After 5 great years my S2000 was replced in 2008 with a BMW M Roadster; my first BMW after nearly 25yrs of driving. I’ve had the MR for just over 3yrs now, how time flies, and, like most petrolheads, have been thinking about what my next car might be for the past 12 months or so. Not that there anything wrong with the MR, it’s a fantastic car, the best I have ever owned and, this in itself makes the decision to change all the more difficult. A back to basics rear drive roadster with minimal driver aids and a multi award winning 340bhp, normally aspirated, straight six; what’s not to like. It also has all the luxuries like nav, cruise, heated seats, Bluetooth, etc. In the time I’ve had it I’ve had no problems whatsoever and covered 35k miles. The car is a weekend toy and is not used for commuting. My own “personalisation” consisted of fitting gloss black 18” E46 M3 alloys, black grills and a dirty great black stripe, right down the middle of the car. I love the look and it certainly turns heads wherever it goes.

I have always longed for a V8 and, my dream car is a Ferrari. Unfortunately, my finances don’t stretch to such heights, so the 430 was not an option, and other Ferrari models were too old/fragile for my needs. After looking at what alternatives were available for about £40k, I narrowed it down to 3 cars that I liked and would consider owning -

AMV8V
Jag XKR 4.2 Coupe
E92 M3 Coupe

In these uncertain economic times buying a V8 is probably not the wisest decision but, I figured if I don’t do it now, I probably never will.

Today I came a little closer to living the V8 dream .

 

Should have told me a month ago just sold my AM V8VR for a new Vantage S.
You know what I think

 

Live the dream Dave. I don't think you'll be disappointed with any of those - all are very capable gt cars.
Of course if you get an Aston, you'll develop a penchant for tom ford clothing a you'll try and blag your way onto the schilthorn with your emotional control unit

 

There is only one thoroughbred in that list.

You know it too Dave.

 

Didn't work though did it

 

You've put a deposit down on something???

It'd better be the AMV8......

 

Just to add, £40k + a little would see you in a 360 spider, but the running costs would be a step and a bit up from the Z4M.....

 

Disregarding the 'feel' - and you will be road testing before you buy, of course - I think you might miss the topless aspect just a little. The trouble is, you can't scratch every itch (so to speak) in the one car. One minor sadness is, you don't get the full V8 sound effect in a coupe.

At the budget, you get a younger BMW than the others and it will be an 09 or 59 plate, which is good: they massively upgraded the iDrive brain and it's a lot better, hard disk rather than DVD. Oh and it has got to be DCT (double clutch semi auto) which makes driving a real pleasure. You can rapidly switch from Jeckyl to Hide without taking your hands off the steering wheel. Hit the M button, hands ready on the paddles and you're instantly there, sailing through the sequential box and hunkering down tightly on the road, hearing sublime little blips of rev matching as it changes down. You even get F1 gear change lights! The auto mode has it's little button to select from, sleepy at one extreme in five steps to very sporty. With such a wide torque band they can do that, the 7th gear can pull from 15mph. Mixed opinions about the Electronic Damper Control, an expensive option. And the boggo hifi is poor - although not in the S2000 league

I found my driving style in the manual was to want to floor it too much. But that might have been the irresistibility of listening to the engine roar top down ... however, the trouble with the foldaway tin roof was, virtually no storage room. The car did feel heavier too, although maybe that was my imagination and knowing that the coupe has a carbon fibre roof instead of 200kg of slowly folding metal up there. And the manual box was ok, but only ok. In 9 months I never got to feel gear-changing could be done seamlessly and without a thought, as it was for me with the S. The two British options will let you carry luggage and still drive a soft top variant should you wish (although your list says coupe). edit: One other thing about the tin top, it always had a near empty tank! Although again maybe my driving style but I never got better than 18mpg in the tin top, whereas the coupe is giving me over 23mpg naturally and so a range of 300 miles per tank. Not that the cost is an issue but having a range under 250 miles becomes irritating on long trips.

Any significance in the order of your list Dave?

 

Nice dilemma

Head says M3, heart says Aston.

What about the AMG C63? You could get one well within that budget now.

 

oddly enough - three of my friends own an E92 M3, a V8V and a 360 Spyder.

The M3 was bought because it needed to fit a road bike in the boot. It wouldn't in the V8V, and it was a faff in the Jag. It's a ridiculous car with huge power, huge speed and at the same time the ability to be a 3-series; comfortable, well handling and mild quiet. Definately the best of both worlds - but - it lacks the emotional drama of the V8V or the 360. it IS, however, the fastest of the three.

The V8V - My friend bought it "because it's so pretty". Suffice to say he has NO mechanical inclination whatsoever, and the first time he put his foot down, "the noise scared [him]"

It's a prettier, less practical M3, with similar running costs but probably slower depreciacion.

The 360 - the particular example cost quite a bit over the budget here, but they can be had. Xd has seen it as I pointed my friend in his direction for paint care. Based on 5k miles per year, my friend expects to pay around £1500-£2000 in running costs p.a. (he's a banker so he likes to make sure the numbers stack up) - being looked after by DK Engineering. It's also staggeringly pretty, and will draw more glances than the other two. It DOES feel a bit...dated..inside when compared to the others, but that shouldn't really be allowed to make much of a difference. The key downside is that it's very wide, and he's scared of parking it ANYWHERE. The only time i've seen him happy to stick it in a car park was when it was behind a Carrera GT and something else outside Super U in Arnage.

Ultimately, it's a lovely prediciment to find oneself in

DRIVE EM!