My new car

Cyrus

hi folks, as you all know i put the 530i up for sale recently and after 3 weeks and some price adjustments :eek: the first to see did buy and very happy he was too.

The the search began in earnest, what began as a shoot out between a nissan 350z, bmw z4 3.0 and a porsche boxster ended as a resounding victory for the e46 m3. The weakening sterling and reasonable insurance meant that a car i fell in love with as a young buck was now within reach.

so scoured piston heads and was ready to travel to the uk when i noticed a fully loaded 01 on carzone local, so i went to see it. It was a nice car and had a great spec but it was black with black interior and tinted rear windows which put me off a little, there was also a badly repaired keyed panel which needed redoing, the cumulative effect of this put me off.

However that evening a 02 m3 was added to piston heads in Norn ireland, decided to travel up on the following day to look at it. When i got there i met a very reluctant seller with a very clean and tidy m3 in my favourite colour combo, carbon black and kiwi interior.

Agreed to buy and ended it up picking it up a week later which was last saturday, has just been up to ac car sales for its inspection 2 and all is good
The spec is:
02 e46 m3 manual Carbon Black
Kiwi leather interior
47000 miles
Bixenon auto headlights
19" polished rims
Parksensors

Doesnt have sat nav (would have been nice) or smg (didnt want it)

First impressions are, f me its quick, doesnt like being driven slowly, gear box and diff make all sorts of groans and clunks (looked into this prior to buying, a common M issue) but driven quickly and its a screaming wailing joy!

I love the aggressive looks and dont like the fuel consumption (12mpg in crap traffic on the stillorgan dueller!!) but all in all i am delighted

Am keeping it until i hit near 60,000 miles so i will end up keeping this car for over 12 months i would imagine!

here are the sellers pics, some of my own when i get a chance: (doh pics fixed)

mike65

Oops.

Mike.

Cyrus

er :o

unkel

Very nice indeed. Well wear!

Cyrus wrote: »

i will end up keeping this car for over 12 months i would imagine!

Yeah right

996 next year, then a Murci and a Veyron in 2011?

Cyrus wrote: »

er :o

Pistonheads don't allow hot linking, so here are the pics for anyone interested:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifiedpics/377081-1.jpg

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifiedpics/377081-2.jpg

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifiedpics/377081-3.jpg

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifiedpics/377081-4.jpg

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifiedpics/377081-5.jpg

Rowley Birkin QC

Still not working Unkel

javaboy

As said above. Oops

I like the yellow racing stripe:

Cyrus

pics fixed sorry!

would love a 996

farva

Savage car man! Congrats! I saw you 530i in adverts and it was a stunner, in unbelievable condition for a 01! Thats the best coulour combo for an M3 alright.

The only downside must be the €1500 road tax! Whats the insurance like?

Cyrus

yep road tax hurts, insurance unbelievably is only 1k (im 27)

unkel

bigkev49 wrote: »

Still not working Unkel

Yes they are, but you have to copy&paste the link. As I said, Pistonheads don't allow hotlinking

Or what Cyrus did, download the pictures and host somewhere else

jayok

Congrats Cyrus!!

Leather colour is not to my liking, but that's just me. You love it, that's all that matters

unkel

Cyrus wrote: »

insurance unbelievably is only 1k (im 27)

That's fantastic!

farva

Cyrus wrote: »

yep road tax hurts, insurance unbelievably is only 1k (im 27)

Thats a good price, a mate of mine is 24 driving an '02 M3 also and paying €1.5k!

corrado

Nice motor, best of luck with it and well ware :cool:

That is a very different colour interior but in a odd way i like it

Curran

Had seen it already on bmw-driver.net

Its a peach - well wear lad ......wish i had the cash for your 530i...lucky new owner there too!!!

Cyrus

thanks very much everyone, i appreciate the interior might not be to all tastes, personally i love it, didnt want black and had grey before and didnt like it as much as this!

MarkN

Lovely example Cyrus. Best of luck with it!

Like the leather myself, love the lemon leather too in the new model, nice and bright.

RobAMerc

very nice mate - well ware!

can I ask who you guys are insured with ?

My mate wants a 225bhp TT, they're looking for €1800 and he's 30 !

Cyrus

im insured with eagle star thro a broker, have full NCB tho

neacy69

Nice Car....Congrats

ps: you seem to go through cars quicker than......[something really quick]

Cookie_Monster

Nice car, looks great but the seats are a manky colour IMHO

Dave!

yum

daRobot

Nice car! No doubt it'll bring you plenty of fun

How much did it cost you, with Vrt included?

Cyrus

cost was above 30k but below 35k

alias no.9

Well wear. Not gone on the interior either but fine motor none the less.

C_Breeze

Congrats - absolutely excellent car!

Had the pleasure of driving one of these for a day ... you're right when you say they dont like being driven slowly .... also dont like being driven in a straight line with the "ASC" off


Not too keen on the pistachio green or "kiwi" interior either - red would be my favorite with carbon black ... but with a car like this it doesn't take anything away!

Cyrus

really dont like the red with black, its lovely with the silver grey tho

each to their own

NBar

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder well wear can't wait til the convoy when heading up North:D

boomboombazza

farva wrote: »

Thats a good price, a mate of mine is 24 driving an '02 M3 also and paying €1.5k!

just turned 22 and im paying 1650 fully comp on the M with britton through axa. its an e36 M3 though


cyrus, its autotrader here by the way. love the car as you know and never mind the kiwi haters!

Cyrus

ah the support from the bmw lads

smcgiff

Sweet! Would love a go off one! Wink Wink! nudge nudge!

TCP/IP

What mpg are you getting normally apart from idealing on a road.

I am still looking for the exact M3 I want it will arrive soon I hope.

chump

gorgeous looking motor

hope you're not sitting in traffic in it though (on your way to the audit!) :eek:

Cyrus

TCP/IP wrote: »

What mpg are you getting normally apart from idealing on a road.

I am still looking for the exact M3 I want it will arrive soon I hope.

general consensus is that you should average 25 which isnt bad!

chump, not an auditor any more wahee for me!

NBar

Cyrus wrote: »

general consensus is that you should average 25 which isnt bad!

chump, not an auditor any more wahee for me!

Most of us don't care what the MPG is

jozi

Great looking car. Some day i will own one (let me know when you hit 60k )