To keep or not to keep?

[Theone]

Hi everybody,

The lease on my 2005 330ci is due in 4 days!
The buy back value on in is $37,000( Canadian dollar ) and change .............
As you might be able to see on my profile, options I have on it are;

M sports package.
Premium Package - with premium sound
Nav. system
Steptronic
Park distance

And my car is in GREAT shape .....no dents no dings....

Now the question is;
Should I keep it or drop it off?

I love my car and I still prefer the E46 body to the E92........I test drove a 335 the other day ...cool engine but I was not ecstatic about the interior ........

I was in London, England a couple of months ago and I got to see the new E92 M3 in person before it's official debut.........The sound of enfine is pretty good but it's matured compared to the M3 E46 which has one of the best sounding engine in the M line up I believe........and I really wanted to get an M3 for my next car ....

With the US / Canadian $ current exchange rates I might be able to get a low milage E46 for about $40,000 ( have to add the import tax and some other fees ) "Don't think" it'll add up to more than 3 or 4 grand ...


I'm writing this post in a hurry so please do let me know if I should be giving you guys more info. in order to have your opinion on this ............

Should I keep my car till the new M3 comes out and then I get an M3? ..Is it worth to switch to an E46 M3 and drive that for a while and maybe in 2009 get the E92 M3....should I drop it off and get a 335 coupe and get the E92 M3 but the second production year maybe in 2009 ...........Should I buy my car and sell it privately?

Sorry for the long story ......Any help would be highly appreciated......

Cheers,
Andrew

 

[selavia]

Not sure of the conversion rate for US dollars to Canadian, but $37,000 seems high.

Given your indecisiveness regarding getting an e92 or e46 M3 or the 335i, I think your best option is to ask your dealer what deal s/he is willing to give you if you trade her in for a 335i or a CPO (certified pre-owned e46 M3) or maybe extend the lease until the new m3 comes out. If your dealer does not give you any sort of deals that help you make up your mind, I think your best option is to purchase the vehicle (so long as you beleive you can get more than $38,000 for your vehicle. The reason I say this is because since you're not 100% sure what you want to do, if you buy the car outright, you'll at least be able to wait for the new M3 to come out to decide what you want to do.

Although, if you can get an e46 M3 for $40k, and keeping your current car will set you back $37k and change, if I were in your position, I probably would go for an e46 M3. I too favor the body style of the e46 over the e92.

Also, personal preference comes into play as well. Have you driven the e46 M3? Drive the e46 M3 and compare it with your experience in the 335i. If you favor the 335i over the e46 M3, you should probably wait for the e92 M3, if you prefer the e46, well then, you've got your answer.

Good luck with what ever you choose.

 

[Theone]

Thanks a lot Selavia....what you said really helped

Shopped around for low mileage E46 M3s in the US .....was hoping to find one in the low 40s as I was told! but the the mileage range that I was looking for, for 2005 and 2006 models where in high 40s and low 50s! pretty expensive for an outgoing model if you ask me ....But as I said I still like the E46 body style better.....

Now BMW is going to agree to extend my current lease for up to 6 months till the new M3 comes out and I get to decide on getting one ........

First they didn't want to agree on this because there is no release date for the E92 M3 and they need an order number to extend the lease.......

I have driven the M3 with SMG and I both test drove the 335i coupe with steptronic and manual ...I honestly prefer the E46 M3 over 335.......
But let's see what the E92 M3 has in store when taken on the road.......

Cheers and thanks again
Andrew