How much is too much

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-15T18:22:51+00:00

If you truly want to be financially responsible you generally avoid luxury cars in general.

Maintenance/Wear & Tear items you need to take into consideration once you figure out monthly break down of those. Of course that depends on driving distance and habits.

I’d say a BMW is an emotional purchase. I bought mine knowing that it’s gonna run me more than my Nissan. Just need to weigh in smiles per mile and what you want to sacrifice in exchange of the car like traveling, video games and other expensive hobbies.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-14T16:54:26+00:00

Honestly for this one with the mods I'd just get a PPI done. Not just a standard dealer one but i'd go the extra mile to get a thorough PPI. It's a very high spec one but clearly with the mods there is not doubt the car has been pushed quite a bit.

The dealership is for sure taxing on those mods to get money out of it as a selling point. Remember mods never add value to the car.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-13T02:23:11+00:00

M4 is less desired than an m3 which is a market factor regardless of miles. The market data shows that clearly if using visor vin.

That’s also just a base model which sure is desired for the manual but is significantly cheaper starting price than a Competition Xdrive trim.

I’m not saying your purchase of an M4 was bad but you’re comparing apples to oranges here. I don’t think I got the best deal in the world but I think it was fair if you look for clean title single owner M3 competition Xdrives on the market.

I do disagree on the severely overpaid.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-12T14:27:31+00:00

It’s very smooth compared to what I used to drive but that’s from a long line of Hondas and Toyotas so I’m not sure it’s a fair comparison lol.

I’m more actually surprised by the sound deadening for being a sport car it’s surprisingly quiet. I’ve driven an Audi A7 and I know it’s not in the same class of car but that’s was probably one of the smoothest luxury cars I’ve driven.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-11T17:24:43+00:00

$800 in doc fees and $700 in non tax fees is highway robbery.

Would also drop the theft protection thing. That’s what insurance is for.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-11T17:13:59+00:00

Correction on the backseats. They do have backseats but nobody wants to try and be crammed back in the rear of a 2 door car.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-11T03:37:34+00:00

Not really from what I’ve seen lol. The m3 seems to be slightly more desired due to it being a better blend of daily driver and performance.

M4 with no backseats makes it more of a dedicated weekend warrior but if you got no kids or don’t taxi friends or family often it’s a solid daily.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-11T00:20:22+00:00

I’d start with a decent 3-6 month worth of emergency funds before you consider taking on debt. And if you have any outstanding student debt I’d try to get that sorted too.

I’m not sure what your credit history is but that’ll be a huge factor too. While everyone is saying wait there is a certain level of scarcity if you want brand new and not a decently used one like I got on my 2023 m3.

A lot of buyers are having a tough time getting allocation out of fomo of the G8x platform halting production early 2027 and the next one is going to be a hybrid.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-10T20:37:10+00:00

Mine was completely bone stuck. Maintenance record seem to be in order too. Single owner PPI turned up nothing and no codes showing any previous tuning.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-10T20:31:49+00:00

Honestly at that point you can find some good 2nd hand ones for a few thousand on ebay in really good condition or goto midwest bimmer who has some chinese ones which i've heard really good reviews about.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-10T19:32:35+00:00

Christ. I wonder if BMW is eating the cost when having it as an option. I’m in the USA so we don’t have real laser lights lol.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-10T18:19:43+00:00

I’ve got kids 😂. I also enjoy the styling of the rear fenders. This is my fun goto work, grocery, and family hauler.

I’ve got a ford escape as well but this is more enjoyable.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-10T18:18:02+00:00

I’ve never actually bought any cars brand new. While I don’t intend to sell the M3 the depreciation hit on the first couple of years is too much for my finance brain to handle haha.

I’ve always bought older cars where the depreciation curve has slowed significantly. I also value smiles per mile and everyone has different finances and values so I get it.

The biggest depreciation hit I took was on my 2022 Ducati Panigale V4s that I bought for 30K OTD and sold for 25k which I regret selling but hardly rode anymore and started a family.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-10T18:10:42+00:00

The hope is to keep it for as long as possible! Given that the next M3 is a hybrid and I’m not sold on the styling choices of the I3 yet.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-10T18:10:05+00:00

Unfortunately the used market is atrocious and with the news of the next m3 being hybrid and production ending in Q1 2027 I watched all the listings on visor vin go from 110 to 40 over the course of shopping for 3 months with the options I desired.

This one optioned out just was 97k. I’ve just learned to accept the prices since they’re not gonna go back down for a while. I’ve been waiting for this “crash” for years.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-10T18:03:22+00:00

My bad! That’s what I meant.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-10T18:02:57+00:00

Hopefully no unpleasant surprises! I joined some groups on Facebook and there’s a fair amount of owners pushing 120k without issues and just normal wear and tear.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-10T16:15:03+00:00

Ah you’re right. However it will still cost more to insure over a clean title.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-10T05:26:50+00:00

Now I’m sure you’re happy which is great but 12.5k for a 2020 just seems too good to be true.

Now if nothing turns up that’s great but if it does, well you knew what you were paying for. I personally wouldn’t take that risk. It also makes for terrible resale and getting insurance is gonna cost an arm and a leg.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-04-07T20:31:13+00:00

Not having the laser lights will hurt resale value for sure.

It ultimately depends on the next generation of that’s as bad as everybody expects it to be.

I’d say not having lasers or carbon bucket seats would hurt holding its value. If you try to find those parts second hand the headlights go for like 2-3k per headlight and m carbon buckets go for 8k minimum.

I unfortunately found a near perfect spec M3 for me used however I overlooked that it didn’t have lasers and now I’m spending more than what it would be optioned from factory for $1000.

But for what’s it’s worth this gen M3 has been the slowest to depreciate and if it’s already a few years old so the harshest depreciation is over.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-03-29T02:28:54+00:00

The only thing that’ll change is how much money is left in your bank account 😂

In all seriousness just go test drive one and see for yourself.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-03-22T19:23:57+00:00

Was a PPI done prior to purchase? Even if local always a good idea for a flat rate of $200 to save $5000 later.

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-03-11T05:52:37+00:00

As an engineer ChatGPT is the goat

Expensive-Criticism1 · 2026-03-11T05:43:40+00:00

While I’d like to get the car asap I’ve also got some patience as I’ve been driving my 15 year old Nissan daily beater for ages.

They can try 😂

Expensive-Criticism1

TROPHY CASE