Get a late 90s Miata and build it up for handling. Its so much more fun then going fast in a straight line IMO.

 

nah i'd like be able to take 4 ppl with me and it needs to have balls in stock form...



























CTS-V wagon ahhhheeeeeeeemmmmm :P

 

Well I dont want to really derail this thread, but if you're looking for a fun, non-daily driver, why does it need to carry 4 people? Some of the cars youre listing are more of a daily driver then a weekend car.

 

Well, first of all i'm glad you've leaned ur opinion on beamers and are considering an E46 M3. I promise you won't regret it, not like i know from experience, but my father loved his and if done right with maintenance, than you will definitely have a good time. The aftemarket parts and mods are endless although pricey, this is all common sense obviously.

As for choosing the color, IMO the laguna seca blue has ALWAYS been my favorite. It's just so beautiful and stands out in a good way. But you cannot go wrong with red, or even the black is sharp. I hope you follow through with the E46, I'd love to see a new build on here! I say go for it man

 

who's is the black one you posted ? i really like it the stealth mode is what i am looking for

 

Im not sure exactly whose it is, but you can make one look like that easily..


I find most of my images on bimmerpost, e46fanatics, 6speedonline, and m3post. check them out

 

I think i know where is it. I've seen that background before. I think im gonna make a phone call to this guy if i am right he used to own a cl before. I could be wrong.

 

 

what about e39 m5 vs e46 m3 ? those are two that would be most fun cars to drive and be able to take somebody with me

 

Not surprisingly, the E39 has a bunch of extensive maintenance needed most people skip. But the M-Sport 540i 6MT is a hell of a car.

I wanted one badly in the early 00s. If a good one can be found now that has been properly taken care of then I think it is an option.

It will likely be much cheaper too. At least initially.

 

yeah im only looking at the stock and clean ones from 03 under 80k miles but they are hell expensive to purchase

 

I just noticed you said M5. That has a host of special items to do too.

 

I'm looking at used 6G Accords and happened to notice that used E46 323's 1999-2000 sell for less than 2000-2002 Accords. Quick question, how bad/good are the early E46's reliability wise?

A few have 140K-190K miles, I presume they are not like Honda's but what are they like once they are up to that mileage.

 

I'd suggest doing some e39 M5 research here: http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39...z8-discussion/

 

dont buy a german car with that milage...

 

Especially a 323 or similar. At least with an M3 there is a good chance a 140k mile car has been maintained with good records.

That said there are E36s with 400k on the motors so they can go a while if they are well maintained. Not like an Accord that seems to be just an oil change and go for 400k.

 

A buddy of mine's that I work with. He bought this about 5 years ago from a guy for $22k with low mileage and racing dynamic wheels. It's in amazing shape but he does have a lot of work in maintaining it.

 

Here are some more pics...




E36 M3 anybody??











Uploaded with ImageShack.us


Shame on whoever was responsible for this.


Thanks for looking.

 

Probably BMW to be honest They had problems with trunk wiring harnesses fraying and occasionally starting carbeques in the E36 and early E46 models

 

Yeah, the better side of my brain took hold.

Damn shame since I saw two nice 323 that were in very good condition (6-7 on a 10 scale) and they visibly cared for much better than any of the 6G Accords we looked at.

One of my wife's friends is a BMW tech and he talked me out of it too. If you have the time and don't mind working on them they are great cars he said but expect many electronic gremlins. He has a E32 5MT with almost 300K miles but he also works on his own and gets OEM parts at wholesale as well.

 

What do you BMW guys think of this:

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...17820846&Log=0


or this.

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...23602630&Log=0

 

From the pics, the first one looks like it's in better shape even though it has more miles. Too bad there's no x-ray into the engine and trans, though.

 

Thanks for your thoughts. Yeah...I'm just unsure of the "electrical gremlins" and so forth, that are always posted here.

Probably just look at Miatas.

 

You could get a Miata Grand Touring for that money. Should be a much better experience.

That said, I would rather have a sport packaged 330i or ZHP if I was going to get a BMW.

 

Uploaded with ImageShack.us


Shit quality, Amazingly done.

Probably the sexiest/best looking E46 M3 I've yet to see...



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Stanced. Kills the performance, but i must say looks fuckin' phenomenal

 

I dont understand the quality of the germans sometimes, makes me a ltl angry too.

Why dont they fire their whole quality control team and hire a new one?

Dont get me wrong I love bmw, vw, mercedes, audi, and porsche (although this one is an exception to the problem which i'll explain)

sure these cars are more fun to drive, but that doesnt mean it shouldnt be reliable.

Now my example. Porsche. I read an article years ago about the quality of porsche cars. Porsche hired someone that used to work with toyota and used that person to deal with quality. And well with that, if i'm not mistaken porsche while costly to maintain is actually a RELIABLE car. And no one can say that porsche is not a great car. My point is, while yes these german cars are costly for maintenance and labor. There's no reason for it not to be reliable so it will cut down costs of these things also cause you dont have to worry about it breaking down all the time and fixing things that shouldnt need to be fixed.

I'm gonna see if i can find that article.

Also E46 M3 is amazing, i'd buy one if i had the money. I hope i do haha cause this is one of my favorite cars.

 

this is looks amazing....

 

My 04 accord went 160K easily with few oil change and 1 transmission fluid drain lol, but if we're talking of shit poor maintenance, a Honda won't last longer than a TOYOTA 4 cyl that could go 100K with no oil change and still be fine.

 

My opinion on BMWs has changed drastically since coming over to Car Talk ..

If I was making a little more money, I would consider an E46 M3 .. I hear they really are worth the $ to upkeep with what the car gives you in return. Great styling and performance.

One of these days

PS, go with the E46 M3!