How's everyone doing. I'm new to this forum, and wanted to get a little feedback from those who own evos. I have been an ardent BMW enthusiast for a long time, but couldnt ignore the allure of the Evo when it came to the states. I am now faced with the dilemma of choosing either a 3 series (probably m3) or an Evo for my next car. I plan on test driving the Evo, but wanted to get your opinions out there from those who own them. What works for the car, and what works against it in your opinions? I figured the best help would be from an Evo perspective, which explains my presence here. Thanks guys, happy driving.

 

here is my honest opinion based on my experience of owning both the EVO and a 5-series as well as driving a few m3's. as far as power goes, the evo wing hands down simply for the fact that it is very easy to make fast and it is a blast to drive even in stock form. handling is a bit more complicated because the evo IS AN AMAZING machine even stock but the EVO M3 will also handle amazing with a good driver behind the wheel. exterior is very subjective of course so that is totally up to you. interior on the other hand is very one sided in my own opinion. the EVO simply can't hold a candle to the M3 both in comfort and built quality. coming from a bmw, the evo will feel cheap and boring. bottom line, if you want to make great power and plan to mod the car and don't really care too much about comfort or interior than EVO is the choice for you. if you want a fast enough car that will still be comfortable and have luxury than BMW is the choice.

this is all my opinion of course..

 

Awesome screen name.


IMO, the Evo is more of a pure sports car and the M3 is a relatively soft GT. If the cost delta ($20,000) isn't an issue, then it basically comes down to how you intend to use the car. The M3 has luxury, better sales/service support, refinement, a superb engine, and the roundel on the hood (status). The Evo is all about going fast.

 

I've always thought of the Evo as a homologation special, just like the E30 M3's, which were handbuilt versions of the standard roadgoing E30. In that sense, it's closer to the spirit of the early M3's than today's car which is better than the 1st gen cars in every metric but lacks the purity of the Evo. WIth the evo, it's all about the driving experience... and if you can deal with the comfort and convenience shortcomings you'll find it to be a rewarding car. There really isn't very much about that car that isn't related to handling and performance.

The M3 is a jack of all trades, and it certainly does everything well, but in my mind sort of a compromise. To add comfort, you add weight in the form of goodies like sound insulation, power accessories, a top sound system, and to counter that you have to have more power, heavier suspension components, etc. It's a vicious cycle. Honestly a bare bones (2900-3000) lb E46 with the standard 330 engine is far more appealing to me. I think it's safe to say that once you sort out your feelings, it will be apparent which one is better for you. Good luck.

 

I appreciate all the input. If I were to buy an Evo, the one thing I worry about is that its been driven hard before being broken in correctly. Obviously, you can save money if you buy it preowned, but I'm not sure if that's a safe bet in this case.

 

The same holds true for almost all sports cars, though. And having it broken in properly is no guarantee, either.

 

Ive driven both, If your not into modding your car up, Id say go BMW M3. Not much to do to those unless your talking about spending 5k+. M3 is comfy, has more then enough power for the road and track, and is more spacious. Evo has less performance unless your waiting for the MR, or going to import a MR from Europe/japan. Or unless your gonna mod it out. Either way you cant loose with either car. If you have more then 2 people you are constantly driving around go witht he Evo though. Backseat on the M3 is spacious yes, but not as spacious as the evo's back.

 

I'm not sure about the M3 being more spacious than the Evo. It's been a while since I was in an M3, but I don't recall there being that much room. The Evo was plenty large for me, though.

 

I considered both before buying my Evo. Here was my logic.

1) The Evo is 20K cheaper -- even compared to a used M3
2) The Evo is very tunable where as the M3 is in a very high state of tune already and is hard and expensive to do more with.
3) The Evo has a much firmer ride which was what I was looking for. If I did a lot of commuting I would have bought an M3
4) I feel that used M3s are presently overvalued. This is fine now, but in 2 years time, when the next generation comes out, I don’t want to get hit with 20K depreciation. That being said, I have probably already lost 10K on the Evo.

You are picking between 2 great cars -- you can't lose

 

I meant spacious in the front 2 seats, back two seats are erm, bothersome to be in for a long time. Although If I were you id consider getting the Evo and putting HKS adjustibles on it...That way you can get the same ride as the M3. Basically if you put some effort in modding it correctly then you wont have any warranty problems and youll have the same drive/performance as the M3. But yea I did forget with the new M6 coming out in 2 years...M3's are gonna have big depreciation. Also if your gonna compare with just normal 3 series or Evo...Go with the Evo. Youll get ALOT better driving experience out of it.

 

M6 = $80,000+

Not sure they'll have an impact on M3 prices.

 

Outlaw,
What year is your M Coupe? That was one of the other cars I was considering but the 2001s were hard to find. I have heard that the handling can be a little treacherous with that much power as they pulled the suspension from the old E30 M3. I have heard that you have to be careful in the wet

Are you happy with it?

 

It is fitting that this question is posted in the newbie forum. This is my first post and I am an Evo owner (as of 2 May 2004) and an E46 M3 owner (April 2003). After having driven the M3 for a year and spent enough on mods to buy an Evo, I can say that I should have purchased them in reverse order. The M3 was bought as an everyday car that would (I thought) suit all of my needs. I fell in love with the engine's redline, the buttery gearbox and the ability to powerslide with aplomb. Then the mods started. Swaybars, springs, shifter, big brakes, flywheel, clutch, etc. After a while I felt afraid to drive it. It became a temple of my insanity. The M3 has been in the process of repainting since December and I was forced to drive my Jeep beater every day. The Jeep driving dynamics taxed me mentally for months until I just could not take it. tis past weekend I drove to the local dealership and traded the Jeep in for a leftover 2003 Evo thinking that I was buying another beater.

The Evo is an amazing car with native capabilites that cannot be appreciated until you start to thrash it. It has decent accelertion once underway and has all of the handling characteristics one could as for. The only complaint would be the build quality. It is absolutely deplorable. That actually cannot be complained about because in the sub-$30k region there are few options available. You can buy performance or quality - not both.

-Chris

 

I find the Evo very comfortable to DRIVE... but agreed: there is no luxury whatsoever beyond the seats, wheel, and shifter.

It's not that the quality is defective, it's just cheap. Cheap switches, cheap plastics, etc. My wife's civic feels like a luxury sedan in comparison.

 

Thanks for all the help, I just bought an M3.