yella » Sun Sep 20, 2015 10:50 pm wrote:The Z4M is a fast appreciating future classic. prices are getting silly quicker than most thought so grab whilst you can if you can find a good one for £15k. However M Tax means high running costs. Mate just sold his for £19500 after buying 3 yrs ago for £15k Personally i would rather a 3.0 Si coupe, 270bhp, bullet proof N52 engine and still quick without the silly running costs and good ones are £10k
Cayman S is a great shout, still porsche running costs and the constant scare of IMS failure, trouble is 15k you are in same situation as the e92 M3, you are at bottom end of the S money and you will be looking at leggy unloved ones. If you don;t care about rear seats then Boxster will give you more choice.
135i coupe is a good shout, not as reliable as the NA bow's of similar age but you an get something nice for £13k and that leaves back up money.
Me personally i would be going for a nice E46 M3, say 9-10k for a nice one with good history and then keep the balance for a few mods then you are in a nice quick car that will be more than you will ever need and spend the rest of money on trackdayas and learning to drive it properly. A real car for sure and again prices are on the rise, this time last year there were loads of £4-5k e46 m3's now £7k is starting price for even tatty ones so chances are if you buy a good one now you could run it for 4 yrs and sell it for what you paid for it now. M3's just don't drop silly money like EP3's for example, just look at E36s ( pretty sure someone on here cried me down few years back when i said £3k e36m3's will rise, now they are £6k.
what else for a silly idea........
well Vauxhall VXR8 is one to look at if you can stomach the running costs of the 6.0, but these start at 14k now and lot of kit for the money and pretty easy to put to 600bhp with a supercharger bolt on. so has potential but may break the bank to run daily
Audi RS4 ( B7 shape) with the 4.2 v8, 15k will get you a leggy one but probably one of the best RS4's ever, again running costs although they are
Also sensible options, Audi S3, souless compared tot he rest but fast none the less or megane 265,
£15k is mega money time really, choice is so wide but if it was me i'd be looking at E46 M3 all day long
Thanks for the input yella.
I get your point about the price-point being the bottom end of some of the nicer machinery - E92, Cayman etc.
Was looking at E46's but for my money they're looking dated now and if anything I won't be spending money on mods - just wanting something great 'out-of-the-box' that I can just drive instead of spending hours pouring over shiny parts on my lunch break. Was fancying the Z4, just 'cos it has all the nice bits from the CS i.e. brakes, rack, airbox etc. and was a little bit more interesting than the usual M3's I see driving round.
Liking the RS4 idea though, no need for the rear 2 doors/seats, but I agree the B7's are pretty special cars that already come as a sorted package. Plus that V8...
Food for thought anyway, will continue my PH, Autotrader, Forum searches and get some test drives sorted. Cheers.