Joined
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737 Posts
My lease is up in May and I have had a wonderful experience with my '08 M5. The car was everything I had wanted and hoped for when I had it custom built 3 years ago. The SMG was a great transmission and highly reliable for me, despite my worries given the woes of other forum members. The M5 was my first BMW and I have been impressed enough to stay with the brand for my next car.
I thought long and hard about the M5s replacement. I considered extending the lease, but its just too long to wait for the next generation to be released in the states. I have always been interested in a convertible and decided to go with the M3 E93. I still need back seats for the kids (still relatively young at 8 and 5 years old), and the M3 does fit that bill. It won't be as comfortable for them as the M5, but thats life
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Production of my new M3 will start in March and should arrive just when my lease expires. The rates for M3 leases are excellent right now (and last until the end of February). My lease payments will go down $500 per month even though I increased my number of miles from 12K to 15K per year.
I decided to go back to a true manual in the M3. But that in no way takes away from my love of the SMG for the last 3 years. I have driven the DCT during both of my trips to M school, and I respect the technology. But, it will be nice to get back to a third pedal. Who knows, maybe after this car I will get into the new M5 or M6 with the double clutch. The timing will be very good cause I can get one in its mid life cycle, once the bugs are worked out.
Here are some of the specs of the M3 convertible that I' building.
Ingerlagos blue with extended Fox Red Interior (that be an interesting change from my current car!)
Carbon fiber leather interior trim
Comfort Access, Park distance control, Navigation
Cold weather package (a must in Florida :confused3, no really it does get cold in central Florida in the winter)
Folding mirror, garage opener
EDC control (called dynamic damper control. yeah, you actually have to pay for this on the M3)
19" wheels (how could I go to 18" wheels after the M5)
Enhanced premium sound (have it on the M5 and I really like it... but I'll be listening the engine more with the top down)
Satellite radio (a must for me)
HUD (kidding, man I wish they had this! :dunno
I'll post some pics when it gets delivered. I have appreciated this community/forum for all the info, and I'm sure I'll still be around. Thanks for reading.
DB
I thought long and hard about the M5s replacement. I considered extending the lease, but its just too long to wait for the next generation to be released in the states. I have always been interested in a convertible and decided to go with the M3 E93. I still need back seats for the kids (still relatively young at 8 and 5 years old), and the M3 does fit that bill. It won't be as comfortable for them as the M5, but thats life
Production of my new M3 will start in March and should arrive just when my lease expires. The rates for M3 leases are excellent right now (and last until the end of February). My lease payments will go down $500 per month even though I increased my number of miles from 12K to 15K per year.
I decided to go back to a true manual in the M3. But that in no way takes away from my love of the SMG for the last 3 years. I have driven the DCT during both of my trips to M school, and I respect the technology. But, it will be nice to get back to a third pedal. Who knows, maybe after this car I will get into the new M5 or M6 with the double clutch. The timing will be very good cause I can get one in its mid life cycle, once the bugs are worked out.
Here are some of the specs of the M3 convertible that I' building.
Ingerlagos blue with extended Fox Red Interior (that be an interesting change from my current car!)
Carbon fiber leather interior trim
Comfort Access, Park distance control, Navigation
Cold weather package (a must in Florida :confused3, no really it does get cold in central Florida in the winter)
Folding mirror, garage opener
EDC control (called dynamic damper control. yeah, you actually have to pay for this on the M3)
19" wheels (how could I go to 18" wheels after the M5)
Enhanced premium sound (have it on the M5 and I really like it... but I'll be listening the engine more with the top down)
Satellite radio (a must for me)
HUD (kidding, man I wish they had this! :dunno
I'll post some pics when it gets delivered. I have appreciated this community/forum for all the info, and I'm sure I'll still be around. Thanks for reading.
DB