Sunday 17th June 10:26
ferrisbueller said:
Tony B2 said:
ferrisbueller said:
lord trumpton said:
Yes they will continue to depreciate just like it's forebears. All this last v8 stuff may be true but that won't become a factor for another 10 years.
E30, e36 and e46 m3 all dropped to sub 10k in value before starting to appreciate and this will follow the same well worn path
You think E9X M3s will drop below E36 and E46? The dogs maybe, but not the good ones IMO. E46s have firmed up. I can see a good E9X being a safe place in terms of depreciation.E30, e36 and e46 m3 all dropped to sub 10k in value before starting to appreciate and this will follow the same well worn path
Edited by lord trumpton on Sunday 17th June 10:26
Fatlad1973 said:
ferrisbueller said:
Tony B2 said:
ferrisbueller said:
lord trumpton said:
Yes they will continue to depreciate just like it's forebears. All this last v8 stuff may be true but that won't become a factor for another 10 years.
E30, e36 and e46 m3 all dropped to sub 10k in value before starting to appreciate and this will follow the same well worn path
You think E9X M3s will drop below E36 and E46? The dogs maybe, but not the good ones IMO. E46s have firmed up. I can see a good E9X being a safe place in terms of depreciation.E30, e36 and e46 m3 all dropped to sub 10k in value before starting to appreciate and this will follow the same well worn path
Edited by lord trumpton on Sunday 17th June 10:26
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
...which I assume won’t hurt values either.
However I’m not a buyer/investor who buys a car to look at, with the aim to make money on it; too scared to use it and pick up a stone chip or increase the mileage in case it harms the value. I’m a buyer/user who buys cars because I want to use them, experience them and enjoy them... if I can stave off any depreciation while I own a car then that’s just a nice bonus.
ArsE92 said:
Looks lovely and ticks all my boxes but a little beyond my current budget, which is already way beyond my original budget 
I had an A45 AMG pull on me in mine the other day until the M3 got to 6000rpm then It was slowly reeling it in after that. First modern hatch or similar car to do that. Normally a 235/240i or whatever would stay with me until 6krpm.
I had a go in a 240i the other day. Nice chunk of torque to begin with, was thinking wow this is going to be good. Then it got to just shy of 6k and it just started to feel weak. Totally lacked any fizz top end. Guess Im used to having that grufty old S65 making a racket and doing its thing by that point.
Oddly Ive been really enjoying mine recently, I guess decent weather helps being able to put down the power and I've learned to keep the revs up after all these years driving a turbo.
I had a go in a 240i the other day. Nice chunk of torque to begin with, was thinking wow this is going to be good. Then it got to just shy of 6k and it just started to feel weak. Totally lacked any fizz top end. Guess Im used to having that grufty old S65 making a racket and doing its thing by that point.
Oddly Ive been really enjoying mine recently, I guess decent weather helps being able to put down the power and I've learned to keep the revs up after all these years driving a turbo.
Looked at these as a natural progression from my e46 M.
I’ve come to the conclusion that they just don’t look like an M car. Really understated, especially in the darker colours.
M cars should look meaningful, not necessarily aggressive but something people take notice of when they see one in their rear view mirror.
These just don’t have that affect.
I’ve come to the conclusion that they just don’t look like an M car. Really understated, especially in the darker colours.
M cars should look meaningful, not necessarily aggressive but something people take notice of when they see one in their rear view mirror.
These just don’t have that affect.
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