Cross Shopping: E46 M3 and F80 M3

[CSBM5]

Originally Posted by bagekko

Buy neither when you can join the delusional ZHP club. Already puking at the price, bet some dummy pays 40k for this. Even at the low mileage this was a 12k car 10yrs ago.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...-zhp-sedan-31/

The craziest part is the car was a total repaint, and according to the seller on BaT it looks great "from 5 feet away" and you can see the masking lines. The pictures up close show it's a mediocre to horrible paint job. The interior trim is all permanently sun damaged too. I could almost fathom someone paying that amount for a pristine always garaged pure factory paint car, but this one is far from anything remotely like that. The underside does not present as a 34k mile car either. (saying this having bought a Imola ZHP 6MT slicktop over 20 years ago to join the E39 M5 in the garage -- sold it to my daughter a couple of years later and she drove it for 18 years).

OP, buy the F80. I'd also buy the lowest mileage best kept original owner example I could find while stretching my budget if needed.

[MTiz]

Originally Posted by NickyC

Stick, and yep, nothing.

I adored my Z3M and Z4M cars however.

I'm in for no such awakening, I have had zero issues with my S55 cars over 7 years of ownership now. The S54, not so much and that was when they were still in the same age window as the S55 is now. There is no comparison between the two motors from a reliability standpoint.

I'm only 1 month in to S55 ownership but I hope my journey is as pain free as yours! It truly is a great car that I think a lot of people misunderstand. I would have been in one much sooner if the values didn't hold so strong for so long.

[bavarianride]

Originally Posted by exflat6

Never thought the day would come but its here. I am currently in the market for a new car and was wanting a E46 M3 however a nice one with big 3 costs roughly the same as a 2015 base F80 so now I am cross shopping.

If I read this correctly, the choice is between a close to 20-year E46 M3 vs. a 9-year old F80, right?

I think the E46 M3 prices are too rich for what there are, so it is also likely getting tricky to source E46 parts, so I would suggest to go with a F80.