What daily driver to go with C6Z: E46 M3 or 996/911 C2?
 

Hi everyone,

Bit of an unusual question here but I thought it would be a good place to post to get a relatively unbiased, yet still relevant set of opinions.

The actual question I have is: Which would you rather have as a daily driver alongside a 2006 Z06 which is a weekend car – a BMW M3 (E46 – from 2001 – 2006) or a Porsche 911 Carrera 2 (996 3.6 facelift– from 2002 – 2004)?

The reason I ask here is because this avoids the personal bias of asking on rennlist or m3forum and you guys are more familiar with the fact that both of these cars are tame compared to the Z – I’m buying because they’re more useable, I like them, and they’re both very pleasing to drive in nearly all situations.

Relevant facts for my situation:

- I live in Canada – the vette is parked nearly half the year and whichever other car I buy will have snow tires on it and satisfy my itch when the conditions allow.

- I don’t want to pump a ton of cash into either car continually – feels silly to have C6Z that needs nothing and a daily that costs +2k every year to keep running. With that said, I’m fine with investing in preventative maintenance and actually enjoy maintaining my cars, albeit with DIY/forum help. I’m okay with the DIY costs of keeping an M3 running but the Porsche is more of an unknown to me.

- I’m familiar with the E46 platform since I’ve briefly owned an E46 M3 before and loved it (car was rear-ended and totalled though) as well as currently owning a E46 330ci (which this new car would replace). To me this is bad and good – familiar with maintenance but more likely to get bored of it sooner perhaps…

- I have no realistic need for back seats or cargo room.

- This new car will see 1-2 HPDE days per year (I’ve only done one so far) until I get comfortable enough to use the Z06 for that.

Thanks in advance!

pretty easy choice for me the BMW is easier to work on and requires less expense to maintain :thumbs:

I agree but would rather have a 2003-4 E39 M5 or 540 iAS

Of those choices, I'd pick the M3.

I was looking into the Cayman for my wife, but that IMS bearing issue, I'll pass.

sounds kind of silly to keep the Z06 if you're barely driving it and not comfortable with the power

Either (A) drive the Z06 and get used to it and keep a beater for crap days or (B) consider different cars entirely. Why have another performance car you're going to drive more. I'd say you're in cold country get a fast AWD car for all year usage.

Sell the Z and whatever money you were using to get these other rides and pick up a GT-R. You'll thank me later. :cool:

When I purchased my c6, I looked very hard at the 996 p-car and it made it to the final 3 (C5z, c6, 996)

The 996 cars are nice, but as others have said, the IMS issue is real and engine rebuilds are greater than $10k.

Unless you were going to step up to the 996tt with the metzger motor, I would recommend sticking with the m3 for reliability reasons.

Def consider a gtr.

what does a GTR go for these days? Is it recommended to avoid the first few years still?

I know at one point, the resale value on them fell like a rock and you could find 2-3 year old ones for around $50k but I couldn't find any near my price range (up to $40k) when I bought my c6.

This for the AWD winter in Canada weather

http://carandengines.blogspot.com/20...ports-car.html

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...612e25c111.jpg

Guys, thanks for the replies so far but the GTR is a no-go for me. Great achievement and kudos to the boys at Nissan but the Z06 stays for now.

So far I'm hearing what I already kinda "knew" - the M3 makes more sense. I just made the silly mistake of driving a P car out of curiosity, and now I can't deny that it is the sharper car, albeit with a greater chance of blowing up!

To be fair, there were over 100k 996's built, and obviously the ones that are problem free are rarely on the forums - they're out driving their cars! Similar to the LS7 valve guide issue. That's what keeps me interested in one but I guess it is pretty hard to dispute that the BMW is easier to wrench on and less needy.

Around me There still around 50-60 with decent miles.

I think most problems happened in the debut year. But that's because people were abusing them, disabling all the factory settings etc. Thus trashing the trans.

I've own an E46 M3 and drove a few Porsches as well as worked on a few. Out of the two i'd take the E46, but it was pretty gutless. I daily drove both of my Z06s and my Grand Sport so i'm biased. If it were me i'd get a E39 M5 over another M3.

If I had to pick between only those 2 cars I'd pick the M3 over the 911.