Would you run a snotter alongside an E46 M3?
Discussion
Hi,
new job involves a 24 mile round trip. So will have to take the M3 to the work car park and it will become the daily driver.
Do you think I should buy a snotter to do this commute? Its all pretty much stop/start apart from 5 miles of NSL.
Just taking into account maintenance costs, insurance etc, and general dings etc in the car park.
Also making it a daily driver would take away from the 'special' factor?
Then again its a £10k car and not exactly a Porsche is it!
new job involves a 24 mile round trip. So will have to take the M3 to the work car park and it will become the daily driver.
Do you think I should buy a snotter to do this commute? Its all pretty much stop/start apart from 5 miles of NSL.
Just taking into account maintenance costs, insurance etc, and general dings etc in the car park.
Also making it a daily driver would take away from the 'special' factor?
Then again its a £10k car and not exactly a Porsche is it!
Personally, I'd use a snotter. It may only be £10k of car, but it must be worth more than that in sentimental value - it's your P&J. You'll kick yourself in twelve months when you see it covered in parking dings, compared to the assumedly good condition it's in now.
I also think that driving the M3 every day will take the shine off it. You probably get in it now and enjoy your time behind the wheel - well, I'm sure someone more experienced in psychology than me can explain why, but assocating the M3 with rush hour traffic is a fine way to fall out of love with it. No time to experience it's finer points, all the time to nitpick and find things you don't like. Nobody finds enjoyment out of any car when all they're doing is nose-to-tail commuting.
When I had an M3 I ran a daily driver. Granted, it was a 120d, but it made me appreciate the M3 so much more when I took it out on the weekends. If you truly enjoy the BMW, I would strongly suggest finding a shed to commute around in. Do what I did and buy one of the SOTWs for £290
that's about the price of a PilotSport for the M3!
(side note - I'm guessing you have an E46 M3. Does your exhaust sound rattly when it's cold? I seem to remember mine sounding awful when I first started it up but it smoothed out beautifully after a few minutes).
I also think that driving the M3 every day will take the shine off it. You probably get in it now and enjoy your time behind the wheel - well, I'm sure someone more experienced in psychology than me can explain why, but assocating the M3 with rush hour traffic is a fine way to fall out of love with it. No time to experience it's finer points, all the time to nitpick and find things you don't like. Nobody finds enjoyment out of any car when all they're doing is nose-to-tail commuting.
When I had an M3 I ran a daily driver. Granted, it was a 120d, but it made me appreciate the M3 so much more when I took it out on the weekends. If you truly enjoy the BMW, I would strongly suggest finding a shed to commute around in. Do what I did and buy one of the SOTWs for £290
that's about the price of a PilotSport for the M3!(side note - I'm guessing you have an E46 M3. Does your exhaust sound rattly when it's cold? I seem to remember mine sounding awful when I first started it up but it smoothed out beautifully after a few minutes).
24 miles is nothing, use it every day. By the time you have bought a snotter, insured, taxed, MOTd & maintained it you might as well just enjoy the M3. Plus it's more fun on the drive there & back, just try to park it with the passenger side against a wall, that way generally people parking next to you won't be getting out of the passenger side, so should minimize parking dings.
I guesstimate that's about £1800 a year on fuel. I also guesstimate that if you buy another car including costs for that and including depreciation savings on the M3 you'll save about £600 a year if you find a reliable car for under £1K that does about double the mpg. I'm not sure it's worth it but would you be devastated if the M3 got a minor scratch or dent in a car park and you had to spend a bit of cash to get it repaired?
I think yes or no is your answer to should you get a cheap, economical run around.
I think yes or no is your answer to should you get a cheap, economical run around.
We did the same with our tidy clk, mrs works at a unit for teenagers in care with "behaviuor issues" so we always keep a snotter for her work, problem is you end up getting attached to the snotter. When we sold the clk we were going to buy a 3 year old e60 ended up only running the snotter for 18 months by the time we got the e60 it just seemed a waste of money.
RWD cossie wil said:
24 miles is nothing, use it every day. By the time you have bought a snotter, insured, taxed, MOTd & maintained it you might as well just enjoy the M3. Plus it's more fun on the drive there & back, just try to park it with the passenger side against a wall, that way generally people parking next to you won't be getting out of the passenger side, so should minimize parking dings.
I'm really struggling to see how a 25 mile commute, 20 miles of which is nose to tail traffic is goin g to be "more fun" than the same s
t experience in a snotter. It just seems like unnecessary wear on the M3.What you need for the commute is a comfortable automatic, not an old banger.
An M3 is not what many would expect to find within a collection of cars. It's more what you buy when you only want to run one car. It gets suggested over far more exciting stuff because it's a good all-rounder. Use it as such. There are lots of interesting sports cars you could tuck away in the garage if you want to run 2 cars.
An M3 is not what many would expect to find within a collection of cars. It's more what you buy when you only want to run one car. It gets suggested over far more exciting stuff because it's a good all-rounder. Use it as such. There are lots of interesting sports cars you could tuck away in the garage if you want to run 2 cars.
Mastodon2 said:
RWD cossie wil said:
24 miles is nothing, use it every day. By the time you have bought a snotter, insured, taxed, MOTd & maintained it you might as well just enjoy the M3. Plus it's more fun on the drive there & back, just try to park it with the passenger side against a wall, that way generally people parking next to you won't be getting out of the passenger side, so should minimize parking dings.
I'm really struggling to see how a 25 mile commute, 20 miles of which is nose to tail traffic is goin g to be "more fun" than the same st experience in a snotter. It just seems like unnecessary wear on the M3.HannsG said:
Think I will run the M3 and see how it goes. Whats the point in owning such a capable car and not driving it.
I'll just make sure I'll park it carefully.
This. Just do what I do, park in the FURTHEST space away from the office, which also just so happens to have a wall next to it (thus halving the risk of a car park ding already) and I park so close to the wall that I never have to worry about the idiot the other side of me getting too close as they'll still have plenty of room, it seems to have worked for the last year+ I'll just make sure I'll park it carefully.
Edited by HannsG on Sunday 29th June 15:34
Krikkit said:
Mastodon2 said:
RWD cossie wil said:
24 miles is nothing, use it every day. By the time you have bought a snotter, insured, taxed, MOTd & maintained it you might as well just enjoy the M3. Plus it's more fun on the drive there & back, just try to park it with the passenger side against a wall, that way generally people parking next to you won't be getting out of the passenger side, so should minimize parking dings.
I'm really struggling to see how a 25 mile commute, 20 miles of which is nose to tail traffic is goin g to be "more fun" than the same st experience in a snotter. It just seems like unnecessary wear on the M3.Hopefully I will be starting a new job soon, hence why I bought the M3, as I will be doing 150 miles a week instead of 400+, which means I can afford to drive somthing less frugal with the pay off of it being more fun.
To me an E46 M3 is good enough to use everyday, whilst still being fun at the weekend or evening blast.
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