Replace my 130i with a E46 M3?

[edition]

Hi,

Just wondering what people thought about swapping a mint low mileage facelift 130i for a 12kish M3?

I'm either going to keep the 130 long term or swap for M3 to keep for the long haul.

Are nice M3's about for 12kish and am I going to feel like I've made a leap forward?

My main concern is that I know my current car is right in every respect and worry that a 12k M3 might be a dog.....


Any advice would be great!

[Paul_M3]

A 12k e46 M3 should definitely not be a dog.

I recently traded in my 2005 M3 SMG. It was fully loaded: heated seats, sat nav, digital tv.

Good colour combo: Silver grey with Black leather. Full service history.

Mileage was a bit high at 81,000 but other than that is was about as good as you'd get.

I think it sold for about 10k.

[tomwoodis]

It certainly won't be a dog at that price but like you, I'm wondering what you'd really gain out of the swap. The 130 is a great car as well.

Are you likely to loose more on the 1 series over the next few years compared with the M3? That might help justify it with a bit of man maths

[redtwin]

Sounds like a good swap to me, but then I don't like any 1 series, so even if you were thinking of replacing it with a Golf or Focus you would still get two of these .

[Baz Tench]

tomwoodis said:

It certainly won't be a dog at that price but like you, I'm wondering what you'd really gain out of the swap. The 130 is a great car as well.

Are you likely to loose more on the 1 series over the next few years compared with the M3? That might help justify it with a bit of man maths

You will definitely get a good M3 for 12k. There is plenty of choice with that budget.

They can attract a fair bit of the wrong attention though, whereas a 130i looks like a diesel rep-mobile to most. I like that sleeper element with them.

[Fox-]

12k is a lovely budget for an E46 M3. You'll get a really nice one rather than a tatty 5 owner 'mint innit' example that half the internet seems to think is a cracking 7k buy these days.

[Gruber]

The 130 is a great little car and surprisingly under-rated. But the M3 is a step up in almost every regard. And the performance will be a noticeable leap forward.

But then the costs will be higher as well - insurance, servicing, fuel etc.

You should get a very good one for 12k. Plenty of advice on the "M" pages on things to look out for.

Personally, I'd choose manual over SMG. The SMG system isn't bad, and it's a joy on the open road, but there's more to go wrong and it's not the easiest for around-town low-speed manoeuvring.