Ok,

I have an 05 Mk one Octy vRS which has 60k on the clock so on a good day I might get £4k for it...

I have been given a few quid and have always wanted to own an awesome car, if only just for a year to get it out of my system. Having looked around, the M3 seems like a good choice. Max budget is £10k and I want something fast and fun but not a 2 seater or anything too mental or Japanese. There seems to be some pretty good M3's out there for not a lot of money, such as:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201116385478741/sort/priceasc/usedcars/maximum-mileage/up_to_60000_miles/price-from/7000/seller-type/trade_adverts/price-to/10000/maximum-age/up_to_10_years_old/model/m3/make/bmw/postcode/bs328bd/page/1/radius/200?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201124390985525/sort/priceasc/usedcars/price-from/7000/maximum-age/up_to_10_years_old/seller-type/trade_adverts/price-to/10000/body-type/coupe/maximum-mileage/up_to_60000_miles/model/m3/make/bmw/page/1/postcode/bs328bd/radius/200?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201124391077607/sort/priceasc/usedcars/seller-type/trade_adverts/maximum-mileage/up_to_80000_miles/price-to/9000/price-from/8000/maximum-age/up_to_10_years_old/model/m3/make/bmw/page/1/postcode/bs328bd/radius/200?logcode=p

What do you think? I'm pretty sure I can live with the living costs of one for a year, has anyone owned/driven one on here? They seem to have pretty good reviews online and for under £10k it's a lot of car for the money...

I love cars and motorsport and feel this is my only opportunity to go for it, you only live once and I may aswell enjoy myself whilst I'm young(ish!) at 27!!

Thoughts/comments...?

never drove one but for 10K that is a lot of car I would say go for it and do it while you can.

One word of advise from experience, once you owned a car like that it is hard to go back to a normal car :(

I saw one of these yesterday in that heat wave, and it looked cool as f**k parked up with the roof down.

I'd say go for it. I was gonna get one before I got my second (current) vrs, but I'm only 23 and insurnace would cripple me!

Yes I completely agree, for £10k it is A LOT of car for the money. There is not much else out there that'll do 0-60 in 5secs, handle well, be comfortable with an array of gadgets and just generally be a good car. Was considering Scooby/Evo/R32 but all have more negatives than the M3.

Yes I can imagine it will be hard to sell but long term I want to come back to Skoda, a new vRS estate in white with black rims and lowered with a few tasteful mods, but before that I really want to experience something awesome. They sound soooo nice too, that powerful straight six...

I do love the look of them, I like to think they've lost that snobby 'repmobile' image a bit now but there is no denying it's a great car.

Well I'm 27 with 9 years NCB, have yet to ring Elephant but am hoping it won't be anything silly?! If I do get one I just really want a decent one, so I have to do as little as possible to it over the year and then sell for as much as possible, will it go down much more in price? 20mpg and BMW servicing is a bit worrying tho...

Which one do you like from the 3 above?

Would love to get into a scooby again but the M3 it's a more grown up car and still bags of power and fun, depending on what your needs are and what you are looking for I would consider Japs motors as well, you can get real sports car for not much, skyline R32, 350z old evo (expensive to run and maintain) springs to mind.

my old 350Z modified costed me just under £800 x year with Sky, at the time 28 and 6ncb

Ali @ unit18 has just bought one a 53 plate to play with, already mapped it and fitted Eibach springs. Real drivers car and none of the troublesome VANOS to go wrong. Paid well less than 10k and 70,000 on the clock.

I know someone that's had one from new and still loves it. He did look at selling a few months back, but mainly from a child seat point of view. It was doing his wife's back in with lifting the seat in and out. He solved the problem and bought her a Renault Scenic.

He's had no issues whatsoever and it is as good now as the day he bought it. If you can live with the fuel/servicing/insurance costs then there's nothing stopping you. The only other thing I'd mention though is that if there's any snow, leave it at home. However, for the other 358 days of the year - happy motoring.

I say go for it. There's a reason why the E46 M3 is universally adored by those in the know. It's often prefered to the latest V8 version and viewed as the pinnacle of the M division's engineering prowess.

You'll always regret not pushing yourself to own a car like this if you dont do it. The way I see it, petrol is only gonna get more expensive, and the government is trying its best to prevent ordinary folk owning big engined cars through taxation, so now is the time to dive in!

There's a tax loophole for high CO2 vehicles registered before 23 March 2006. You only pay £260 per year, instead of £435 per year which applies to vehicles registered after this date. (as I found to my cost)

Evo do a basic buying guide here M3 buying guide but there are hundreds of forum pages to digest if you're that way inclined.

I would have had an E46 M3 if they did a touring version. lol

If it's your dream and you can afford it (if only for a little while) then go for it.

It's got to be a coupé (I personally can't stand convertibles) and that grey one looks smart.

Go on, you know you want to

If you want one then go for it, as you say they ARE hard to sell and will only get harder as fuel and tax goes up, so bargain hard.

Don't entertain ANYTHING without a FBMWSH, do a HPI check on the car and pay attention to when the car was registered - does this tie in when the tax is due, if the car has been in a workshop waiting bodywork repairs then often the tax will of been sent back (so if the car was registered in May but the tax is due in September, be wary and do some digging) also steer well clear of anything that has been modified.

There are some nice examples about, but for every genuine straight car you will find a handful that have had a very hard life, these WILL cost you more in the long run.

As for which model to go for ... a proper M3 was only ever made as a Coupé (I'm talking about the E30 LHD one - but as these are like hens teeth to find a nice one!) the same goes for the E46 it just has to be a Coupé, 4 doors are for people who have a family and need the extra doors and the convertible is for poseurs, why spoil a great handling car by cutting the roof off?

I would love another E30 M3, but as I do not own a garage it would be sacrilege.

Cost it first, look at the ins, and running costs, i just sorted some porsche tyres for a mate and my eyes watered, i would love 1 but tbh, the running costs are too much for me to justify

Nice motors, but go and properly test one first - to see if it works for you.

Then as above, research and find the right one. Get it inspected if appropriate. Then I'd look into a warranty for it too. Generally pretty reliable, but worth having some protection. Also, some of the better examples you find might still be under an BMW extended warranty, as you can choose to keep it running as long as the warranty doesn't expire, which can show up it's been owned well. Then cost up running costs, inc tyres, servicing, likely consumables. That Evo buying guide is useful here, that was mentioned earlier - as there's a side panel in the review listing some common parts, which should give you an idea of what to set aside.

Go into it with your eyes open and you'll enjoy it a lot more - you might even end up keeping it longer than you think too

Thanks for all your help and input guys, has been very useful. Especially that link to a buyers guide, cheers. Hopefully going to test drive one tomorrow. Defo agree about getting a Coupe and one with a full BMWSH. Like you say petrol will only get more expensive and in a few years no doubt I'll have babies to pay for until they're 18 so want to make the most of my twenties without any

I'm hankering after one too..

Once i get rid of the Z4.

A lot of car for the money. Mine would be in Laguna Seca blue, convertible. I love the versatility of the drop-top.

Unsure about SMG though...

Are you sure it's versatility that you mean? If it was only available as a convertible, that's a different matter. There's just something about choosing the one with roof chopped off, over the original coupe.

Tried one with SMG once, a convertible incidentally. Didn't like it, at all. Felt sluggish and dim witted - fairly early generation of that kind of system really, and something like DSG knocks it into the long grass by comparison :yes:

Do it, I know someone who has just purchased a convertible SMG one, low miles, FBMWSH, all the options including hardtop (which is brilliant) for 13K

Now they don't feel that quick, compared to his previous Bi Turbo S4, but it is just as quick, probably quicker but you don't get a turbo punch, just an amazing rev range that pulls very hard above 6K. The noise is intoxicating too, especially with the roof down. On the motorway you will see 32mpg, about town about 22mpg or 18-19mpg if you like the noise. On a good blast about 14mpg.

Oh and the drop top still handles, don't let people tell you they don't, unless you track one then go for the convertible as it will give more pleasure in day to day driving.

The SMG is very good lots of modes to change, the highest being I think mode 5 and Sport button engaged, it shifts hard then, like a race car with transmission shunt, the difference between that and then full auto mode is like night and day.

Some people tend not to like SMG, but then nearly 100% of people love e46 M3 CSL's, which are all SMG! the only difference with the CSL SMG is that the software is upgraded to do even faster, harder changes.

If you are serious about buying one, look out for cracks/splits in the rear floorpan where the subframe mounts, a weak spot on early cars or cars that have been abused too much, read: launch control used too often, too many track days.

Keep about 1500 aside every year too, just incase.