Should I buy an e90 m3?

[WarNox 1]

Hi,

I've been trying to decide what to buy for ~50k and can't stop thinking about the e90 m3, even though I know it's not a sensible option. For a similar price I saw a nice blue 2017 420i gran coupe with many extras (sold last week) which looked like a great deal, but it's not an m3. I have read many posts and watched videos regarding the issues with the e90, but no car is perfect.

Whatever I get, it would be a daily driver and I'd prefer 4 doors. Tracking it is an option, but not something I've done in the past.

Is the e90 m3 a good option, or should I be looking at something else which has similar performance? I had a quick look at 1Ms, but they seem a good 20-30k more expensive.

Cheers for any input.

[Jacko 2152]

1M is 2 door limited edition track toy, a 420 is a low end coupe Vs M3 which is top of the range? All over the place  420 is going to depreciate faster than the others get to 100kmh... 

Personally I think you would be mad to daily an M3, maintenance costs are not cheap. Id be looking at other models ending in 35i/d 40i/d etc 

[Matth5 471]

E92 M3 + a cheap daily? 

335i will be a nice combo of power + daily driveability. 

[WarNox 1]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, that post was a bit all over the show, I’m not really interested the 2-door track toy

You’re spot on with the depreciation of the 420. I seem to remember it was bought for around 90k 18 months ago.

Not that many 335i/d around but for the same price as an e90 m3 I could get one 3-4 years newer. Might just need to test drive both and go from there. 

[qube 3570]

if you have 50k to spend then it would be totally find to get an E90 M3 for 40k ish and set aside 10k for maintenance and repairs.

I would consider going for something F chassis but cant really compare it to a V8 M3 sound..

https://www.trademe.co.nz/1745416727

 

[WarNox 1]

Saw that one last night and the F30/F31 335d's seem to have good reviews, definitely worth looking at. Can't find an LCI model on trademe to see a 2015 vs 2016 price difference. Those facelift headlights are much nicer :)

[balancerider 752]

That one linked above is a poverty spec UK version with halogens, the pre-facelifts can be found with xenons which are just as good as LED's. I would suggest you look at importing a UK one, as you'll get a better spec with lower k's for same money. I paid 54k for a well specced 2016 m-sport touring 335d with 15k on it at the beginning of year.

[WarNox 1]

23 minutes ago, balancerider said:

That one linked above is a poverty spec UK version with halogens, the pre-facelifts can be found with xenons which are just as good as LED's. I would suggest you look at importing a UK one, as you'll get a better spec with lower k's for same money. I paid 54k for a well specced 2016 m-sport touring 335d with 15k on it at the beginning of year.

I was actually just looking at that. Decent price! Did you go through an importer to organise it all and find the car? If so, which one?

I’m in the UK until December so I might be able to work something out.

[balancerider 752]

Yes I used European Car Imports who were excellent to deal with. Would suggest you get a login for British Car Auctions sure and search for VAT qualifying options 

[WarNox 1]

Awesome, thanks. I've sent an email and signed up for BCA ?