Drivers car, 4 seats, sub 10K. Opinions?

To throw a spanner in the works the teenager has cast doubts on my taste, and eyesight, with regards to the E46 M3! :D

Disparaging comments range from "It looks sooo old" to "the interior belongs in an old age home" via "you have got to be kidding".

Suffice to say he's not a fan. He wants a remapped 335i. Suits his image better! :D:D:D
 
Gepetto said:
To throw a spanner in the works the teenager has cast doubts on my taste, and eyesight, with regards to the E46 M3! :D

Disparaging comments range from "It looks sooo old" to "the interior belongs in an old age home" via "you have got to be kidding".

Suffice to say he's not a fan. He wants a remapped 335i. Suits his image better! :D:D:D
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Your teenager needs a more diverse taste in cars. :p
 
Gepetto said:
To throw a spanner in the works the teenager has cast doubts on my taste, and eyesight, with regards to the E46 M3! :D

Disparaging comments range from "It looks sooo old" to "the interior belongs in an old age home" via "you have got to be kidding".

Suffice to say he's not a fan. He wants a remapped 335i. Suits his image better! :D:D:D
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If your teenager is less likely to steal it and park it in the nearest hedge...is that not a good thing?

Anyway what's wrong with him/her (her would make much more sense tbh), I'd have killed to get a shot in an M3 as a teenager.
 
acme15 said:
Your teenager needs a more diverse taste in cars. :p
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He generally displays good taste in cars actually. He's fifteen, and to date has driven....a Model T Ford, a Renault Clio, A Ferrari F430 and an Audi R8. Those are the only cars he's driven mind! :D

rodenal said:
If your teenager is less likely to steal it and park it in the nearest hedge...is that not a good thing?

Anyway what's wrong with him/her (her would make much more sense tbh), I'd have killed to get a shot in an M3 as a teenager.
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He doesn't yet appreciate the great over the merely good methinks, and can only see the fact that the E46 is an older generation. He is of the opinion that older must be worse, and has the same opinion of the E39 M5 too, and would love me to buy the V10. He'll learn. :D

P.S. My mate has taken him out in his M3, and our youngster's comment was that it wasn't any quicker than our 5 Series! Which, granted, in a straight line, is probably not far off. Nuances. :D
 
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Little update. :D

I almost bought an E46 M3, but (on 19" tyres at least) it has a suspension that is too hard for the rubbish road surface on my daily commute. I have some mechanical sympathy for my cars, and I winced at the same places every time over the week I drove it. I'm sure the car was fine, and could handle it perfectly well, I just thought no, I'm not doing this to it! Other than that these things are awesome!! Twice!!

I eventually discounted the 330i and the 335i (after test drives) as I found them quite similar to my 5 Series, so it didn't really make sense to change from that point of view, as I was looking for something different. The performance of the 335i is staggering, but very smooth, and I think to make it into a drivers car you'd need to tune it to a level that it would be very easy to get into real trouble or lose your licence. Possibly the best all rounder I looked at, just a little too well developed and effortless, if that makes sense.

I drove the R32 Golf, which I loved, and the MK5 GTi, which I didn't. The R32's noise is epic, and it felt special, but they are very expensive at the moment and I couldn't justify the premium over the rather more ordinary, but equally capable, and more easily tunable, GTi, which I found a bit bland. I had a good look at the Audi TT, in 3.2 and in early 2.0 versions, but the back seats are, as was pointed out, simply too small to be of any use. My 5 year old didn't fit!

I also drove the Focus ST which I absolutely loved. But they are quite pricey for what they are, which is a performance version of one of the most popular runabouts on the road. Also, in Essex, it seems like everyone has one! Great car though, and as Ross said, hilariously tunable, just perhaps not special enough. I didn't, for instance, look at it and think "Oh yes, yes please!".

Over the last month to six weeks my search has included something a bit different, and this is what I've bought.



I haven't driven it much as yet, maybe 200 miles or so, but I'm happy with it, and it has potential. It definitely doesn't have the build quality of my BMW, but it rides smoothly on the road, and feels well planted. It feels more "alive" through the wheel and the seat, perhaps because it is less refined. It's much noisier as far as road noise is concerned and the exhaust is quite loud, but has a really lovely burble to it. It looks like an aftermarket system but I have no comparison, and it also sports a K&N aftermarket panel filter, so it has been owned by an enthusiast.

It is a Cat D, stolen recovered, and was found in a container ready for shipping to far off lands apparently, but, I'm going on what the dealer stated and will need to contact the previous owner to gain more insight.

I've bought the car on emotion, and I'm not disappointed so far. We shall see.

As I'm planning to do a few small mods I will start a thread on those once my pocket has recovered. :D
 
Take it this is one of the Ralliart hatches? I quite like them, would have thought £10k would be well outside cat D money though

Or is it a full fat evo, can't quite tell from the photo, arches don't look flared enough though
 
rodenal said:
Take it this is one of the Ralliart hatches? I quite like them, would have thought £10k would be well outside cat D money though

Or is it a full fat evo, can't quite tell from the photo, arches don't look flared enough though
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Sorry rodenal, it is the hatch. I'll post a pic of the rear quarter.
 
I don't get it, how do you go from wanting an E46 M3 to buying a Cat D non Evo Lancer?

Also, if only the 335i was just like a 5 Series, I wouldn't have sold mine :(
 
[TW]Fox;26194806 said:
I don't get it, how do you go from wanting an E46 M3 to buying a Cat D non Evo Lancer?

Also, if only the 335i was just like a 5 Series, I wouldn't have sold mine :(
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I didn't want an M3 Fox. I had discounted it on the grounds of it being to focussed for my daily commute, but there was such support for it in this thread that I felt I should give it a really thorough trial.

The 335i is a brilliant car, one of the best and most capable cars ever, just slightly uninvolving for my commute, as well as being too effortlessly fast. I did not feel it had any particular advantages over my 545i, and I wanted a different, perhaps rawer, character.
 
I'm about to put my 335i up which is auto 60k miles with all the trimmings long warranty and tax for mid 10k so it's doable for around your budget.

Edit- oops just seen update.
 
[TW]Fox;26195055 said:
How is a regular Lancer raw and involving? It's surely neither.
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Regular Lancer? Not. :p

Basic engine is from the EVO X, detuned to 237BHP, and it has the four wheel drive system too, but without the AYC. Apparently, a remap and EVO X intercooler will see close to 300BHP. I do intend to dyno it, so we'll see.

P.S. Thanks Gaygle. Sorry. What are you buying?
 
I always feel mild disappointment with these. I get a little excited when it drives towards me thinking "EVOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" (yeah I'm a child :D), then I see the hatchbackishness and my excitement is banished :(

Out of interest what made you go for this over the evo?
 
mccarf said:
Out of interest what made you go for this over the evo?
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I must confess to wanting a less hardcore car than the EVO X, and the X is also too expensive for me at the moment. Decent ones seem to start at around 13-14K, which was out of budget.

The Sportback seemed to be a compromise between a sporty car and a family hatch, both of which are important to me. It's based on proven running gear with some potential that should be easy to unlock, and the more reading I did on them belittled the negative press they got at launch. Every owner seems to love them, which is also true of the Focus ST, and that was important to me as well.

The hatch gives me the family practicality I need, and, whilst the back doesn't match the sharpness of the front, I quite like it, although it can look a little bulky. You also don't see many of them about, which was part of the attraction.
 
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