legacy or m3?

[jmfspecb]

My wife has a BMW 325 Ci - granted, not as fast as the M3. She bought it in Germany and we drove it plenty on the Autobahn. It handles great in dry weather and on the open highway. I can only imagine the extra power from the M3 would make it gobble the 'bahn that much faster.

 

You need to decide whether you want the bling of the bimmer or something more. Comparing the two makes me wonder whether you've really figured out what you want. If the M3's your dream car. Get it. Enjoy it. It's a great little car.

 

If you need space, reliability, and affordable repairs/maintenance over the bling, get the Subaru.

 

As soon as we can, we're going to sell my wife's bimmer. She absolutely hates the service she gets from the dealership. I had a '98 Legacy L (nothing fast or fancy, trust me) for years until I got the 07 Spec.B.

 

The oil changes on the BMW vary between $300 and $700. We just left the dealership with a 50K, $700 oil change. That's absolutely ridiculous. Her car will need a new clutch real soon, has had to get the weatherstripping replaced 4 times (the glue they use to hold it in place doesn't work well in the US), and had to have the dash gauges replaced ($1000 repair). The car is a disaster in wet weather and a nightmare in the snow. I think she decided to sell it one day in the winter here in DC when she couldn't get her car up a hill in DC in heavy traffic. (You want to talk about a very unhappy wife...) If you get a 2nd set of rims & tires, you will do much better in the winter. Then there's the sunroof that's had a lot of problems.

 

Compare that fancy car to my old 98 Legacy. At 90K miles, it needed a new clutch. No other repair - period. I sold it because I was tired of the thing, though it was a great, albeit unsexy, reliable, comfortable car.

 

Granted, the M3 is a coupe - but the 3 series sedan has substantially less room to move around in inside and a whole lot less storage space.

 

The M3 is a sweet ride, no doubt about it. It's got tons of bling and curb appeal.

 

I like the 07 Spec B's looks better than the 06's, plus the 6 spd and other little things on the 07 are a nice benefit. I still have people turn their nose up when I tell them I bought a Subaru - until they see it and they are shocked.

 

Take a look at the safest vehicles - the 07s with the traction control (on the Spec.B) are the top of the list. That's another plus. Again, not realy sexy.

 

Our new saying is that we're going to upgrade her from a BMW to a Subaru.

 

My wife prefers driving my car to hers - so when we carpool, we take mine. PM me if you have other questions.

 

Bottom line - To Bling or not to Bling?

[SWP-LegacyGT]

hmmm..just sold one of those. it fit pretty good in the garage so i slept in my bed instead. i just bought some $400 golf shoes. i hope that you're ok with that. if not i can try to resell them or something. ive worn them already so i probably cant return em

 

If by now you think I give 2 shits about how you spend your money I don't. Bottom line in all of this if you can afford one great... go for it, if you can't, don't.

[itzed]

<snip> The oil changes on the BMW vary between $300 and $700. We just left the dealership with a 50K, $700 oil change. <snip>

 

Please don't take this personally - I don't mean to be insulting - I just want to understand more. Whenever I hear something like this, it really makes me wonder about the real situation. The rest of your post seems so well stated and thought out, but I just can't imagine any dealership doing something like this. And I just can't imagine anyone with any common sense paying a bill like this. I've owned expensive cars and been to their dealerships, and something in the way of additional information is missing here.

[wukindada]

True....

that does sound quite excessive....

My neighbor has a 06 CLS55 that he just had his first oil change done on @ the dealer.....

8.2qts.......243.00:eek:

 

Even @ 7500 mile intervals........DAMN!!

[hutru01]

My wife has a BMW 325 Ci - granted, not as fast as the M3. She bought it in Germany and we drove it plenty on the Autobahn. It handles great in dry weather and on the open highway. I can only imagine the extra power from the M3 would make it gobble the 'bahn that much faster.

 

You need to decide whether you want the bling of the bimmer or something more. Comparing the two makes me wonder whether you've really figured out what you want. If the M3's your dream car. Get it. Enjoy it. It's a great little car.

 

If you need space, reliability, and affordable repairs/maintenance over the bling, get the Subaru.

 

As soon as we can, we're going to sell my wife's bimmer. She absolutely hates the service she gets from the dealership. I had a '98 Legacy L (nothing fast or fancy, trust me) for years until I got the 07 Spec.B.

 

The oil changes on the BMW vary between $300 and $700. We just left the dealership with a 50K, $700 oil change. That's absolutely ridiculous. Her car will need a new clutch real soon, has had to get the weatherstripping replaced 4 times (the glue they use to hold it in place doesn't work well in the US), and had to have the dash gauges replaced ($1000 repair). The car is a disaster in wet weather and a nightmare in the snow. I think she decided to sell it one day in the winter here in DC when she couldn't get her car up a hill in DC in heavy traffic. (You want to talk about a very unhappy wife...) If you get a 2nd set of rims & tires, you will do much better in the winter. Then there's the sunroof that's had a lot of problems.

 

Compare that fancy car to my old 98 Legacy. At 90K miles, it needed a new clutch. No other repair - period. I sold it because I was tired of the thing, though it was a great, albeit unsexy, reliable, comfortable car.

 

Granted, the M3 is a coupe - but the 3 series sedan has substantially less room to move around in inside and a whole lot less storage space.

 

The M3 is a sweet ride, no doubt about it. It's got tons of bling and curb appeal.

 

I like the 07 Spec B's looks better than the 06's, plus the 6 spd and other little things on the 07 are a nice benefit. I still have people turn their nose up when I tell them I bought a Subaru - until they see it and they are shocked.

 

Take a look at the safest vehicles - the 07s with the traction control (on the Spec.B) are the top of the list. That's another plus. Again, not realy sexy.

 

Our new saying is that we're going to upgrade her from a BMW to a Subaru.

 

My wife prefers driving my car to hers - so when we carpool, we take mine. PM me if you have other questions.

 

Bottom line - To Bling or not to Bling?

 

I have an 06 SWP LGT and my car gets as much if not more attention than my older 3 series did. The oil changes are about the same considering I used synthetic on both cars. On a side note, I picked up my buddy that works at a Lexus dealership the other day and all of his co workers were like, Damn, thats a subaru? Thats sexy.

[KartRacerBoy]

True....

that does sound quite excessive....

My neighbor has a 06 CLS55 that he just had his first oil change done on @ the dealer.....

8.2qts.......243.00:eek:

 

Even @ 7500 mile intervals........DAMN!!

 

I think the explanation for this is more money (ALOT MORE) than brains.

[psi365]

Some other pros and cons

 

Legacy

pros

warranty

4dr

less police attention

 

M3

cons

no warranty

flashy cop attention getter

SMG=garbage

 

SMG M3' s are always priced cheaper then sticks, cause nobody wants them. I've driven one and hated it. VW/Audi's DSG is a lot smoother and sporty when you want it to be. At this point you would be paying for status symbol with double the miles of the LGT and no warranty. Unless you can afford the up keep of it especially since it is out of warranty I'd run as fast as you could away from it. A guy I work with had a 330cic. Just like someone said he had to get the drivers side weather strip replaced ($300+ installed) and I did his minor service for him of an oil change and pollen filter (they wanted $600 for what I did in an hour). Recently I almost bought a 95 M3 for $8000 as a toy. Then I went over it, and it needed front and rear brake pads and rotors, all 4 tires, the airbag light was on, and the water pump failed . That's at least another $4000 on top of the $8k I would have paid to buy it. See where I am going with this? There is a reason they call them dreams cars...........cause you should only dream about owning them.

 

thinking with the little head=M3

thinking with the big head=LGT

[andrew.anderson]

I know I already weighed in once but I have been thinking about it. I still belive the LGT is a better car but an M3 is cooler despite the increased maintenace concerns and overall high cost.

[hutru01]

I love both cars. But the reality is that they are two different classes of cars.

[jmfspecb]

W/re: to the previous comments, BMW oil changes come at something like 12,500 miles. The last $700 oil change also had a $50K check up included. But, the check-up did not include any replacement - just check the belts, check your wallet, etc.

 

It is my wife's car. I don't get into all the details with her service visits. It may turn out that getting her a Subaru will prove to be more expensive for me. B/C right now, she pays for her BMW service, but I'll probably pay for her Suby service.

[zildjiank]

add this to cons of the M3: too common, too many ppl drive one, every tool, his sister, mother and gf drives one, at least in the cities i've been in, the number of non-performance owners out there have ruined the car for me.

 

Ed

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

To this day, I've only seen a leggygt like mine maybe 2 or 3 times in driving around...M3's are around me all day long, and it makes me sick...

Nothing special about em when everyone has one IMO...

[hutru01]

^^^^^^^

 

I hear that.

[MDork]

If by now you think I give 2 shits about how you spend your money I don't. Bottom line in all of this if you can afford one great... go for it, if you can't, don't.

 

ok cool. i was really worried there for a bit! :lol:

[psi365]

 

Recently I almost bought a 95 M3 for $8000 as a toy. Then I went over it, and it needed front and rear brake pads and rotors, all 4 tires, the airbag light was on, and the water pump failed . That's at least another $4000 on top of the $8k I would have paid to buy it.

 

BTW that 95 only had 54,000 on it.

 

Also your insurance is going to be a lot different between the two. The M3 is going to cost you noticably more. It also gets worse gas mileage. Overall the price of ownership of the M3 is going to cost you more. You already have a wife in the works so who are you really showing off for now?

[Jim_KT]

Nothing special about em when everyone has one IMO...

 

Everyone but me.

[Architeuthis]

I'm shocked there are 7 pages here. There is no comparison. M3. If I could have afforded an M3 (or even a 330ci) I would have gotten one.

[Guest]

I'm shocked there are 7 pages here. There is no comparison. M3. If I could have afforded an M3 (or even a 330ci) I would have gotten one.

 

330ci over LGT? meh

[darcas]

Not trying to be obnoxious but I can afford an M3 but with only megan coilovers, sways, stage II with TMIC my LGT handles as good and is quicker than my buddys M3, I will admit the M3 has more feel and prestige, but he also can't drive it in winter, he tried last year even with snows on. Insurance for me on the M3 is triple the cost of my LGT also. He has had his car keyed twice, parking downtown and he is tired of hearing how much $$$ he has when people know he has an M3. All that said it is a nasty car for sure... he has the black with cognac interior, it is gorgeous.

[Vimy101]

The LGT is in a class of its own. Nothing touches it for AWD sports sedan performance value.

 

LGT owners are more apt to ask what's up with the AP while the Beemers will be talking about repair issues.

 

Still, that brand new M3 I saw the other night was spectacular.

[darcas]

The LGT is in a class of its own. Nothing touches it for AWD sports sedan performance value.

 

LGT owners are more apt to ask what's up with the AP while the Beemers will be talking about repair issues.

 

Still, that brand new M3 I saw the other night was spectacular.

They are nasty ass looking, the front end from the side with that short over hang looks like a fist !!!!

[hutru01]

I'm shocked there are 7 pages here. There is no comparison. M3. If I could have afforded an M3 (or even a 330ci) I would have gotten one.

 

330ci? Really?

 

Sure, if you want:

 

A.) Less Horsepower than a LGT

B.) Rear wheel drive and doesn't handle like AWD

C.) More money out of pocket (that could have been spent on modifications)

 

That would not be a wise choice in my opinion. The M3 is different story.

[SLegacy99]

330ci? Really?

 

Sure, if you want:

 

A.) Less Horsepower than a LGT

B.) Rear wheel drive and doesn't handle like AWD

C.) More money out of pocket (that could have been spent on modifications)

 

That would not be a wise choice in my opinion. The M3 is different story.

 

Yeah Ive driven an '06 330ci and Im not impressed...at all! I then test drove the 330xi automatic and that was even worse....BLEAAAAGHHH!! Left a bad taste in my mouth. However, my dads '06 6 spd 330xi is wonderful. Cant compare it to the new LGT, because Ive never driven one. The AWD is as advanced as my own LGT I will say that. Much more loss of traction around curves, whereas I never lose traction. But then I have less horsepower. Still, my Impreza never lost traction that the 330 does.

[darcas]

There you have it WINNER legacy GT turbo monkey, sports sedan, AWD hooligan, family hauler, dragon tamer!!!!

[MDork]

330ci? Really?

 

Sure, if you want:

 

A.) Less Horsepower than a LGT

B.) Rear wheel drive and doesn't handle like AWD

C.) More money out of pocket (that could have been spent on modifications)

 

That would not be a wise choice in my opinion. The M3 is different story.

 

Devils advocate says:

 

A). 230hp NA vs 250 Turbo is not that big of a difference

B). RWD is better unless you drive in the snow

C). Better resale for the BMW (mods arent exactly a good investment unless you plan to keep the car forever)

[hutru01]

Devils advocate says:

 

A). 230hp NA vs 250 Turbo is not that big of a difference

B). RWD is better unless you drive in the snow

C). Better resale for the BMW (mods arent exactly a good investment unless you plan to keep the car forever)

 

A.) I would say that it would depend if you were in low end or top end (low rpm, end, the Legacy GT would dominate, on the high rpm end, the 330i might be a little faster). But honestly, there is no autobahn here, so thats pointless.

B.) No way, RWD? Are you serious? AWD murders RWD around turns. (Drift or no drift), you have more traction to the ground with four wheels spinning - assuming your foot stays on the gas pedal

C.) BMW = no reliability especially when compared to a Subaru

 

A new Subaru Legacy GT takes the cake hands down = Better bang for your buck. I have owned a 3 series, granted it was an e36. I would never go back to owning a BMW.