e46 M3

[blunttech]

all that aside the e46m3 is a numb heavy car. id much rather have a nice e30m3 for 1/4 the cost. its so much more a drivers car
if you have to have 1 buy a used 1. new cars are a waste of money

[Streetspec_iS]

yeah dude, forget that. plus if its anything like over here, you cant really mod cars that are financed and still under warranty etc. keep waiting for the e30, or go e36 m3 and go balls out on it. or, if you really want an e46 m3, look for a demo model, or a slightly second hand one. itl save you that initial depreciation.

[pogiboy9]

Yup all good options, hehe if you find a good E30 haha thats worth it for $10k i'd say that seller would. But they did only make roughly 17k of those cars. Anyways yeah last comment was good man e36 M3's are nice, or just get a simple e36 IS and go all out on it hahha.

[YAN-3]

ive been weighing the options and again im having second thoughts. I saw a black e30 M3 on the autobahn yesterday and it had a Nurburgring sticker in the back and it made me wanna keep looking for them. so as of now im still undecided.

[lukasbmw]

1. New cars are a complete waste of money. Buy a car 2-4 years old in like new condition for half the price. $55k+ 2002 M3's are now worth $30k. That's a $25,000 loss in 4 years. Buy now at $30k and chances are it will only drop $15k over the next 6 years.

Do the Math $25,000/3 = $9k a year for an M3
$15,000/6 =$2500 a year for an M3

2. Cars suck as investments. They are complete money pits. Never ever ever finance a car unless:

* You have maxed out your Roth/IRA
* You have maxed out your 401k/retirement plan.
* You have other investments
* You have a house

3. $15,000 is a lot of money. If you have $15,000k cash it is a great piece of leverage. That $15k could mean a move to a bigger house, a second investment house, or a D/P on a business. Once you are out of the Military what type of work do you want to do? I'd contact a local business broker and see if they can set you up with a business that you would like to run. Some very good business sell for only 2-3x their yearly cash flow after taxes. Imagine your $15k D/P turning into a yearly 6 figure income through your own business. That's when you finance a $50k car!

Keeping your finances at redline is never a good plan. A little saving and investing goes a long way. I've only REALLY been in the saving/investing game for a year or two and it is already paying off BIG TIME.

E46 M's and E30 M's are great cars, but they are not worth a lifestyle change.

FWIW: A way to sastify your car craze and make good use of $15k:

Flip cars. Most states allow you to sell 4 cars a year. $15k will get you a damn nice ride on eBay. E36 M3, 540i, etc. Buy one of these, drive it for 3 months, and then sell it for $1-$2k more then you paid for it. Do this right and you'll make an extra $4-$8k a year for driving nice cars. I'm about to get into this...Fall 05 is my goal.