15k 4 wheel conundrum

[birdiemachine]

Lying awake here due to jet lag and have just spent hours on pistonheads, autotrader, ebay, rs246, m3 cutters.

I have a totally mint b7 rs4 70k unbelievable history that I keep in the garage all winter and it gets out for a regular blast at the weekends in the summer and to the detailers and back. I will never sell this car as I love it and searched for a year to find it.

I then have a 2003 diesel Passat which is a complete <beep> heap but reliable and I couldn't care less if someone scraped it or Dinged it.

I love cars and have approx 15k to throw into my next vehicle. I am torn between leasing a modern vehicle such as one of the new Leon 300bhp Jobbie estates, or buying another, hopefully, appreciating classic car.

I believe the b7 rs4 will appreciate but not for a long time yet. I am considering the following :

- buy a mint e46 m3
- buy a mint mark 4 R32
- buy a mint c5 rs6 avant
- buy nothing, lease something fast and flog the life out of it.

Am I being delusional about appreciating, performance vehicles from the 2000's?

Any other opinions?!? Be interested to hear your thoughts!

Cheers

[zainster01]

I started to chuckle as I read this.

I've got a B7 RS4, currently just ticked over 68k.
Its garaged and I've only been using it for weekend drives.

I run a Passat diesel for my daily workhorse.

I've been looking at different cars and thinking about getting something on PCP.

RS5 or an F10 M5 top my thoughts currently.
But I'd have to go the finance route to buy these so I'll be paying interest and suffer heavier depreciation. So a double whammy.
So I go back to thinking something like a Z4MC or Edition 30 or similar to avoid all the downsides to me in buying a newer and more expensive car.
Then a day later I go through the whole thought process again lol

Sorry, don't think I helped at all. Lol

[Rw@@dy]

I had a mk4 r32 before my rs4, I did love that car and it makes a good noise! Prices are steadily increasing, good ones are more than a mk5 r32.
Go for half leather if you get one, full leather seats sag badly.

[Shoppinit]

M3 E46 manual ticks a *lot* of boxes.

You haven't really said what you want to use it for. If it's to put lots of miles on then there's not a lot of people trying to find something that'll become a classic. Those that appreciate the most, IME, are those with ridiculously few miles on them.

Leasing seems a bit like throwing money away to me, especially if you've got a backup car you can use.

Manual E92 M3s are coming down at last, too. More modern, and still an awesome drive. I'm considering one of these to replace my E46.

Or what about another B7? One you don't care about so much. Like your pisrat, but more fun to drive.

Golfs just don't seem very special.

[birdiemachine]

Thanks for the replies fellas, interesting comments.

I agree golfs aren't special but I think the mark 4 R32 has something about it no?

The reason for this car is a decent investment that I can take out for a blast on sunny weekends and have the enjoyment of owning and tinkering with and parking up beside my b7 knowing there not going to lose much money, or, hopefully appreciate.

A decent low mileage e46 couple manual seems to be minimum 16k now, top end 20k, I really can't see these cars ever loosing money.

What is the spec on your e46 Shop?

Cheers

[Shoppinit]

I'm surprised the E46 are going for that much! Maybe I'll keep mine after all!

Mine's a manual, completely standard. Black exterior, black interior. Struggling to remember what the desirable options are. It's got the Harmon Kardon sound system (necessary IMO), but not the navigation option (pointless IMO). I don't think there were too many other options. Pretty sure memory seats are standard on all of them. Maybe heated seats were an option.

I think good RS6 C5 will appreciate soon. They're at the bottom of the curve right now, I suspect. Problem is, it might cost you more to keep tip top than you will gain in appreciation. They're not particularly cheap to run although mine has been very good, I must admit.

Friend of mine bought an Alpina something that appreciated loads. Who'd a thunk?

Or how about a porker? Boxters are fun. You could probably find a 911 for that kind of money, but it might be a nail.

[marc1]

I thought you were planning on replacing the B7, but now I realise you want it to sit along side. I was going to say none of the cars listed (as good as they are) aren't a patch on the B7.

The E46 M3 is a great car. Can't believe they are going for so much, I sold mine a good few years ago, relatively low miles, a late car and great condition for a lot less. Then again I did the same with my B5 RS4. I seem to always sell them at the wrong time.

An E46 or E92 M3 would be great to sit besides a B7. E36's are on the up too and are great cars. A bit of RWD action to complement the AWD surefootedness!

A B5 would be a great choice too. Expensive to keep in good shape though, but less so than a C5.

[Shoppinit]

An E46 or E92 M3 would be great to sit besides a B7. E36's are on the up too and are great cars. A bit of RWD action to complement the AWD surefootedness!

Fear of missing the RWD is one of the things making me hesitate to get another Audi. The e46 is just so much fun in all conditions and it's so predictable and balanced when the rear end breaks away. A lot of this is probably thanks to the M diff which is a work of genius.

I had an e36 M3 but they are really dated now. No traction control or ESP definitely led to more than a couple of pairs of ruined underpants. No M diff either. It would feel like a huge step backwards to me. They do look good, though, and so rare now - they have all just disappeared - so that plays towards the future classic thing.

I think the e92 retains most of the qualities of the e46 but adds the 100 horsepower that the e46 desperately needed and the interior is much nicer. The 7 speed DTC is awesome but I'd be a little bit worried about reliability. In fact, it's starting to look like the e92 isn't nearly as bulletproof as the e46, but that seems to be a rare thing these days anyway.

[marc1]

^ yep, the E46 has a great amount of grip and is surprisingly good in the wet. I understand the E92 steering isn't quite as good, but I don't have first hand experience of one unfortunately.

[birdiemachine]

On the look out for a mint e46 black coupe, low mileage!!! Will be a nice car to sit alongside the b7!

[marc1]

^ great choice! If only the CSL's hadn't gone through the roof. You could pick up a decent one for £30-£40k a few years ago. They're £85k now! Now that really would be the perfect two car garage.

[Shoppinit]

Cool. Let us know how it goes. If you find one with dead pixels on the nav screen, know that the screen can be replaced easily. I did it on a mate's.

First thing to do is replace the rear trailing arm bushes and rear shock mounts. Both cheap and easy jobs but you need the compression tool for the RTAB (and a geo afterwards).

If you are mechanically minded, I recommend doing the valve clearances yourself. You just can't trust anyone else to do it properly (or at all), IMO. It's not hard and only takes an hour or so.

/also check for rust on the front wheels arches and sill seams.

[marc1]

^ don't forget to check for subframe cracks. They start under the mounts and with all the crude under there it can not be easy to see. I'd either plan to have the work done at somewhere like Redish (I think they are called) or to buy one that has a documented replacement / repaired at a reputable place or under warranty at a BMW dealership.

[Shoppinit]

I decided not to worry about the subframe issue. I check for cracks when I'm under the car, but otherwise don't think about it. If it starts to crack it's a grand to get it done properly at Reddish. I wish repairs were so cheap on the RS6.

[zainster01]

^ great choice! If only the CSL's hadn't gone through the roof. You could pick up a decent one for £30-£40k a few years ago. They're £85k now! Now that really would be the perfect two car garage.

Yep.
I have an old email from Steph at Bmw Sunningdale from October 2013 offering me a 54 plate CSL in Sapphire Black with 54k miles for £24,995.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Likewise decided against a Z4MC 2 years ago. It was in white with 40k on it with red leather and csl alloys for 16k.
They've appreciated pretty well too. Sold my M3 CS just before they started to appreciate steeply!