M2 vs M4 vs M5 vs something else

[mr wilks]

Sort the suspension out on the M140i and fit an LSD and spend the rest on a nice holiday, how fast do you want to go

Otherwise I would go M2 Competition, small and nimble or M3 to cover family duties, the others to me are fast barges, the Aston, pipe and slippers

Its really down to what you want out of the car, if its just nipping down to the shops Fiesta ST/Suzuki Swift Sport

Agree on BMW AUC Finance, you will get raped and my experience of BMW AUC has always been poor, cars are never prepped and the ones I've always looked at have been thrashed, stone peppered etc.

Tim.

Thing is Tim if you find the 140i dull it's highly probable the M2, M3, M4 will only enhance that yes fast , yes desirable (by some) but a victim of development & progression.
I considered a M2 very seriously , I really wanted it to be my next car after the 35is but after a thrash out in a pals 400bhp tuned 235i I knew It wasn't going to be for me (same thoughts after a few drives in 400+bhp TTrs)
M2 cabin just OK but little sets it apart from any other recent Bmw.

[TitanTim]

Sort the suspension out on the M140i and fit an LSD and spend the rest on a nice holiday, how fast do you want to go

Otherwise I would go M2 Competition, small and nimble or M3 to cover family duties, the others to me are fast barges, the Aston, pipe and slippers

Its really down to what you want out of the car, if its just nipping down to the shops Fiesta ST/Suzuki Swift Sport

Agree on BMW AUC Finance, you will get raped and my experience of BMW AUC has always been poor, cars are never prepped and the ones I've always looked at have been thrashed, stone peppered etc.

Tim.

Thing is Tim if you find the 140i dull it's highly probable the M2, M3, M4 will only enhance that yes fast , yes desirable (by some) but a victim of development & progression.
I considered a M2 very seriously , I really wanted it to be my next car after the 35is but after a thrash out in a pals 400bhp tuned 235i I knew It wasn't going to be for me (same thoughts after a few drives in 400+bhp TTrs)
M2 cabin just OK but little sets it apart from any other recent Bmw.

Agree completely, all fast decent handling cars but like most modern cars sterile, back to my question about what you need out of a car, maybe something older with character

If I was swapping the 140i and still sticking to something modern then I would go Porsche 718 but I would find it hard loosing a 6cyl

Tim.

[Z4M-2006]

Sort the suspension out on the M140i and fit an LSD and spend the rest on a nice holiday, how fast do you want to go

Otherwise I would go M2 Competition, small and nimble or M3 to cover family duties, the others to me are fast barges, the Aston, pipe and slippers

Its really down to what you want out of the car, if its just nipping down to the shops Fiesta ST/Suzuki Swift Sport

Agree on BMW AUC Finance, you will get raped and my experience of BMW AUC has always been poor, cars are never prepped and the ones I've always looked at have been thrashed, stone peppered etc.

Tim.

Thing is Tim if you find the 140i dull it's highly probable the M2, M3, M4 will only enhance that yes fast , yes desirable (by some) but a victim of development & progression.
I considered a M2 very seriously , I really wanted it to be my next car after the 35is but after a thrash out in a pals 400bhp tuned 235i I knew It wasn't going to be for me (same thoughts after a few drives in 400+bhp TTrs)
M2 cabin just OK but little sets it apart from any other recent Bmw.

Agree completely, all fast decent handling cars but like most modern cars sterile, back to my question about what you need out of a car, maybe something older with character

If I was swapping the 140i and still sticking to something modern then I would go Porsche 718 but I would find it hard loosing a 6cyl

Tim.

Buy a 981 then..

[LeeZ4MR]

M4 for me!

[Bing]

I feel for you Woots. The risk of trolley dings would be ridiculous as well.

I haven’t driven any of those cars, but I thought I’d read in multiple places that the M2 / M2 CS is the best M car around right now ?

As for the M5 - dude, you are not ready to be driving in your slippers

I was hoping the CS would be a CSL but the rumours make it seem it won’t be and I know the monthlies wouldn’t be the same ‘deal’ level as the others

You’re right about the M5 and I know it’s just chucking near 900 away a month because...it’s an M5 and that’s what they do!

Yeah word on M2 is they’re the current one to get especially for someone young, good looking, fashionable (how come you don’t have one and still have the Zed)
I know the obvious is to ‘just drive some’ but if none of us typed out loud there would be no forums
M4 CS’s do look lovellyyyy in some shades and bits of carbon are nice. I guess I could take the VIP prices to local dealer and try to haggle them down and then say...can you sell me a BMW M4 CS from outside your network...?
Shame all of them sound a bit rubbish nowadays but I guess they’re all going that way!!
Hoping getting something more fun than a 140i will scratch the car itch and I can stop wasting my time and do some house redecorating!
The 140i is nice, but I’ve never gone ‘eff it I’m gonna go for a drive’

My problem is I am all of those things - thanks for reminding everyone - but have no hair. They won’t sell me one

[john-e89]

Boxster 981 or 718, the constant ramble about a cars exterior looks or is the interior up to scratch blah blah blah is thrown out of the window, drive one and the gimmicks that are needed on modern BMW’s to attempt to make them desirable become oblivious. They are put on a pedastle for a reason imho.

The new Zed G29 for example is about as dull, bland and boring to drive as it’s possible to get for a modern car, so it has to rely on screens etc, what a massive disappointment.

[Chris1712]

Pretty sure you could run an Vantage for well under 690 a month! Get on it.

[R60BBA]

Buy the Aston.

Strange how these appeal to some petrolheads & not others , i just don't see any appeal in them whatsoever never have & can't see that changing .
As for dropping into Bmw bank £7k a year then handing back after £14k/£21k
Buying a used M4 / M2 around £30k i can understand

Fully agreed.

[tomscott]

Preowned M2s are looking very tempting... <30k for really good examples.

The only issue in the 3-4 year time frame if financing is that there is still at least 10k too loose.

That being said if you can ignore the interior its as good if not better than an M3/4 and a huge amount of car for the money. Plus I think it by far the best looking M car on sale atm really really like them and the drive is about as close to an E46 M3 as you will find in a modern car.

[R60BBA]

Preowned M2s are looking very tempting... <30k for really good examples.

The only issue in the 3-4 year time frame if financing is that there is still at least 10k too loose.

That being said if you can ignore the interior its as good if not better than an M3/4 and a huge amount of car for the money. Plus I think it by far the best looking M car on sale atm really really like them and the drive is about as close to an E46 M3 as you will find in a modern car.

I think a 3/4 year old M2 Competition with the S55 engine would be a better buy than an AUC M2.

Better off running an E92 M3 for 2/3 years in the meantime. Prices have plummeted and don’t see them dropping much further. Then when a good deal comes up on an M2C, simply move on the E92.

[nickw6666]

I don't know what your budget is, but a great used buy would be a used high spec M4, IMO better than a used M2 non competition, which although a good car will continue to take quite a hit as it doesn't have a full on S designation M engine. The interior on 2-Series is not as good as a 4-series either and some of the options were missing (head up display) as well as that superb carbon roof.

I have a low miles 65 plate F82 M4 which I bought privately after trying M2 and an F10 M5 (a barge in comparison). The M4 is an utterly awesome weapon to drive, with a truly great spec. I also have a Z4M coupe and a 987 Gen II Cayman S to compare it too. The M4 is an amazing car for circa £30K and a great used buy. It will already have done the big depreciation although like any reasonably new car still has some more to go. Just make sure you get a great spec one, e.g. Adaptive LEDs with high beam assist etc, rear camera etc.

Even after the Z4M and Cayman, the M4 drives superbly with stunning front end turn in and incredible noise. Yet it's still comfortable in cruise mode and the DCT box changes are just superb even in comfort mode.

If you're buying private, the banks offer PCP deals for used cars or HP depending on needs for better interest rate than the car dealers. So don't feel you have to buy through BMW with an AUC as you can buy private for less and then add the warranty through BMW Warranty etc for less money than the total through a BMW stealer.

For around £30K, they are very hard to beat...

[Woots]

Only reason with sticking with BMW really is the fact I’ve got one currently financed so it’s easier to tie into the deal...

Only issue now is budget creep...and which scratches to itch
Always wanted an Aston
Quite like the Porsche idea
Always wanted a Maserati Gransport
And then the ‘would I ever see myself getting bored of a lotus exige’ is another scratch that might need itching
Perhaps I need to literally test drive a few, see what deals they can do for part ex/PCP and how the cars actually feel etc and go from there
I want something pretty special...least a lotus doesn’t really haemorrhage cash in terms of depreciation, and I imagine running them isn’t like an exotic Maserati or Aston..?

[john-e89]

I looked seriously at Aston’s but the reliability and sheer cost of repairing them, for pretty much anything on them it seems, is horrendous. Any car can go wrong of course but they seem too fragile for me personally, I really don’t want to be paying out all the time and having it off the road, so I’ve gone Stuttgart, a shame in a way but it’s just fact that Boxsters after 986/7’s are fairly bombproof.

[Woots]

I looked seriously at Aston’s but the reliability and sheer cost of repairing them, for pretty much anything on them it seems, is horrendous. Any car can go wrong of course but they seem too fragile for me personally, I really don’t want to be paying out all the time and having it off the road, so I’ve gone Stuttgart, a shame in a way but it’s just fact that Boxsters after 986/7’s are fairly bombproof.

Haven’t driven or looked at a newer Cayman but I’m sure by all accounts they’re brilliant...and the new ones are going back to 6cyl?

[john-e89]

I looked seriously at Aston’s but the reliability and sheer cost of repairing them, for pretty much anything on them it seems, is horrendous. Any car can go wrong of course but they seem too fragile for me personally, I really don’t want to be paying out all the time and having it off the road, so I’ve gone Stuttgart, a shame in a way but it’s just fact that Boxsters after 986/7’s are fairly bombproof.

Haven’t driven or looked at a newer Cayman but I’m sure by all accounts they’re brilliant...and the new ones are going back to 6cyl?

Nope, 4 pot turbo’s are here to stay with the exception of the new GT4 Cayman and Boxster but I think they’ll be easily into 100k territory.

I agree the new 4 pots don’t sound as good as the previous 6 cylinder cars but they’re not nearly as bad as some make out, goes with the territory that so called ‘ purists’ are going to be appalled, but you have to look beyond that, this is how it’s going to be, get over it, the car drives so superbly and is so reliable you cannot overlook them if you want the best of both worlds. The new 718’s offer a far superior infotainment and sat nav, the chassis is improved over the 981, which is still a fantastic car, adaptive cruise etc, etc, but even if you don’t want the toys a base 718 makes so much sense, 300bhp standard in a class beating chassis, they kick the new Zed G29 into the weeds.

A low mile 981 S is superb too, with a better engine note, but the toys are old hat really. However, if that’s not important, they’re incredible driving cars.