Hey guys, i have a serious dilemma on my hands here. I'm a 21 yr old college student who worked my *** for the last 3 yrs and save every penny to try and get my hands on a 2002-2004 BMW M3. I'll be purchasing a new car in July and I have a few problems.

Well, I have absolutely loved the M3 for the longest time...since gas prices have been horrible...and i highly doubt it will ever get better...so the fact that it only gets 16mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway has been like on my mind alot lately. I even heard that some M3 owners can get only 10mpg in a very populated city because of all the stop and go's.

I was into imports but, i fell out of that spell since I learned more and more about the M3. Bottom line is...i want a nice sporty ride that is RWD, manual, quick, and eye catching...and i'm not talking about a POS 350z, G35, S2000, or any car that u would see 60 times in one day.

I know that the new C6 corvette gets very good gas mileage and an extremely nice ride. It looks superb, beats anything on the road, and probably the sickest ride out right now. But if I did get an M3..I just dont want all of my hard-earned money going to the gas pump...

I hope u guys understand I'm not sitting here biting my nails and looking at gas prices 24/7. I just wanted to know how much u C6 guys are paying for a full tank and see how much I would save and enjoy in a vette. I sure would appreciate any input from you guys. Thank you guys for reading this long post and giving any helpful advice.

Dan

 

Honestly it sounds like you would be making a horrible financial decision. Also if you come on a C6 board then what kind of answer do you think you will get? Do a search as this topic has been covered a ton.

Daniel

 

IMO, the C6 is a better-looking vehicle, but even a pre-owned '05 may not be in your budget. But you didn't ask for opinions on that.

The question you seem to ask is about C6 mileage? I've never owned an M3, but it sounds like the M3 and C6 are almost exactly the same mileage-wise. My C6 is my daily driver and I have a 15-mile round-trip daily commute that includes a pretty even mix of city streets, freeway stop-and-go, and freeway cruising, and I'm averaging about 16.5 mpg per tank. I've seen posts here as high as 28 mpg on a highway trip, and as low as 10-12 for full-time street driving.

 

Buy a house!

 

Score having a BMW (12 cylinder 750IL) myself if I had to get rid of one it would be the BMW. In a BMW you are one of VERY many even it is an M3. Additionally have you looked at repair costs for the BMW? EVERYTIME I go to the BMW dealership to get repairs I cringe. Even mundane repairs/service are pretty pricey.

Ultimately BMW M3 and a Corvette are two entirely different cars pros and cons I guess for both but at the end of the day as someone who has just gotten my first Corvette I wouldn't trade it for anything they are a special beast.

I wish I had had the choice between a M3 and a Corvette when I was 21. As a 21 year old marine (41 now) I had a beater Delta 88.

If I were to give you dad type advice I'd say niether buy something that gets you to and from work/college without flashy bells and whistles and save/invest the rest of your cash for a rainy day which you will likely have many.

The rowdy side of me says get the C6 and go deeply into debt by putting on a supercharger, headers, exhaust, cam, tune, some cool stickers and go burn rubber.


Kidding about the stickers...

 

I only get 15 mpg, almost all stop and go in town, with my C6.
Rare highway trip, 24-30 mpg depending on speed. Generally 27-28 at 80mph.

 

That was simply a GREAT post/response!!

 

IMO, buying a new car is something you do with your money once you are settled, have a house, have a retirement plan and finally have "disposable" cash. It is not something that a 21 year old should be doing. I bought my first new car after I bought my second house... That does not mean I didn't have nice cars, I just bought used cars that were a few years old. The depreciation will get you BIG in any new sports cars. Again, just my opinion... Do what you want, but spend wisely...

 

That was just not right.

 

In 2000, my local Chevy dealer and GM pissed me off and I swore I would never by a GM again. I so badly wanted a new C5 Vette, but was too mad at GM. I bought a new 2000 BMW and then a new 2001 330 cic. I loved the cars. I decided I would buy a new 2005 M3. I test drove a M3 and then a C6. I test drove the C6 because I thought that would convince me even more that the M3 would be the right car for me. WRONG! I loved the C6 and decided to forget my past relationship with my dealer and GM. The car has been great and my local Chevy dealership has also been very good to me. With the money you save on the price of the C6 over the M3, plus the gas money saved, you will come out way ahead. I say, go for the C6.

 

Buy the M3, save the C6 for someone who really wants it.

 

forget the gas prices for now. i've owned quite a few vettes abd bmw,s while gas prices may be a factor. the real budget breaker will be service. any service done on a bmw costs a fortune the vette is after all a chevy.whenever one of my bmw needed some work the part or parts had to be ordered either from europe or where bmw warehouses its parts the vette is much more pratical from a servicing point of view

 

Remember the old saying: "Speed costs. How much do you want to spend." You are simply not going to find a really high performance vehicle like either the BMW M3 or the C6 Corvette that is truly miserly at the gas pump. It takes horsepower to go fast and it takes gasoline to generate the necessary horsepower. That said, you might consider buying youself a smaller displacement used motorcycle to go back and forth to school and then use the M3 or Corvette on the weekends. If you only drive it a couple of days a week, it really wouldn't matter what the gas mileage is.

 

Isn't maintenance on the BMS's free for the first three years including oil, wiper blades etc....

 

If you are looking at buying a $50k car and you are worried about gas prices...maybe you aren't ready for a $50k car.


JimO
Erie, PA
#403 on the list for a Z06!!!!

 

I love my C6 but it is my 1st new car and I'm 52. If I were you, I would buy a low mileage C4 or C5, save the rest to put towards a house. The C4's and C5's are also fuel efficient and are alot of bang for the buck. I'm not a BMW fan. IMHO they are overpriced and overated.

 

Good investment advice, but he didn't ask about what kind of house to buy, did he?
There's time for the house. If he's really 21 and can afford a C6, then he's ahead of most people in terms of managing finances and will be looking at houses in another 5 yrs.

Score2- just get the C6 if you can swing it and thank yourself later. I have nothing against bimmers, they're good cars, but based on what it sounds like your looking for, the M3 will not satisfy like the C6.
Which brings me to my last point- make sure you know what type of car you want! You can match up perf #'s all you want, but they are very diff cars in almost every way.
Good luck.

Forgot to say in the original post- If you are 21 and are choosing between an M3 and a C6, that is not even close to what you call a "serious dilemma".
I'm not flaming and I don't mean to preach, but it might be a good idea NOW to make sure you're keeping things in perspective. Most of the population, at any age, let alone 21, can only dream of having either car.
Make an informed decision, don't spend every penny on whatever you decide to get, drive carefully, treat the car with respect, and enjoy it.
Do not take it for granted though.
OK, I'm done sounding like a "reasonable adult".

 

Exactly! Corvettes, M3's, Porche, etc., typically aren't a person's only vehicle, they usually are the 2nd or even 3rd vehicle of choice, the toy in the family. As a result, people usually don't fret over how much gas cost this week like they would if it was their only vehicle. When a person typically (I know there are some who have a corvette as their only vehicle) owns only 1 vehicle, it tends to be a little more on the practical side, once they move up to 2 or more vehicles, then they move into the performance or weekend toys like vettes, or jeeps.

But in the end, you'll have to live with the decision, not us.

 

Buy a house and start saving money. Don't be "car-poor".

But, if you MUST give in to your car addiction, there really is no choice: the C6 is the most bang-for-the-buck money can buy. Looks, performance, breeding, comfort, it's got it all.

Good luck, kid!

 

buy something within your means....for the most part people that can afford a $50-60K don't really worry about gas prices.....