I must say, I was totally unimpressed with the 2002. It had 40k miles on it and made a lot of creaky sounds over bumps. The interior parts creaked when you touched them too. The seats were rock hard as well. I did like the steering, however.

The 2005 I drove was much nicer, but only had 27k miles. What improvements were made between 2002 and 2005? Right off the bat I noticed the suede material the steering wheel was wrapped in, and it certainly seemed like the seats were a lot softer.

Overall, I did like the 2005 a lot. It is not as thrilling or fun to drive as my C6 Corvette, but I think if I had to have one car to do everything, that would be it.

I'm also looking at an M3 and trying to decide between a 2002 and 2004. What differences were made over the years, is one better to drive than the other?

the only performance differences are between the M3 ZCP and regular M3's other differences are minor and/or cosmetic.

here..

http://m3.madrussian.net/modelchanges.shtml

Depending on who and how the people drove the cars before you will dictate how the car feels/performs. A 2005 model may feel like shiet if driven like crap compared to a babied 2001 model.
My 2003 with 50k is relatively creak free and it's only b/c I watch the road I'm driving on.

Depending on who and how the people drove the cars before you will dictate how the car feels/performs. A 2005 model may feel like shiet if driven like crap compared to a babied 2001 model.
My 2003 with 50k is relatively creak free and it's only b/c I watch the road I'm driving on.

BINGO!

After having traveled a good bit, I would never buy a car from the Northeast as the road are absolute CRAP! No offense folks, but they stink. Florida's roads are relatively good and if I stear clear of construction areas, I never really hit any bumps....

BINGO!

After having traveled a good bit, I would never buy a car from the Northeast as the road are absolute CRAP! No offense folks, but they stink. Florida's roads are relatively good and if I stear clear of construction areas, I never really hit any bumps....


+1000. You're rigth the roads in the north east are terrible. I had to get rid of my 01 m3 because of that same issue. 19's rims on the new england thru-way only equates to excessive use of AAA services (No Spare for the m3). In addition, the ride suffers a great deal, due to the firm springs and low profile tires. I could not deal with the horrible feedback from the suspension-M3 should only be sold in the mid-west, southeast, west coast, and mid-altantic states. Not for new yorkers for sure, unless you live way out in the burbs.

Between 2002 and 2005 there are many differences from the pov of standard equipment. I am assuming that you are talking about M3 (this is M3 thread!).

checkout "m3.madrussian.net/modelchanges.shtml".

From very fundamental pov -
- BMW adopted 1200 break-in fluids change - A big thing for longevity of the vehicle
- Depending on the manuf date - strut bars - they make a good difference
- There some kinks in 2002 model which were also resolved by 2003

BINGO!

After having traveled a good bit, I would never buy a car from the Northeast as the road are absolute CRAP! No offense folks, but they stink. Florida's roads are relatively good and if I stear clear of construction areas, I never really hit any bumps....
Regardless, I had a Supra with 90k miles, all rough Northeast roads, and no creaks whatsoever. Just one rattle which I fixed quite easily.

My Pathfinder has 120k miles and nearly blown shocks and doesn't make any offending sounds.

I guess I'm a little disappointed in the build quality on these otherwise fantastic cars.

Also, the highly traveled roads in the Northeast suck, but we also have some of the best back roads in the country.

the only performance differences are between the M3 ZCP and regular M3's other differences are minor and/or cosmetic.

here.
Ah, makes sense now. The one I test drove was a ZCP.

That still doesn't account for how the seats were so much more softer/comfortable though.