Cost of Ownership: E92 M3 vs F82 M3

[RaidersFan]

I currently own an F82 M4, 6MT, and although it is a great car, I simply despise seeing it lose $1,000 a month in value. I am considering going "backward" into a low mileage E92 M3, also a manual. A clean 60,000 mile E92 can be had for well under $30,000 these days. It seems to better fit my idea of having a fun car to drive while not having a crazy steep depreciation.

With that said, I am a bit worried about potential repair costs on an older car outweighing the relative lack of depreciation. Any ideas on what each car would cost to own over a 5 year period?

[Munichm3]

Originally Posted by RaidersFan

I currently own an F82 M4, 6MT, and although it is a great car, I simply despise seeing it lose $1,000 a month in value. I am considering going "backward" into a low mileage E92 M3, also a manual. A clean 60,000 mile E92 can be had for well under $30,000 these days. It seems to better fit my idea of having a fun car to drive while not having a crazy steep depreciation.

With that said, I am a bit worried about potential repair costs on an older car outweighing the relative lack of depreciation. Any ideas on what each car would cost to own over a 5 year period?

I've had my e92 for over 2 years now. No issues at all, expect to change the throttle actuators. The most reliable m3 I've owned. I've had 2 e46 m3, and one e60 m5, and this has been the most trouble free with 71K miles. I've been looking for the f8x to add to my collection, but I'm still looking for the right one.

[BoxKing]

How did you come up with your figure off $1,000 depreciation each month. I've seen many posts with links to F82's on here and on AutoTrader that have used 2016's with roughly 10K miles on them still going for mid to high 60's, most on the higher side.

Can anyone chime in on the validity of the OP numbers - I can't imagine 5 year old, low mile F8X would only have a value of $15-20,000.

[Ian1973]

He's not far off. I have a 2015 M3 with 34,000 miles or so. I would expect I may be able to get 48-49k, I paid roughly 72k with tax. I've owned it 29 months or so, that is like 827 bucks a month in depreciation.

It sucks, but that is just what you expect when you buy a new German luxury car.

[Sinnakle]

Originally Posted by Ian1973

He's not far off. I have a 2015 M3 with 34,000 miles or so. I would expect I may be able to get 48-49k, I paid roughly 72k with tax. I've owned it 29 months or so, that is like 827 bucks a month in depreciation.

It sucks, but that is just what you expect when you buy a new German luxury car.

34,000 is close to the 15,000 average per year, but I wouldn't consider that low mileage territory. Below 20,000 miles seems to be around $55k then goes up from there the lower the mileage. When I was shopping I saw a CPO Fully loaded AW/SO with 29k miles going for $52k at a BMW dealer in my state. 2016 low mileage is $60k+.

[pruettfan]

The first three years is where any car takes a big depreciation hit, thus the reason that leases are 3 years. Once cars hit 3 years old they depreciate very slowly, this is why you should never buy a new car you aren't willing to have for 5-6 years otherwise the cost of ownership is pretty crazy between depreciation, sales tax, licensing etc. Hard to compare cost of ownership between a car with maintaince and warranty included for the first few years with a car that is out of warranty and an unknown on condition. I am sure if you can get an excellent fairly low mileage E92 you will be good cost wise but that could be said about any used car. I drove my regular 2006 e90 225,000 miles I got my full use out of it but had I not been able to do the work myself those last 75,000 miles would have broke me.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by Ian1973

He's not far off. I have a 2015 M3 with 34,000 miles or so. I would expect I may be able to get 48-49k, I paid roughly 72k with tax. I've owned it 29 months or so, that is like 827 bucks a month in depreciation.

It sucks, but that is just what you expect when you buy a new German luxury car.

I think this sounds about right during the first 3 years. My lease includes depreciation of about $860 / mo. @ 15K miles / year. If I tried to sell it, I'm sure actual depreciation is quite a bit higher in month 1 than in month 36 (and declines further after month 36) but overall that's total depreciation / 36 mos.

[jmg]

That's a $40k difference, you're not going to rack up that high a bill on any repairs on an old E92 unless you manage to blow your engine, bend the frame, destroy every single panel of the car, shred your wheels, and light your car on fire!

LOL. I'm exaggerating, but you get the picture. Of course a used car is going to cost less and have less depreciation. New cars lose most of their value the first 3 years.

[audioMeth]

i had my e90 m3 since new, in 52k miles i replaced throttle actuators, idle control valves, thermostat, water pump, and now developed a slow leak at the rear main seal which means i might as well do the subframe mounts and rod bearings ($2700 service at turner motorsports). i decided enough was enough and ordered an f80 back in july, car should be here any day now.

[04RC51]

If you get an E9X, just go ahead and replace the throttle actuators and a few O2 sensors right away. That will make one less breakdown session along the way.

Looking back at my ownership, I hated that car after 3 years. It was always something! New engine due to rod bearing failure, throttle actuators, O2 sensors, etc etc. Just nonstop bullshit putting you into limp mode. It was tough to go far away without it always being in the back of your head. Fukk that car!

[RobbyMack]

Funny thing about depreciation is that you can't recover it. Depending on how long you've owned the car you're likely on the back end of the steep depreciation curve brand new cars take. At this point ride it out, enjoy your "newer" car. Sure a used e9x might save some right now, but it's also going to be at the very least 2-3 years older than your f8x. In general as age/mileage increases reliability decreases in all cars so in theory a e9x will never be as reliable as a f8x simply due to time (We're talking fractional differences here so don't hit me with the anecdotal I've have my e9x for 200k and never an issue nonsense, if so good for you. you've beaten the curve).

[cotmfk]

I generally agree with that.

We seem to be in a weird used car market now, however, where cars over ten years old in good condition seem to hold steady or rise slightly. I don't know how long that will continue, though. It seems to have happened with E46 M's, E39M's, etc.

[nicknaz]

Keep the f82. You've taken on the 3 yr depreciation hit and it will level off now

[dmk08]

I looked into doing this too due to the depreciation but as others have said at this point it's probably just better to ride it out.

As far as the numbers quoted around depreciation they are pretty close. My 16 M4 with an MSRP of $80,750 and 6000 miles is getting trade offers around the $57k mark. Private party offers are no better. I've had it since July 2016.

On a flip side I had a 15 M3 with an MSRP of $78,000 and I was able to sell it private after 2 years and 13000 miles for $61,500.

[RaidersFan]

Interesting; thanks for the responses. Our YMB M4 6MT, $71k build with another $2500 in M performance parts mods, 16,000 miles and MINT++, according to the person who is thinking of consigning it, is only worth $54,000 at best. There are a lot of comps in the market at $52,500-54k, with 25,000 miles.

I would guess the car is worth more than $54,000, but what do I know?

[RaidersFan]

Originally Posted by Ian1973

He's not far off. I have a 2015 M3 with 34,000 miles or so. I would expect I may be able to get 48-49k, I paid roughly 72k with tax. I've owned it 29 months or so, that is like 827 bucks a month in depreciation.

It sucks, but that is just what you expect when you buy a new German luxury car.

That may even be high. I did a search for 30k mile 2015's, and most of the dealer listings were $50-52k. Private party may be closer to $46k right now.

They are definitely depreciating faster than the E92 was. I sold my 2012 E92 DCT with 36,000 last year for $44,000; 4 years old, and the sticker was $66k. Most F80 cars are going to have a higher sticker price too. It seems like these are depreciating more like the typical BMW, and not like the M3's we have seen in the past, which tend to level out at around $15-25k, depending on mileage.

[Thescout13]

Originally Posted by RaidersFan

That may even be high. I did a search for 30k mile 2015's, and most of the dealer listings were $50-52k. Private party may be closer to $46k right now.

They are definitely depreciating faster than the E92 was. I sold my 2012 E92 DCT with 36,000 last year for $44,000; 4 years old, and the sticker was $66k. Most F80 cars are going to have a higher sticker price too. It seems like these are depreciating more like the typical BMW, and not like the M3's we have seen in the past, which tend to level out at around $15-25k, depending on mileage.

I agree. I do not think it helps that a majority of M3/4s sold are at 15-20k above the base price because of options. That hit just gets bigger and bigger the more options you got. Although, those out there with stripper cars held their values very well.

[JoeFromPA]

Let me help with a few considerations:

1. You aren't going to CONTINUE to depreciate $1k a month. I don't know how old your car is, but once your vehicle hits 2 years old that will start to slow dramatically. You can use lease residuals to help you but look at it this way: a 3 year lease brings the expected value to about 65%. (About 12% per year averaging out). The next year drops to 9% loss. The year after that may be 8%. Etc.

2. You need to factor in the depreciation on the e92 to compare the difference. You also should factor in the transaction costs (i.e. taxes & fees).

3. The e92 gets meaningfully worse fuel economy. Calculate that out.

4. The e92 also eats much costlier oil, whereas the f8x does not appear to be an oil consumer and oil is much less expensive. I can't speak for the e92 totally, but on my e39 (which took the same oil), I spent about $100/year ON OIL CONSUMPTION alone. About 6-7 quarts per year. And that was normal consumption.

I could go on.

I'm sure the f8x is more expensive to own. But it may not be as bad as you expect after doign the best-possible calculation.

[stevehifi]

I had an e90m3 and put 108k miles on it before trading it in for an F80. Here are the problems I had in 9 years
-throttle actuator
-idle control valve (covered under warranty)
-thermostat
-both rear window lifter guides
-battery
-emissions pump

Overall about $2k of repairs.. not bad for a car that was abused and tracked in
hot california climate.

Problem was at the end, clutch was worn out, windshield cracked, paint on roof was fading and was getting some leaks on the valve covers. I probably could of kept it and fixed all of these but the car was a bit too worn out.

I say keep the f8x, not worth going back to an e9x.

[saeyedoc]

The real annoying thing about the E90 is the small gas tank combined with the bad gas mileage that required me to fill up more often than any car I've owned.

[Jaymax85]

An f80 is a much faster, in my opinion more fun to drive car.. I wouldn't downgrade

[Ian1973]

Originally Posted by RaidersFan

That may even be high. I did a search for 30k mile 2015's, and most of the dealer listings were $50-52k. Private party may be closer to $46k right now.

They are definitely depreciating faster than the E92 was. I sold my 2012 E92 DCT with 36,000 last year for $44,000; 4 years old, and the sticker was $66k. Most F80 cars are going to have a higher sticker price too. It seems like these are depreciating more like the typical BMW, and not like the M3's we have seen in the past, which tend to level out at around $15-25k, depending on mileage.

Lovely. I've been thinking of ditching mine and probably still owe 49k or so. Ugh.

EDIT: Actually I just checked, my payoff is 50,045. Worse ugh.