Tiggs

bit of advice needed please-

my boss is getting rid of his company car and looking to spend £20-23k on a private purchase instead.

hes seen a 97 R plate M3 convertable which is owned by a firm he has contact with and so can get it for £20,000. apparently this is trade money, its got 40k on the clock.

anyway whats the score with these things? anything he should look out for? good/bad points on ownership?

any commenets would be of help.

Tiggs

Ps- dont bother suggesting scoob/evo, i have tried already!

pps- the bmw is purple. looks like barney the dinosaurs car!

fast bloke

I saw a late 98 Estoril Blue one about a month ago for 20k. 45000 miles on the clock. M3 prices are dropping like scoobs did last year.
Bad points are about the same as a scoob - Running costs etc. Good points are strangely about the same as a scoob (grins) with the added comfort of vorsprung durch technik or whatever that was and rear park distance control. Convince him to get a bike instead. Everyone knows they are much better/quicker than any car.

GaryC

E36 M3 was a good car - but not a great sports car. It was more 'GT'. I had one for a month (admittedly the dreadful SMG) and it was little more than comfortable swift express, gave very little 'grin-factor', especially in soft-top guise. BUT a very accomplished car aside from that.

If ***** out (impreza-esque) fun is his ticket, he may be disappointed. If a comfortable, swift 'high-pose-factor' soft-top-GT is his remit - a good choice.

£20k for a 40k 97R sounds good money, but not stunning.

kav

Agree with Gary C - avoid the SMG like a dog with fleas. Make sure it's the EVO (320 bhp. My only other critism is that any car that starts life as a coupe and then has its roof chopped off is always going to 'bend' a little bit - especially when pushing on.

Cheers
Kav