I would have considered it a few weeks back - I've been hankering after some nice sounding big cc for a while now. Almost had money down on an 04 M3 at joe duffy.
But since I caught a spin in a 996 with a guy in work everything is crystal clear now - the 996 is one awesome car and feels like a really nice place to be when sitting in traffic.
Myfeckin FTO wrote:I wouldn't exactly buy an M3 for increased practicality as its extra running costs would offset the rear seats.
Don't get me wrong - the M3 is a lovely car and I would consider them myself if they were similar money but to improve on your Zed you are going to be spending considerable bucks on the M3. Have you a particular car in mind?
100% agree - the running costs of the M3 are big - routine servicing would be double the Zed and the Inspection I/II services are big bucks (1200 euro for the inspection alone - excluding any additional work needed). The performance/handling is impressive but the interior is just very bland. A big factor in the reason I never put money down on the JD car (
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/BMW/M3/ ... ie/793369/). After spending an afternoon in it decided it just wasn't a special enough place to sit (the performance doesn't compensate as you can't rag it everywhere).
For the kind of money an 05 M3 will set you back you should look at the 335 instead - with a map you'd have a lot more performance and much lower running costs.
Alternatively - if you could manage with the space of a 996 you'd be mad not to consider it - servicing not outrageous (source your own parts) and serious useable performance with more kudos than you can shake a stick at -
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Porsche ... 4/1124434/
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Porsche/911/4/989305/
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Porsche ... -2/916926/
I expect the price of 2nd hand cars to drop considerably over the coming months (another reason I didn't put money down on the M3) so I'll be watching 996 prices closely