Thanks for the offer Mark! I'd love to come take them for a spin, yet I don't want to waste your time either. I checked out your website, and unfortunately everything listed is above my budget of ~$35K.

Looking around, the 2008+ 335s are out of my price range. The 2007s are in my price range, thus why I started the thread, yet the issues with the first model year have turned me off them. I'd rather have a late model e46 with expensive maintenance than an early model e90 that turns out to be a garage queen like my current car that was an early model W203.

I can afford expensive maintenance, I do not have the patience to work out the kinks of yet another car with issues from the factory, it'd drive me bonkers.

Thanks again!
Chris

My vote is get the newer 335.

Before I bought my 2011 335i, I contemplated getting a 2008 m3 used.

I ended up getting the newer car for warranty and daily drivability.
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I don't know anything about BMW's, but there is no way I would take on the risk of a potential $24k repair component of complex design.

It all depends on your intentions...sounds like you are going to drive it for awhile then swap out, so it may not be an issue.

Myself, I hate the idea of something that looks cool, but opening me up to a buttload of trouble just not being worth it.

I don't actually believe there are many differences between the 07s and the 08s. We have bought MANY 335s from 07 to 09 that have been returned to the factory for fuel pump problems, but within that sample, I don't know that there were any more 07s than there were 08s. Although it's only one datapoint, my mom had an 07 335 cab that we had sourced for her with around 500kms, so basically new, and put 20,000k on that car before we sold it with no problems.

Mark

My car has a glass roof, which used to be a ticking time bomb. Its a $2K part and 10+ hr repair job. Numerous people reported failures of early models.

Thankfully someone eventually discovered a $5 fix for everyone out of warranty. Until then, I was constantly worried it'd break and I'd be stuck with a glass roof that wouldn't open.

The hard-top roof issues seem much less numerous than the glass roof issues on my car thankfully, so the roof doesn't worry me as much as the others issues posted.

So what you're saying is stay away from 07-09s :)

The more I read, the more I don't want to buy a private sale 335. I'd want some form of warranty from a dealer.

Go to BMW and get a CPO unit. Great rates and extra warranty.

Complete recon of car including new tires and brakes if they are not up to CPO standards
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Actually, what I was saying, is they didn't change a thing until they went from the N54 to the N55 in 2011... I believe if you did a comparison of part numbers on all the N55 cars, they would be very similar.

If I had $30k for a 335, I would definitely buy a US 08 with some remaining warranty and low mileage for around $38k and then add a CoverageOne extended warranty. If the car has low miles and you don't drive a ton, you can add 3 years for around $2500 or less.

Finance $37,500 + $2,500 + HST = $44,800. Put $30k down on a 5 year loan, your payment is going to be around $300/month with good credit.

Mark

The goal is to pay cash, unless I can get really cheap financing (less than prime). I've got $50K to spend, yet would prefer not to empty my bank account for the car.

I think for now I'm going to stick to a 2004-5 M3 for $30K tax in. If I hate it, I'll trade it for something else in a year or 2, and by then the 2008 335ci will be within my budget.

I know we're on a car forum, everyone wants to mod their cars, and I said I wanted to mod the car - yet I am stuck with a car that will be hard to sell with its mods so I am rethinking that :) I really want a good sports car I can just drive then trade for the next one.

Thanks for your comments!

I wouldn't get a new 3 series because the replacement (4 series) coupe will be out next summer.

Mines a 2009 and I haven't had any issues with it and honestly I love my BMW compared to my A5. Drives much nicer, it has given me any issues and still looks great. Lucky for me, my lease is up on my e92 next April, my sales guy is already pressuring me to put a deposit down for the 4 series which I might do once I see actual pictures of the car lol.

I did a lot of research on different markets of resale value on BMWs.

Anywhere from Vancouver, Seattle, San Fran and LA (all your major West Coast cities) resale value on modified cars are extremely terrible. Most people in for a used BMW prefer a stock vehicle with an excellent maintenance regimen. The same can be said for any vehicle/marque but particularly BMWs where some models are more desired than others, stock seems to fetch the most value and opportunity for a sale are higher.

If/when you do modify your car, keep your stock parts in the event you decide to sell or trade in the vehicle down the road, the option of returning it back to stock is available. Having said that, I haven't modified my E36 M3 or E91 and I see no reason to. They're fine the way they are.

^ not just stock.


bone stock. we had a E60 M5, clean clean car with 34k...... sat for a long time.

reason? it was rolling on 20" maya wheels and H&R springs..

other bone stock M5's that were stocked were sold in a much shorter period of time.

your budget seems reasonable for a cab... we had a american import 08 335i cab in white, loaded with idrive and navi. had 60k on it. was sold for 34k plus taxes.

http://brianjesselwholesaleoutlet.com/inventory.html

i work at this building.. I could keep an eye out for you! this building basically sells older, cheaper, slightly higher k cars without CPO warranty, which means the car would be cheaper at the end. the quality of the cars are on par with the CPO units, and rarer older models might show up on this lot once in a while.

2004 BMW M3 CONVERTIBLE 46K Black 6 speed

2004 BMW M3 convertible, 6 speed ( not SMG ).
Jet black on black leather. Loaded with every option.
Always garaged, only 46K miles.
Perfect condition in and out. (Just professionally detailed).
Everything stock. Adult owner.
Clean title on hands.

Price: $ 23,900.00 obo

No Tax! (in Portland, that is.. LOL)

and here's a E92 335i Cabrio from a large Ferrari/Masserati dealership in Portland, OR
2008 BMW 335i CONVERTIBLE - Navigation, Sport & Premium Packages, 31k
Price: $32,680
Year: 2008
Make: BMW
Model: 3 Series
Mileage: 32517
Paint: Atlantic Blue Metallic
Interior: Saddle Brown
Transmission: Automatic
VIN Number: WBAWL73508PX53920
Stock Number: PGT1259

I've been looking state side, yet to bring it back means:

12% HST
6% duty
$500 of fees
$750 for BMW to OK the car
Plus the trip/hassle to go get it
Then the loss of resale value selling it in Canada (people want to pay less for US cars)

The savings isn't worth it, unless I could get this for closer to $20K.

Try the market for a modified Mercedes... any guesses how much I'll get for my car? I'm thinking $6K.

Bear in mind that you have to pay 12% HST either way, so that's not part of the decision.

I think this is a screaming good deal, even if you have to spend a bit to bring the car up to perfect from a maintenance perspective:
2004 BMW M3 Convertible

I also think that while the SELLER is shady as all hell, this is also a good deal and I'd investigate it further as the pricing is excellent for a BC no accident car:
2006 BMW M3 CONVERTIBLE

Mark

Yep, I should have left HST out. The rest adds about $3-4K to the price, which doesn't really save me anything buying south of the border.

I've posted both of those before, probably in a different thread. I've contacted the first one, didn't love her attitude, going to let it sit for another week before contacting her again since this is her second posting on CL.

The second is worth checking out, only if I could get a shop to inspect the hell out of it without leaving a friggin deposit with those sleaze bags. On that, can you (or anyone else) recommend a good independent to have inspect the M3 I want to buy? Thanks in advance.

I've had good experiences with the following shops for pre-purchase inspections:

Nixon Automotive
Blitzkrieg Autowerkes

I did not have a good experience at CG Motorsports for a PPI. Avoid like the plague.

http://www.revscene.net/forums/66190...bmw-shops.html
I posted on this topic yesterday.

Found a car I like, now its time to shop around for insurance. I expect to pay ~$200/mn for full coverage.

I will NOT be going with ICBC for everything, as they suck if you have a good driving record (I have 8 years, 40%). Any recommendations of companies to go with, or brokers to go see?

I'm heading over to the Richmond automall at lunch, they hooked me up with Beacon for my motorcycle which was a fantastic price.

~$150/mn! :)

$1M liability, collision and comprehensive
$500 deductibles
No roadside

ICBC was cheaper than private, surprisingly, cause I'm not a roadstar (43%) yet.

Found out my 8 years doesn't kick in for a few months, so still 35% discount. :(

Taylor:

What about an E46 ZHP? Sure, it's not an M3, but you won't have to worry about valve adjustments and the M3 mark-up on parts when something fails?

The interior on E9x looks low-grade compared to the E46. The only E9x I would consider getting would be the 335is coupe. And good luck doing any servicing of your own on an E9x. On the E46 platform, all you need is a Peake Research tool and you can probably do most of the work.
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Good luck finding a 330 ZHP manual convertible, I'm having a hard enough time finding a M3 manual convertible.

I did look at the 330, just not enough selection.

ZHP - More rare than unicorns. :okay: