New car update...

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Palmball

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 9, 2009
Messages
1,463
Location
Loughborough, UK
Car
Audi R8 V10+ & BMW M5
A quick update for old friends on here on my car life...the Maserati is history! :eek:

I've been doing for too many miles in it recently (and will do for the foreseeable future) as I'm doing a slightly different role at work which has increased my requirement to drive. I put 8k miles on the Maserati in just over 5 months and at this rate by Christmas it would have had 30k miles on the clock. In that car, the value would have been killed (even more than it already was in the short time I had it....horrendous is the only way I can describe the loss on that :mad:).

Whilst I loved the idea, looks and sound of owning the Maserati, it wasn't exactly the pinnacle of build integrity (no surprise there huh!)...indeed, it was in the garage probably every 2-3 weeks for something new that had gone wrong. It was never anything major....just a new exhaust (twice), new rear lights (twice), new instruments (just the once), new door trim after it gave way and my girlfriends dad put his elbow through it (cars fault, not his), peeling leatherette trim, new steering pump......and I'm sure there was more. Anyway, the warranty was due to run out in 6 weeks and it was going to cost me £2.5k for a one year extension (yes, you have read that right....thats confidence in the product isn't it ;)). I did consider this but in reality have been looking at alternatives for the last 2-3 weeks and made a decision last weekend.

I initially was going to order a new C63 coupe (and saloon) but frankly the deals just aren't there at the minute and I'm not paying over £65k for one when I know, in a year there will be deals to be had (on either new or ex-demo's). Also, there a hell of a wait - order now and I'd be lucky to have seen the car before December.

So, for the time being, AMG was out. I did actually consider a new 2011 GT-R and actually, do really want one of these but again, not at £70k. These will also be £20k less in a year and if ever a car is going to be a super-short term prospect, this is it. So paying full whack for one is again not an option.

So, what did I decide on?

Well, I really am going to chastised for this but I have bought a Bavarian Motor Works Motorsport automobile. I can't even say it on here so fearful am I for the consequences.

I shan't waste my breath giving a detailed write-up as frankly, none of you will be interested but suffice to say that I'm actually surprised how much I'd forgotten how good they are and also, how much better the latest version is compared to one of the first production ones I had a couple of years ago. I can see why in the press they are still extremely highly regarded.

In all honesty though, I would have preferred a new C63 in the ideal world for a daily drive but I got the Bavarian Motor Works car, a fully loaded 2011 model in the colour I wanted (red with beige/light tan interior) with a 30% discount! Given the lack of good discounts on the C63, this meant it was a real £20k less than the equivalent C63 and no matter how good that car is, it's not a whole £20k better!

Just thought I'd let you know as for those going to the Goodwood track day, I wouldn't want you all to be in shock when I turn up in my Bavarian Motor Works Motorsport car ;)

Indeed, one thing I do have now is one of the very best road cars for the track so after the Goodwood day, I'm heading straight of to Germany for a day at the 'ring :D May as well get the most out of it before I change my mind ;)










Sorry everyone
 
Interesting post!

Did you p/ex the Maserati for the Bayerische Motoren Werke AG product?

..and what sort of product is it pray?

Be a devil, post a short precis too.
 
Whilst I loved the idea, looks and sound of owning the Maserati,

That was noted as you pulled round the roundabout and off down the ring road one day...sounded mighty fine..;)


No Beemer will match that..
 
Interesting post!

Did you p/ex the Maserati for the Bayerische Motoren Werke AG product?

..and what sort of product is it pray?

Be a devil, post a short precis too.

I didn't no....despite me buying the new car from Sytner and them owning a large percentage of Ferrari / Maserati dealerships (under the Graypaul/Maranello brands), they did not / could not buy my car as those dealers are so overstocked that they couldn't buy anymore. I even heard that the Nottingham branch of Graypaul have not sold a car this month :eek:

I ended up selling it to a trader....Redline Specialist Cars in Harrogate.

I could possibly talk about such a car on these pages and said car is an....








M3

That was noted as you pulled round the roundabout and off down the ring road one day...sounded mighty fine..;)

No Beemer will match that..

Ring road where? Are you following me?

It did sound fabulous yes, possibly a bit OTT sometimes and in all honesty, after the novelty of the sheer loudness of it wore off, I actually preferred the deeper burble of the C63.


Photos puurleeze!!

Are you sure you want to see such a monstrosity on here? I could possibly upload a polariod yes, but not until I have cleaned it at the weekend (I asked the dealer to not touch it before they gave it to me so they didn't scratch it :wallbash:). Are you sure the eyes of a Mercedes driver could take such a sight though?
 
Don't worry not everyone is a merc fanboi, I drive the cars I want and don't foam at the mouth about the "opposition"...

Just hope the M3 sounds better than the pre V8 ones.. :D
 
Just hope the M3 sounds better than the pre V8 ones.. :D

My neighbour has a V8 one, it sounds awful...honestly, it sounds like a hair-drier and the gear-changes are very sharp to the point of being clunky.
 
Give us the details and some pics, no shame in owning a BMW :ban: I'm sure lots of us have had them :eek:.


Seriously, I'm interested!
 
Get some pictures up.. :) M3's are beautiful cars.. Buying one myself soon..
 
A Maserati to a 3 series what will the neighbours think... :)


They do make good cars its purely the image they give and too be honest that's probably not fair as it tends to be the small engine ones that are driven by smegs that think they are in an M3 and think front fogs on no matter what the weather.


hope you enjoy it and sure you will be posting some other nice motor as soon as this one gets dirty mats :) :)


SLS's are coming down.....
 
Well I wasn't expecting that response!

Actually, one of the other reasons I swapped the Maserati other than warranty and depreciation is that the M3 totally trounces it for the quality of drive...it feels like a much more modern, better developed car. When I test drove the M3 last week, it immediately made the Maserati feel like a boat and I'd forgotten just how damn good they make the car handle.

With regards to sound, the V8 M3 doesn't sound great at idle and its particularly rough sounding when first starting up and idling (the handbook even mentions this as characteristic!). It's not a C63 thats for sure.

Where it does start to redeem itself is higher in the rev range where it's mainly induction sound rather then exhaust orientated like the C63 and Maserati. I'd say it's quite an 'advanced', 'technical' sound rather than a deep powerful one and it has it's particularly appealing when revving it through 6-7-8k rpm.

The gearbox though is absolutely fantastic - a real technical achievement. I can't believe I've never had a dual-clutch transmission before as it's so smooth and super fast in changes. Some people state that the fastest automated (single clutch) manuals and the best auto's change gear in a maximum of 80-100ms but in those cases you still get a slight jerk and gap in acceleration. This gearbox appears to be instant with absolutely no gap in performance when the car changes gear and it's seamless. Other than the handling, it's the one other feature that sold the car to me as my previous M3 (yes, I had one a couple of years ago which was also a current shape V8 one) had a manual 'box and that was the worst part of that car.

I have to agree on the comments regarding image though - I think I peaked with the Maserati and in both brand desirability and looks, the M3 is like a boggo 3-series in comparison.

A210AMG...behave! SLS's indeed :)

Pictures to come at the weekend!
 
Nothing wrong with BMW, just a bit young that's all.

If it lasts 38 more years, it will probably be as good as my Goodwood car (pictured left).
 
I think it will only be a matter of time before you are back behind the wheel of a c63.
 
I find your buying patterns most bizarre.

You move up a level from the C63s and M3s of this world by buying a Maserati, you then sell that and go back to an M3?
Far be it from me to judge, but once I'm in a position to be purchasing the Maseratis of this world, I wouldn't go and replace it with a 3 series. Maybe that big ugly thing above it in the range, the 5 series, but not a 3 series....
I understand your problems with the mileage that you're racking up, but you are going to have a similar scenario in time with the 3 series now aren't you?

I'm sure that my view may have no bearing on your future purchases, I just don't see the logic in it all and I couldn't resist commenting.

More to the point, did the M3 come with a Bluetooth headset as standard?? :p
 
a fully loaded 2011 model in the colour I wanted (red with beige/light tan interior) with a 30% discount!

is that for a new unregistered car? is a stock car?

incredible deal.
 
There is no logic to it sweatpea....and thats the fun!

You shouldn't get all caught up in this brand perception thing....just because the Maserati is deemed more prestigious, doesn't automatically mean it's a better car. Much like a 5-series is definitely not a better car for my needs than my lowly 3-series (well, not until the M version comes out and even then, I reckon the M3 will be the preferable drivers car).

There are certain things that only come to light when you live with a car and in reality, the Maserati just wasn't as good as what I'd become accustomed to in the areas that matter to me on a daily basis - as I said before, apart from the way it looked and sounded, there is nothing that the Maserati could do better than the M3 / C63 so why would I keep what to me was feeling like an inferior product when I could get better for less outlay?

In addition, since buying the Maserati I've had to travel a lot more for work (like driving a 250 miles round trip to London at least 2 days a week instead of just my usual 6 mile commute)....this meant the Maserati wasn't suitable anymore. Whilst the M3 will still depreciate, having 30k miles on an M3 is not going to affect the value as much as it would on the Maserati.

All the cars I have, Porsche excepted, are in the same ballpark for purchase price so in respect of going forwards or backwards, I don't see it like I am going backwards....they're different types of car all within my budget and that's enough of an excuse for me to try out what I feel like at a given time.

I've never had a bluetooth headset - I just prefer to hold the phone to my ear whilst driving really close behind the person in front of me ;)
 
Last edited:

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom