I am debating between these two at the moment. The e46 would is around 525 bhp and 389 tq. The STI can be tuned for around 400 whp. The STI is a 2010 hatch vs the 2005 e46 wich is a 2 door. What would you pick?
I would ask if you have money to repair these vehicles if ether one goes boom. An 11 year old, modified performance car or a 7 year old modified performance car seem to carry their own sets of risks. Once you begin to modify a car, you begin to expose the weakest links. Fix one and then the next weakest link is exposed.
If you can buy the cars and still afford a $10K repair bill, then I think that you should look at purchasing a newer vehicle. Risks associated with modified cars are not to be minimized.
It was $6,000 to replace the plastic timing chain in our XK8. We did this at 39,000 miles and before it went boom. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that there was a plastic timing chain to begin with in a $70K vehicle.
This is just one instance of where cost of repairs can be fairly expensive when dealing with a performance vehicle.
Neither car will run for any substantial amount of time.
The BMW is nowhere near my list of desirable vehicles but in your situation I'd buy it over the Subaru, because it's RWD and the Subaru is AWD. Your towing/transport costs are going to be lower with the BMW since it can be pulled but the Subaru must be flatbedded.
What's your tow vehicle? Do you use a dolly or a bed? That's the deciding factor.
The m3 is far more reliable than you would imagine. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a high mileage one. Much like corvettes it's not unheard of to be comfortably over 100k and still worth having
The m3 is far more reliable than you would imagine. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a high mileage one. Much like corvettes it's not unheard of to be comfortably over 100k and still worth having
No German vehicle sold in the USA this century is worth having in my view. This is actually terrific news for German car fans, since I'm not and never will be at fault for driving up prices of cars, parts, etc. It's not me buying this stuff and it never will be.
They're great cars to drive and to borrow.
If I were OP I'd buy the BMW solely because it'll be cheaper to transport. I am not optimistic on the ability of either car to move on its own for very long.
Have u owned a supercharged and a turbocharged car before? While it certainly depends on the specific car of each type, I find I like the low end torque, sound (supercharger whine) and general manners of my supercharged Buick engine better than the turbocharged engine in the WRX. (The rest of the car is better in every way in the WRX) Soooo.....just sayin I like the supercharged engine choice.
BMW did make some great verions of the M3 (Evolution I, Evolution II, the Sport Evo, etc.) but they also released some really interesting special dedication editions: Johnny Cecoto and my fav, the Roberto Ravaglia.
Those cars aren't someone one can buy generally though, so that's that. In reality the party's over.
You're somewhat more practical and a better citizen to the world than I am, Spiros, and I respect that big time. (Well, except when you're being a superspy and assassinating people, but we'll let that slide)
Alas, I yam what I yam. </popeye>