Me Again...I Can't Decide on a Car..

Thing is I know what you mean but the sentiment is still there. A bora tdi a older 3series would allow the same without sacrificing your soul.
 
Thing is I know what you mean but the sentiment is still there. A bora tdi a older 3series would allow the same without sacrificing your soul.

It would also mean doing 20,000 miles a year in an old Bora. Thats fine for some but I'd imagine he probably doesn't want to step out of a £25,000 car and move to that.
 
Well, sold the M3 tonight so the hunt is definitely on. Test driving the 335d tomorrow morning and then the Alfa 159. Will be an odd comparison but will see how it goes.
 
Well, sold the M3 tonight so the hunt is definitely on. Test driving the 335d tomorrow morning and then the Alfa 159. Will be an odd comparison but will see how it goes.

I'd be interested to see how you find the two as well, as I like both cars. I imagine you'll find the 159 very under powered compared to the 335D.
 
Id keep the m3, with depretiation and the cost of changing cars its hardly going to be worth having a car that isnt as good because the saving wouldnt be big enough unless im miles off the mark and you would be saving loads?

how much do you think you will be saving by changing and keeping whatever you buy for say 3 years op?
 
I predict a big drop in M3 prices in the later half this year. You can see on autotrader and PH how many have been up for sale for months at the same price. If private sellers have to drop their prices to get buyers, the dealers are going to have to follow eventually. The E9x is going to go the same way as the E46, which you can get for peanuts these days.
 
I predict a big drop in M3 prices in the later half this year. You can see on autotrader and PH how many have been up for sale for months at the same price. If private sellers have to drop their prices to get buyers, the dealers are going to have to follow eventually. The E9x is going to go the same way as the E46, which you can get for peanuts these days.

Congrats / commiserations on the sale... :)

Did you get close to asking?
 
Congrats / commiserations on the sale... :)

Did you get close to asking?

I'll miss her, but as soon as I stop commuting so many miles I will buy another. Such a good car (except for commuting on your own money). I had her up for 22k, got hardly any calls except people offering 19k. So I dropped it to 21.5k and got 5 calls in a day; one guy came from Suffolk to see it and left me £200 deposit and will be returning today with the balance, I hope. Sold for 21k. Not bad at all considering the other stupid offers I was getting. BMW offered me 18k p/x.
 
I'll miss her, but as soon as I stop commuting so many miles I will buy another. Such a good car (except for commuting on your own money). I had her up for 22k, got hardly any calls except people offering 19k. So I dropped it to 21.5k and got 5 calls in a day; one guy came from Suffolk to see it and left me £200 deposit and will be returning today with the balance, I hope. Sold for 21k. Not bad at all considering the other stupid offers I was getting. BMW offered me 18k p/x.

Definately congrats then, I'm genuinely suprised / pleased for you.

Not suprised about the £18-£19k offers, so I think you've done really well there... Fingers crossed it all goes through... :)
 
Definately congrats then, I'm genuinely suprised / pleased for you.

Not suprised about the £18-£19k offers, so I think you've done really well there... Fingers crossed it all goes through... :)

Cheers. Well the guy phoned and get get down today as his bank cant authorise the payment due to it being bank hol weekend. I've still got his deposit though and he said he'll collect it as soon as the bank authorise it.

Just test drove the 335d. I know in the past people have managed to get 2 years warranty thrown in but the salesman said that they cant do it because of regulations with the FSA :confused:
I'm not sure its worth spending that much though, a 325d or 330d would do the job just as well.

http://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/showthread.php?t=50544

Just found that, expensive for an E46 but a very nice example. From my experience the E46 is better built than the E9x.
 
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http://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/showthread.php?t=50544

Just found that, expensive for an E46 but a very nice example. From my experience the E46 is better built than the E9x.

If you're looking at considering E46s, have you thought about a 330Ci? More reliable engine, and cheaper to boot...

Or:-
http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201214461309539/sort/priceasc/usedcars/transmission/manual/engine-size-cars/3l_to_3-9l/quantity-of-doors/2/fuel-type/petrol/body-type/coupe/model/3_series/make/bmw/radius/1500/keywords/nav/page/2/postcode/le33dp?logcode=p

^^ That makes a ridiculous amount of sense as a daily...
 
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Just found that, expensive for an E46 but a very nice example. From my experience the E46 is better built than the E9x.

If you're considering e46 then definitely look at the petrols as well.
for example:http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif.../radius/1500/postcode/e140en/page/1?logcode=p

The lower purchase price and reduced depreciation will make up for any lost economy. This if very true for a e90 330i as well, plenty of them to chose from at under 10k.

Similarly, 12k for a e46 330cd is a lot of money, especially when you can get this for 8k:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif.../page/1/postcode/e140en/radius/1500?logcode=p
 
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A 3L petrol 'makes a ridiculous amount of sense as a daily' - Seriously ?!?

Yes? The values are depressed by the fact most people think like you that the only cost of running a car is fuel economy. I run a 3 litre petrol as a daily and its great.

No less valid than your choice to spend more in depreciation on a 26k 118 surely? Just a different way of managing the tco.
 
BMW only quoted 31MPG on the 330ci (E46), Pretty unusual to beat the official figures.

Only?

I averaged 27mpg in both of mine with that engine, and I'm not gentle...

Besides, the car linked is a different generation of car & engine, and the figures on the link show 38.9mpg combined... (so work on low to mid 30s)

Can't think of much vaguely interesting at this price point that puts those sort of figures into the shade...

Starting to I think I have a warped sense of reality, as that seems the 'sensible' option to me...
 
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