Thinking about upgrading.. M/3.0si..

S

ShineyT

Member
Evening all!

So I seem to be faced with a slight dilemma. I have owned my 2003 2.5i for a year now and am itching to upgrade it. Now the problem is I can't decide between going ///M or getting a facelift 3.0si. Heart says one and head says another :roll:

Now to add a bit of context, I am currently only 20 (until Monday) and will be looking to upgrade it in the next month or two. Naturally insurance isn't going to be pretty at my age however it is only £200~ more for the M.

I guess my main issue is: What extra running costs can I expect on the M as opposed to the 3.0si (or indeed my current 2.5i)? MPG doesn't really figure into it as I do sub-10k a year and have access to a diesel for any real long motorway trips for work or whatever. For what it's worth I see about 25-30mpg average out of the 2.5i and figure I wouldn't notice much change with either of the newer Zeds.

I suppose all I am after is a bit of pointers from the guys that have owned either or indeed both!

Thanks all.
 
Doubt you will see any significant rise in expense for the 3.0Si but sure you realise the M will be more expensive to fuel,tax & maintain if there are repairs . not that they seem to have many inherent faults that are well known ,
Sure there are many who have made the move so listen to what they say & make your own decision :thumbsup:
best of luck & feel free to post links to any candidate cars :)
 
You would be very lucky to see 25mpg out of an M.My daily commute see's around 16-18mpg...The M is a thirsty beast.

Inspection 2's are expensive,as is the road tax and brakes.I would guess that you would double you annual costs going from 2.5 to M,the 3.0 would land somewhere in the middle.

Like i said in my previous thread,faults and servicing has cost me around £5500 in 2 years.
 
I would say the 3.0 is much closer to the 2.5 in terms of cost ... no M Tax so cheaper servicing, cheaper insurance and road tax.
 
I expected a small loss in MPG. I would imagine I would still see 20 minimum as my commute is exclusively motorway?

Inspection two.. I have kind of reasoned that I could purchase one with this already done, mileage dependant - don't want to go over 60k really, lower the better naturally. However what sort of cost are we talking on a M for Inspection 2? £800 or so I am assuming basing off the price mine is? Ditto tax, from the quick googling I have done it shows at £475/year which is £200~ more than current. Not too fussed there.

I guess consumables will be the biggest one really, brakes being the biggest of those (I do a reasonable bit of track driving). Tires isn't too big of an issue for me either.

My biggest issue however is that I inevitably will get an M at some point. Getting a 3.0si now just delays that a year or two max.

I think I am just talking myself nearer and nearer an ///M! Job jobbed guys haha. I would estimate the M to cost me somewhere around £1000/1500~ more per year without adding in additional fuel costs, which I can certainly live with for the positives :driving:
 
ZermattV said:
I would say the 3.0 is much closer to the 2.5 in terms of cost ... no M Tax so cheaper servicing, cheaper insurance and road tax.
Click to expand...

+1. I don't see a 3.0 costing much more than a 2.5 to run and if you find an Si you'll be on 265bhp.

As has already been said, an M is going to give you 25mpg at best. The majority (older than the earliest of '06 cars) will be 450+ road tax and an Inspection II will cost between £800 and £1200 depending upon indie/dealer and a bit of price matching.

But the difference is night and day! :D :driving:
 
I guess that if you can afford it(and it sounds like you have done your sums) then go for the M car..

Its a serious piece of kit,but it does cost a lot to run..

If your motorwaying mostly and only getting 25 mpg out of the 2.5 then i would have thought 19-20 was realistic out of the M.. I have averaged 32 MPG over 250 miles once..

The tax is always a kick in the nuts when its time comes round,as is the fill up cost to miles ratio.....lol..

But when it comes to speed and excitment,you wont get much anything better for the money..
 
The M is an expensive car. Mines my daily. This year I'll have:

Insurance : £600
Tax: £475
Warranty : £1000
Inspection 1: £700
Fuel: £4000

7K...

Nobody with any sense buys these cars! If you're getting 25MPG+ in an M you're wasting the opportunity and don't need one. :fuelfire:
 
Is your's a pre facelift 2.5?

The facelift will have a 6sp box... And i'd say the 3.0si will return better mpg.

I get over 400miles to a tank in mine... Even driving it like i stole it will easily return over 300miles to a tank, 30mpg+.


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