Convince me I'm wrong!

[Guest]

I'm currently having some heretical thoughts about getting rid of the S2 in favour of a slightly younger BMW E36 M3. The reason for this? I forgot when buying the 944 that I was buying a 16-year-old car (I know!) and expected it to be niggle-free, which it has been for its age. However, there are various niggles that crop up from time to time, such as boot catches that start rattling, door handle stop working properly, driver-side wiper stopped working, driver-side window winding mechanism defective plus the dreaded rust worm has started gnawing away at the wheel arches. Since I currently have 3 kids under the age of three, it is very difficult/impossible to spend the weekends working on the car in the driveway and therefore I have to pay other people to sort these niggles for me. So, I am considering something younger, and since I can't afford a 968, let alone a 964 or 993, I've been thinking about an Evo M3 - younger, more reliable(?), less rust (?- I hope so), no more expensive to run (may be cheaper for maintenance if niggles aren't popping up, providing VANOS unit doesn't need replacing). The down-side of the M3 are it isn't a Porsche, it is only a BM, it doesn't look nearly as good as a 944 (in my eyes), it is only a 3 series when all's said and done, handling???, oh and it isn't a Porsche.

So, convince me I'm wrong and tell me what it is about 944s that make them worth the money and the heart-ache!!
Cheers,

Graham

 

[944Turbo]

Here is some impartial advice ........................ They're sh*t





Or something more tangible - The insurance will be more expensive, the servicing will be more expensive, It may devalue faster. I was considering a Z3M coupe for the age reason, Looked on Pistonheads classifieds and most had new engines, which put me off.

If you keep it for a long time sorting the niggles is an investment and cheaper than buying something newer and more reliable with similar performance.

The BM is a bodykitted repmobile with a great engine and well engineered suspension (that will probably be worn out).

The 944 is a purpose built junior supercar that was up against other junior supercars when new Ferrari 308 / lotus esprit / lambo Jalpa.

Yours looks good in the avatar

Tony

 

[stuj76]

ORIGINAL: GCHinton

... The down-side of the M3 are it isn't a Porsche, it is only a BM, it doesn't look nearly as good as a 944 (in my eyes), it is only a 3 series when all's said and done, handling???, oh and it isn't a Porsche.

So, convince me I'm wrong and tell me what it is about 944s that make them worth the money and the heart-ache!!
Cheers,

Graham

I agree with everything Tony has said but - it doesn't sound like you need convincing, it sounds more like that you need confirmation that you DON'T want an M3 and would really like to keep the 44... Otherwise will may regret it.

Stu

 

[John Sims]

On the other hand...

If you just want a quickish car that shouldn't cost too much then get a Ford. They are cheap, well made, have excellent handling, don't get picked on at traffic lights, cut up in traffic and generally abused. Can be insured and, if they get smacked, will be repaired and not necessarily written off.

There are far too many new cars about so 2 year examples are going for next to nothing. They will depreciate more than a 944, but cost next to nothing to run.

As I keep saying (yes I know it's boring) you've got to really want a 944, or any old car, as there is no point in putting up with the helter skelter of emotions that they bring otherwise.

 

[944Turbo]

Actually I dont really want an old car but I do want at least 300BHP/300ft/lbs and the overtaking wallop this provides within the budget I currently want to spend.
I did half consider a skyline (too big and heavy) and a supra (mostly spoilt and auto). Decided even if I had to sink 10k into the 944 (gearbox/engine bodywork) it should last another 4 years and provide lots more smiles. more than I could buy for say 16K elswhere.
I am strangely drawn to a 996GT2 but really I need a new house with a garage first, which will happen sometime after the current house is finished.
Tony

 

[Fen]

I think the e36 M3 wears its age much worse than the 944, hence you might well find you're not actually in a newer car at all, save what the V5 tells you.

 

[sawood12]

I think you'll find the insurance on the M3 astronomical and make no mistake, a similarly aged M3 will even more troublesome than your 944 and just as expensive to put right if you've managed to find a decent Porsche specialist as a source for cheap 2nd hand parts. Unfortunately the price you pay for a well priced performance car is that you have to keep on top of the maintenance.

What was the conclusion of that Evo Magazine project to get an M3 around the ring in 8 mins? I never did follow it through to its conclusion but last time I checked in they had completely gutted the car, massively uprated the suspension, brakes, exhaust and wheels at great expense. Seems a bit over the top as a keen amature driver can get a std 250bhp 944 turbo round the ring in under 8mins 30secs so in the hands of a proffessional driver 8 mins or thereabouts should be achievable without all the faffing with massively uprating the car.

 

[carlmthompson]

To give you the other side of ownership (I have an E36, and have had another previously):-

1) I don't except the point about more expensive to run - it won't be as long as the engine is sound - 3.0 is much more reliable than the 3.2 apparently.
2) It isn't as well built as the 944 - both of mine have been well looked after examples, and both have rust issues at 5+ years. Nothing major, but annoying all the same.
3) As for "they're sh!t", sorry but that's not really a great argument - mines done 130k miles, and has never let me down. It's also been extremely cheap to run. You might have a thing against BMW drivers, but there are a greater amount of people have a thing about Porsche owners - my advice is that anybody can be a tosser in a nice car.
4) There are dogs about - much like the 944! So be carefull when/if buying.

IMHO, and while risking the wrath of the forum, the BM will be a better everyday car for carrying the family round in relative comfort (even though the boot is tiny), and most likely be cheaper to run. No it certainly does not look as good as the 944, and as Fen says, hasn't aged as well. But... the car was made for a very different purpose than the 944 - more road than track might be a good way to put it.

And do I tihnk you should change? I'm thinking if you're asking the question, you're going to regret it[]

 

[Guest]

M3: Driven by Chavs and Drug dealers.

944: driven by Tiff Needell!

(Actually, I don't think thats convincing at all! [] Buy an M3! [] )

OK, hows about this. Buy an M3 and go to dodgy BMW forums where they talk about neons and chrome alloys, or stay here where we talk about....... actually, what do we talk about!?

 

[pauljmcnulty]

I'm currently having some heretical thoughts about getting rid of the S2 in favour of a slightly younger BMW E36 M3.

Bad news - They get stolen []

Good news - It'll be at the Ace Cafe in London on the German car night for you to steal back []

Whatever you do, get firm insurance quotes first...

 

[Fred Hindle]

Keep the car. Sell one of the kids for parts, the other two will then fit in the back. Spend money getting the little niggly bits sorted. The 944 will still be going long after the BMW has been returned for recycling.
Mine is 1984 and still trundles down the motorway at respectable speeds. I have to keep reminding myself I'm in an old car.
You said it yourself - "it isn't a Porsche"
Cheers,

 

[944Turbo]

It was a quick two word argument - and I did admit to being biased []
Tony

 

[sawood12]

You could always do what i've done, get yourself a nice cheap Focus or something like that - dirt cheap to run and maintain, benefits the Porsche insurance as the Porsche is a 2nd car, use the Focus for the tip and B&Q runs and the mundane daily grind to work and use the Porsche for those nice days when the twisty B roads are empty, the tarmac is smooth and grippy and you've got enough time to take the long way.

Having said that, as soon as the wift drops the sprog she'll have the Focus and the Porsche will be the daily runner again.

 

[John Maddox]

I've had 3 944's over the years and all have been reliable and cheap to run (including the last I had, a 944 Turbo)

I sold the Turbo after 5 years for virtually what I paid for it - that would not be possible with an M3.

As for lowering costs by buying a newer car - last summer I treated myself to a 993 and it's cost a small fortune to get it exactly right with everything working properly.

Give it one more chance and put everything right but sell it if it continues to be troublesome.

 

[Hilux]

I've had numerous cars.

Best fun (by miles and miles) was my Vx powerd Westfield. I stll miss it and every month keep thinking I`ll buy another......BUT heart rules head so I stop and think about what it was really like. Superb fun but soooo impractical that i solsd it. if it bwas really the dogs danglies then why change.

Moral.....if you really have had enough then go for it and dont look back, however if its only money then you will not know what you have to spend on the new car anway.

Good luck whatever.[]

 

[John Sims]

ORIGINAL: Hilux

Best fun (by miles and miles) was my Vx powerd Westfield. I stll miss it and every month keep thinking I`ll buy another......BUT heart rules head so I stop and think about what it was really like. Superb fun but soooo impractical that i solsd it. if it bwas really the dogs danglies .....

So true, (but mine had a blue printed Zetec with twin 45's). 565kgs and 160 bhp [8D][8D][8D][8D][8D] On a dry track, with the sun out, it was far better than sex. It made all road cars look very pedestrian around a circuit (with the exception of big power high speed straits) It might only have done 120 but damn did it get there quick and its cornering ability was often so great that you had to bypass all instincts of survival to push anywhere close to its limits, and then it would still stick. It would take hours for the endorphins to stop running round. Happy days. [8|]

 

[Fen]

Oi! We're convincing Graham not to buy an M3, not convincing Fen to buy a Caterfield... I've bought two cars in the last week* and that's enough even for me. *Wife's Ibiza has a noisy gearbox and they're very difficult to get from a breaker (what does that tell you?). The cost of a rebuilt 'box, 2 front tyres, a new wing to replace the one that was left crumpled in a car park with no admission of guilt and road tax is about the market value of the car so we decided to chop it in for a newer one to get her ABS, air-con, CD player and boot light, plus 12 month's MoT, 4 month's tax and a warranty.

 

[John Sims]

I put the Westie in a ditch once (I did find the limit of the cornering on that occaision) a replacement front wishbone was delivered the following day, a bit of fibreglass was applied here and there and I was driving it again two days later. I very much doubt that would be the case with a 944.

See

http://www.2ta.co.uk/The%20Dark%20Side/slug.htm

If I was to tell you how little I sold him for you'd be in tears and that was with a different chassis to the one the went in the ditch.

 

[John Sims]

Beaky is much nicer in the rain though.

 

[Guest]

As Scott said, get two cars, I`ve got the 944 + Rover 416, (actually+Astra van) ((actually thinking about it various others come and go as well.)) It`s not THAT expensive to run two cars.