Yes you read correctly... my 2002 M3/SMG is going out the door, never to return. No more mods, no more 80ms shifts, no more no more.

Why, you ask? Why would I do that after just getting started on all these killer mods? The euro headers and cats? Eleven billion different mufflers? Trying to make my mind up on all those different resonator replacements and buying every one that I find? What am I going to do with all that stuff?

Will I sell it? Will I put it in my garage and look wistfully at all the fun I used to have? Maybe a reminder of all the skin I lost on the header install?

Well...
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How's this grab ya?




http://www.bmwm3.org/gallery/jetblack/3/1.jpg

Ok, so it ain't my car, its Percy's. But I did place an order for a 2005, Jet Black with M Cloth. If I find a set of SSR Gt3's like that, oh man....

James, you still want an SMG car? Maybe I'll leave the euro headers on and cut you a deal... :D

Good move man. I am doing the same thing.

Can i ask what you will be selling off that car?

Probably nothing, with the possibilty of the Eisenmann Section 2. I'm moving the ACS wheels over to the new car, and the headers and cats might go to the new owner, or else they're going to my 2005.

and I thougt you were leaving forever that car is hands down crazy is it also smg...

I was like...whhhhaaaaaatttttt :D

Congrats. But I've seen a lot of people sell their M3 for another one. Is it the color or you wanted some more options or less options on the car?

I would Chuck; but, then I need to get rid of mine. I just paid off mine completely as well. Plus, I just dropped some serious $ into a couple of modifications. I'll post pictures soon. I decided to go ahead with what I want out of the car making it a keeper for me at least. As soon as I heard what M5board members were saying about forthcoming E90 M3 re: specifications and times, I decided it would not be worth upgrading from the E46 to that car. I'm pretty sure I can keep up with or beat a stock E90 M3 with little difficulty if the M5board information is accurate. Typically, Gustav gets pretty damn accurate info.

I was like...whhhhaaaaaatttttt :D

Congrats. But I've seen a lot of people sell their M3 for another one. Is it the color or you wanted some more options or less options on the car?

A little bit of all of the above. I usually alternate between white and black cars. First car was a white Camaro, then a black T/A, then a white pickup, black Talon, white E36 M3. I threw this silver one in there because I was so besotted with the ACS S3 that I wanted to duplicate it. I never did. The closest I came was Type III wheels. $1200 for a spoiler and $1800 for a front air dam, and none of it makes the car faster?!? So I gave up on the S3 look. Then I always regretted not buying the car in Jet Black.

Also, I missed my heated seats. I decided to throw Xenons in for the resale value. Other than that its pretty generic. Cloth interior, no Nav, no BMW Assist, no H/K (thats a joke anyways...), and definitely no bloody power seats!

And John asked if I was getting it in SMG... nope. I will miss it dearly. But I'm not a road course driver, and the house I'm currently building is 35 minutes away from work, all interstate highway miles, so shifting won't be as big a deal to me. I need something that allows me to control clutch engagement better than SMG. That 2.2 to 2.4 second 60 foot time kills me.

I stopped in at Bert Smith International today to test drive an 02 they had on the lot, black/cinammon, with standard 6 speed. I just wanted to try it out and see if I was missing anything, before I put down the order for a 2005 with SMG.
Instead I ended up driving the sales manager's personal M3, a white 05 standard shift. It was a blast. I really felt empty when I was going through traffic and the paddles weren't there, however it was quickly forgotten after I took off from several lights like a scalded cat. The car felt faster to me, and indeed it was, as I was able to launch at the limits of wheelspin instead of lugging it like SMG. Upgrading to an 05 was a simple way to shave .5 off my 1320 time. :D Can't wait to see what this car does with an exhaust, K&N, and some software.

I would Chuck; but, then I need to get rid of mine.

Ah well... no problem. I don't think I'll have a problem selling it here. For some reason the demand in this area is really high. My year with SMG is going for $42-$44K, believe it or not. Funny how a $2400 option can jack the price up $4k, but thats what is happening here.

If the car doesn't go by then I'll probably trade it. But I have 6 weeks, so I think I should be ok. Spring is coming and peoples wallets are opening for sports cars. :D

good choice.

dont get sunroof either!

chuck you are making the right choice . I have driven both smg and manual and theres no way smg can keep up with the manual it just pulls alot harder.

good choice.

dont get sunroof either!

Oh I have to have a sunroof! There's two concessions I will make to the resale market at this point: Xenons, and sunroof. I can take or leave the Xenons actually, since my current M3 doesn't have them. But the sunroof is mandatory especially in Florida. I use it only a handful of times each year but its very nice to have.
I know it adds weight to the car, but I could change out the battery and the exhaust to make up for it.
Besides, its a great way to see if theres a police helicopter overhead without sticking my skull out the window. :D

Besides, its a great way to see if theres a police helicopter overhead without sticking my skull out the window. :D


:lol Haha, exactly!

So are you gonna make us guess the price of this new vehicle? List the options too. thanks.

So are you gonna make us guess the price of this new vehicle? List the options too. thanks.

2005 M3 Jet Black / 6speed standard shift / Black M-Cloth / sunroof / heated seats / Xenon lamps / and thats all!

Remember I told you Nav, premium, H/K was wasted money. You can get better aftermarket Nav, full leather and power seats don't make the car faster, and the H/K system doesn't sound as good as the base coupe system. The H/K in the 330i sedan is a lot better, but we're not talking sedan.

Out of fairness to the dealer (Bert Smith), I shouldn't discuss the price. If you want to take a look at buying an M3, I can PM you with my sales contact there and I can try to set you up with a deal there. If you're going to buy new, thats the place to go. Reeves has not treated me well, ever.

Do me a favor: if you show up at the Racetrac tomorrow night, don't mention this to anyone. If anyone is riding with me - even if its Miranda - don't talk about it around them. I'm going to spring this surprise the day the car shows up. Oh yeah - I might tell them I've ordered some "mods" right before I pick the car up. I'll tell them I found a mod that will knock half a second off my quarter mile time. :D

Who side are you on anyways? I always thought it was the buyer v. dealer. Because the dealer always come out on top regardless of what they sell the car for so any advantage the buyer can get would help. And the last time I checked I was no dealer. Plus how am I suppose to know if I got a good deal or not?

Who side are you on anyways? I always thought it was the buyer v. dealer. Because the dealer always come out on top regardless of what they sell the car for so any advantage the buyer can get would help. And the last time I checked I was no dealer. Plus how am I suppose to know if I got a good deal or not?

I'm on my side. If I spread around on this board how much I paid for the car, people in the area would go in and say "Oh Chuck said he only paid this much" and it would create a lot of heat there. I'm not going to leave you hanging - if you want to know much I paid I'll show you the sales order tonight, that ends the controversy.

You can go to the Chevy dealer with the confrontational thing and it will work. You don't do that with highline vehicles. There's people standing in line behind you to buy the M3, at least here in Florida. If you go up to Atlanta theres dealers who will give you thousands off on a phone call order. So what dealer are you going to take it to for service if you go to one of the discount dealers?
The BMW sales centers aren't there to give your car a nice place to park until you buy it - they're all about making money. I get treated like royalty at Bert Smith, unlike all the horror stories I hear from BMW owners across this country, and even at Reeves in Tampa in my personal experience. I don't mind if they make a profit off me, in fact I expect it.

Trust me - the dealer isn't my favorite charity. I got a fair deal, and I'll make sure you get the deal that I did if you go there. Are you a BMW club member, BTW? I get a $500 owner loyalty discount since I've been a BMW CCA club member for 5 years. You need one year of membership to qualify for the discount.

Chuck I know you haven't known me for that long but I would never specificly point you out by name to a dealer. It's good to know that you would show me the price personally though. I was just curious as to how much you paid, so if and when I go in I know how much I can get off and that they could give me a better deal than what they are showing me. I have yet to buy a car from Bert Smith, but just by the one time of me stopping in there I know they are by far the best of the three that I've been to. The other two Reeves and ferman, no salesman ever approached me. I hate being treated like I'm some kid.

Yeah and the funny thing is they used to be the worst of all the dealers. Bert Smith started out as an Oldsmobile dealership, and when Sunwest Porsche Audi (BMW VW etc) went out of business they picked up Porsche/VW/BMW (Crown got Audi). So you had a bunch of former Olds mechanics working on your BMW. Not pretty.
Things have changed so much the only thing that remained the same is the land underneath the dealership. The service manager, Nadir, is top shelf. He goes out of his way to make sure people are happy. My service writer, Natalie, pulls strings to get things taken care of. The place is low pressure, nobody pounding on you to buy something.

I bought my 98 M3 in Illinois from Orland Park BMW. I paid $40,345 for it, sticker was close to $45000. I drove it back here and one day I was in a Burger King eating, when I saw a person from Reeves there. He had a new M5 out in the parking lot, IIIRC, and it turned out he was the sales manager.
I started talking to him and he asked me how much I paid for my car. After I told him, he said there was no way I got the car for that price because he would have had more than that in the car for dealer cost. He insisted I wasn't telling the truth. Thats the kind of people that work over there.

I will make sure you get with the right people at Bert Smith.