Talk me out of an E92 M3…
Discussion
I currently have an E63 630i as my "sensible daily," which I bought just over a year ago but I have decided that it's really far too sensible for me and as I work from home, don't have any sort of commute and only use my car 2-3 days a week I could probably stomach the M3 running costs.
I was also looking at F8x M3/M4s but they're too much for me to comfortably spend on a car plus still have a lot of depreciating to do; F10 M5 is awesome but just too big for me; M235i/240i possibly a better all-rounder, but more expensive to buy and I've had a 118d and 120d so don't really fancy another F2x model; E92 335i, fantastic, another favourite of mine, more torque and lots of tuning potential, but not an M3.
I keep coming back to the E92 M3 and am struggling to think of reasons not to buy one - I've driven a number over the years, have always enjoyed them immensely and have always struggled to hand the keys back, plus I feel like the fact it would only get driven from time-to-time means it wouldn't ever start to feel dull or stale. People cite the lack of torque and need to use the revs as negatives, which I understand, but my 630i only makes a peaky 258hp and a lowly 232lb ft of torque and it feels fine to me, so a 160hp and 60lb ft increase would feel like a big jump in performance and muscle.
So, any reasons not to buy one…?!
I was also looking at F8x M3/M4s but they're too much for me to comfortably spend on a car plus still have a lot of depreciating to do; F10 M5 is awesome but just too big for me; M235i/240i possibly a better all-rounder, but more expensive to buy and I've had a 118d and 120d so don't really fancy another F2x model; E92 335i, fantastic, another favourite of mine, more torque and lots of tuning potential, but not an M3.
I keep coming back to the E92 M3 and am struggling to think of reasons not to buy one - I've driven a number over the years, have always enjoyed them immensely and have always struggled to hand the keys back, plus I feel like the fact it would only get driven from time-to-time means it wouldn't ever start to feel dull or stale. People cite the lack of torque and need to use the revs as negatives, which I understand, but my 630i only makes a peaky 258hp and a lowly 232lb ft of torque and it feels fine to me, so a 160hp and 60lb ft increase would feel like a big jump in performance and muscle.
So, any reasons not to buy one…?!
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.
ArsE92 said:
Looks lovely and ticks all my boxes but a little beyond my current budget, which is already way beyond my original budget 
c4sman said:
My search status just went from “serious” to “deal done” subject to viewing! More to follow after the weekend.
Nice work I just don't want to rush into anything - I've bought far too many cars on impulse so I want to take my time and I'm also going to be ultra-demanding and totally unwilling to compromise with any future purchase because this is going to be the most I've ever spent on a car and I want it to be exactly what I want and utterly perfect. I appreciate that might take me a bit longer to find the right car, but I'm willing to wait. c4sman said:
Thanks both, looking forward to it. Funny story about that exhaust guy Paul that you sent the link for. I’d found his site and planned to use him, was telling my mate last week who also has a 911, only for him to tell me that he booked him in May to sort his exhaust out (similar to e92 mod) in September. I’m wondering if I take a risk with the warranty and see if he’ll do both our cars in September. But maybe I should be patient, get to know the car first and do the (2 pipe) mod next year?
No! More noise now! 
Besides, I'm pretty sure the exhaust mod would only invalidate the warranty that applies to the silencer specifically and no other part of the exhaust or car so I wouldn't worry about it c4sman said:
How's your search going Buffy d? Recommend you look at a few cars as you might be surprised by the reality of what you think you're looking for. I had ruled out Interlagos Blue, only to now know that 1/ I had never seen one in the flesh and 2/ that I love it!
I've put it on hold for the moment because I go on holiday in 4 weeks' time for a week and didn't want to deal with the hassle of trying to juggle 3 cars before I went away on top of being very busy with work. But, I have promised myself that when I get back from holiday the serious search begins and I will be shopping for real. As I said before I am not willing to compromise on anything because this will be the most I've ever spent on a car and I want it to be perfect I love all blues on the M3, I also like Melbourne red and I will consider silver or grey but only with red leather. No blacks, whites or yellows for me. I actually think I might employ the services of Palmdale Motors for this hunt; I have one friend who has bought almost all his cars through them and has nothing but praise for them, and another friend who actually worked for them for a bit and also loves them. As much as I love hunting for cars I get the feeling they'll be able to do a better job than me, which is hard to say! But if they're as good as everyone says they are then I'm happy to let them do the legwork to find me the perfect car Gassing Station | M Power | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff