What car for up to £25k (S5/M3/RS4)

Mulder said:
Nice one, appreciate the offer. I'm in SW15, and may well take you up on that depending on how tomorrow goes. If yours is for sale send the link, i'll take a look and then maybe offer you £25k. :D
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I'm in DA15 so not a million miles away. Not currently listed but I'm a better salesman in person :D

Mulder said:
Thanks for all the replies. This is what I'm taking out tomorrow, will keep you updated. :D
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Southern Sky are a good dealership, however that car is quite low-spec. It's got the DCT gearbox and the EDC suspension as well as being covered in all of the stick on carbon goodies, but it's got the basic BMW stereo (apparently quite bad) and no heated seats which will push it away from being a nice place to be as you said was a requirement. The carbon cube leather is a good touch though.
 
Went to Southern Sky earlier and took the M3 out:

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First impressions were.....WHAT A CAR. I love the look of it, it's got such a presence and whilst the black rims are a bit rude-boy for me I think I could get over them. It looks a lot like a mean panda. Exterior wise it's just so much nicer than the S/RS5, from all angles. I always thought the S5 looked great other than the side on profile where it looks a bit boring (I can hear Fox shouting, "that's because it's an A5!") , but this car looks fantastic all over. The bodywork had a couple of small nicks but nothing you wouldn't expect from a 6 year old car.

Drive felt very tight and engine sounded great. Could feel it only really got going at the higher revs but not to say it felt lacking further down, not that I noticed anyway. Didn't really have the opportunity to properly go at any corners but it felt great to drive overall, maybe I'm biased but I'd say better than the RS4 or S5 i've taken out recently. Particularly felt good on the corners. I thought I'd feel quite nervous given the extra power and RWD but didn't really, although it was only a 30 minute test drive! And it was dry.

Interior wise I definitely prefer the Audi's. The M3 just felt like a totally stock interior. Although once you actually get in and start driving the thing it makes much less of a difference. And once I actually buy the thing I doubt i'll stand over the drivers door peering in at length reviewing every angle. The cabin overall was a nice place to be, although I would much rather heated seats. I was glad on the steering wheel too, I was driving a 2015 M3 recently and the steering wheel was i) too thick and ii) too spongy.

Given that the depreciation hit will be lower than the competitors, and who knows, it may even go up in value, I'm definitely leaning toward the M3 now.

Voxination said:
Southern Sky are a good dealership, however that car is quite low-spec. It's got the DCT gearbox and the EDC suspension as well as being covered in all of the stick on carbon goodies, but it's got the basic BMW stereo (apparently quite bad) and no heated seats which will push it away from being a nice place to be as you said was a requirement. The carbon cube leather is a good touch though.
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Yep, you've pretty much summed up what I was thinking. Loved it but I don't think this was the one. £25k (they'd probably take high 23s or 24) and no competition pack whereas I've seen for example this, with much lower mileage and a better spec.

Does anyone know how you can see how many times the launch control has been used? I've heard it's a good way to get a feel for how the car has been driven by previous owners.

Also, would people recommend a pre purchase inspection with something like this? I was thinking either that, or taking a friend of a friend who is a mechanic and knows M3s well.

Voxination said:
I'm in DA15 so not a million miles away. Not currently listed but I'm a better salesman in person :D
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Talk to me! :D

If you have a couple of pics handy I'd definitely take a look if you're seriously selling it. I guess my first question would be though, why are you selling such a thing of beauty?!?! :p
 
Glad you loved it!

Mulder said:
Yep, you've pretty much summed up what I was thinking. Loved it but I don't think this was the one. £25k (they'd probably take high 23s or 24) and no competition pack whereas I've seen for example this, with much lower mileage and a better spec.
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Other than the boring colour I can't fault the spec there, looks to have nearly everything apart from keyless entry. It doesn't currently have a warranty on it however which will just mean your first year will be more expensive (I think, Fox?) if you wish to add one yourself.

Mulder said:
Does anyone know how you can see how many times the launch control has been used? I've heard it's a good way to get a feel for how the car has been driven by previous owners.
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Not sure if there's a way to identify it yourself, but BMW (and therefore specialists I should imagine) allegedly have the equipment to be able to tell how many launches a car has done. Might be worth a phonecall to a dealer local to any cars you go and see to see if they don't mind quickly reading the key for you.

Mulder said:
Also, would people recommend a pre purchase inspection with something like this? I was thinking either that, or taking a friend of a friend who is a mechanic and knows M3s well.
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If you have a mechanic friend just take them along, they're very reliable cars and the only common issues are throttle actuators which will be covered by a warranty if you chose to purchase one, and there's no way to tell these are about to go but once they do go the dash will light up like a Christmas tree and the car will be limited to low revs only. This can occasionally reset when the car is restarted, so with every car you drive just make sure you take it to quite high revs at some point to make sure the car doesn't throw a hissy fit.

Mulder said:
Talk to me! :D

If you have a couple of pics handy I'd definitely take a look if you're seriously selling it. I guess my first question would be though, why are you selling such a thing of beauty?!?! :p
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I'll send you an email to save turning your thread into a sales pitch, but it's being sold to make way for a 911 hopefully :)
 
Mulder said:
Yep, you've pretty much summed up what I was thinking. Loved it but I don't think this was the one. £25k (they'd probably take high 23s or 24) and no competition pack whereas I've seen for example this, with much lower mileage and a better spec.
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Ha ha. That motor is waaaaayyyyy up there. If you go for it, it would almost be rude not to kick things off with the NC500 since you'll only be around 70 miles from the start, lol.
 
Voxination said:
Other than the boring colour I can't fault the spec there, looks to have nearly everything apart from keyless entry. It doesn't currently have a warranty on it however which will just mean your first year will be more expensive (I think, Fox?) if you wish to add one yourself.
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Yea, a new policy is about 15% more than a renewal.
 
Mulder said:
Drive felt very tight and engine sounded great. Could feel it only really got going at the higher revs but not to say it felt lacking further down, not that I noticed anyway. Didn't really have the opportunity to properly go at any corners but it felt great to drive overall, maybe I'm biased but I'd say better than the RS4 or S5 i've taken out recently. Particularly felt good on the corners. I thought I'd feel quite nervous given the extra power and RWD but didn't really, although it was only a 30 minute test drive! And it was dry.
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I actually spent a lot of time driving the M3 and RS4 back to back, more than once. The M3 is certainly the more fun at pace and has a better front end but when the roads get bumpy or damp/wet the RS4 is better at dealing with it, much better in my experience. On a dry country road I'd take the M3 everytime but when the road is broken up, lets say somewhere like the NC500 I would chose the RS4, it's party piece is how well damped (amazing for an Audi) it is, very important on the road and how well it puts the power down. It will understeer but really this can be dealt with by driving it accordingly and really it doesn't show itself unless you are really pushing on or driving it like a rock ape.

The RS4 never feels fast and as I said it actually isn't that quick based on the bhp it's supposed to have, I'd say E46 M3 pace up to 100mph, bit quicker over it. It hides its pace and every time I drove one before I bought one I felt it slow. However once I bought one and understood it I grew to appreciate it. If you are not doing lots of miles and mostly weekend fun in the dry then the M3 is the one. If it's going to be used all weathers, all roads, all the time the RS4 is the one to have.

Both are brilliant, but different in how they do what they do.
 
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Ignoring the transmission. Which would you say make the better GT'esq car?

RS4 will like be my next car. Friends have mentioned the M3. but for some reason it doesn't appeal to me as much as the Audi.
 
DAIR said:
Ignoring the transmission. Which would you say make the better GT'esq car?

RS4 will like be my next car. Friends have mentioned the M3. but for some reason it doesn't appeal to me as much as the Audi.
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RS4 I think, more all round which is what a GT car should be, but both are really superb cars. Down to personal preference really, you can not really go wrong with either.
 
Voxination said:
I can't see a reason not to get a 911 to be honest. Nothing definite yet though, pending a few things falling in to place.
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Cool cool, looking forward to seeing what you get if it all goes to plan. Shame your M3 isn't a convertible or it may of tempted me.
 
DAIR said:
Ignoring the transmission. Which would you say make the better GT'esq car?

RS4 will like be my next car. Friends have mentioned the M3. but for some reason it doesn't appeal to me as much as the Audi.
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I'd consider the C63 too, assuming you don't mind auto.

I've got a DCT M3 and I'd choose the DCT every time over the manual.
 
jamoor said:
I'd consider the C63 too, assuming you don't mind auto.

I've got a DCT M3 and I'd choose the DCT every time over the manual.
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Test drove one of those a couple years back. Loved every second of it. However this time around I want something with a high rev limit. The C63 only revs to a little over 7k - Torque Monster.
 
Blackhawk47 said:
I'd rather a 12 plate S5 than a 12 plate M3 E92...IMO but I am biased towards audis. :p
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:p

With regard to that M3, you really want to plumb for one with the HK stereo as the basic BMW stereos are just dire.

I fell foul of thsi myself not realising how bad they are and had to upgrade it in the end it was so terrible. Have audison speakers, a sub firing through the ski hatch (can be hidden), an alpine head unit and a rainbow amplifier now. Sounds great now but if you are spending 25k you don't wanna be faffing about changing the stereo :)
 
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Krisali said:
:p

With regard to that M3, you really want to plumb for one with the HK stereo as the basic BMW stereos are just dire.

I fell foul of thsi myself not realising how bad they are and had to upgrade it in the end it was so terrible. Have audison speakers, a sub firing through the ski hatch (can be hidden), an alpine head unit and a rainbow amplifier now. Sounds great now but if you are spending 25k you don't wanna be faffing about changing the stereo :)
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Yep, I've heard that so definitely want the upgraded stereo. I'm struggling to find one that has all the options I want (DTC, auto, heated seats, stereo, DAB) and is facelift, 25k or less and is either white or dark grey. Might have to stretch the budget but would rather not.

The search continues.
 
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