Facing a delima here. My wife wants a new 3 series convertible and as they say, a happy wife means a happy life! I have a 2009 335i sedan and absolutely love it (and so does she). The delima is we are pricing out two cars, first a 335i convertible pretty well loaded for a sticker of around $62K and an M3 convertible, again fairly well loaded (with exception to the dual clutch transmission, she wants the standard six speed manual transmission instead) for around $76K, if I recall correctly. Honestly she would be happy with either one. The question that we face: is the M3 convertible worth the extra $14K? Trying to think about it from all aspects, such as future resale value, reliability of the V8 versus the turbo charged in-line six, and of course, the "fun" factor. Granted she will be the primary driver but hopefully I can sneak it out a few times! Whichever one we choose, she is very interested in doing the European Delivery program which I have heard is a great experience. So is it 335 or M3, that is the question?
Well, that settles it: You MUST test-drive the M3. Only then will anything else we can tell you make any sense. The 335i is a wonderful machine but an M is a completely different animal. On paper they seem close enough siblings to prompt the "is it worth $X more?" question. The driving experience is very different: the performance, the responses, the sounds, the feedback. Trust me, don't even try to decide until you've driven both. You can't argue the rational points with yourself without a solid irrational counterpoint.
Very true! The local dealer has three new M3 convertibles on their lot so what the heck, we'll go this weekend for a test drive of both. I'm excited about opportunity to drive an "M" vehicle as I have never had the pleasure in the past! The only drawback is that I may never want to go back to driving my 335i sedan again, although it is incredibly fun to drive.
