[Lucky1]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

What you will soon find out driving a 10+ y/o BMW in the FL heat, humidity, and extreme UV is total degradation of the interior. The painted plastic interior panels will start to delaminate the paint. The upper portions of the door panels will get sticky and then start to degrade. Plastics, leather, and fabrics exposed to UV and heat will fade.

If you haven't done so already, I would tint every car you plan to take with a high quality UV blocking tint. It doesn't necessarily have to be very dark, but it should be the premium stuff with max UV protection. That along with a sun shade will go a long way. If you have a garage, USE IT. If there is shade somewhere when parking outside, FIND IT.

Rubber seals will also take some beating but that's easier to manage.

If the M3 hasn't had the typical cooling system issues, it will within 6 months of living there.

Thanks. What cooling system issues?

I dislike tinted windows; I’m not a block out the sun kind of guy. Is there technology that I can buy that will help? I read UV protectent spray, gummi fledge on the seals. I used to have a good sun visor for my 128i that helped a lot. And the M3 has rear and side window shades at the back. Maybe getting these while parked at work makes sense?

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

Thanks. What cooling system issues?

I dislike tinted windows; I’m not a block out the sun kind of guy. Is there technology that I can buy that will help? I read UV protectent spray, gummi fledge on the seals. I used to have a good sun visor for my 128i that helped a lot. And the M3 has rear and side window shades at the back. Maybe getting these while parked at work makes sense?

You can get clear ceramic tint. It works great. You will want tint though. Have you been to Florida in like, July or August? The sun is intense, really bright, and you can feel it sizzling your skin. You will want tinted windows, trust me.

Many years ago, a buddy of mine from Wisconsin came with me to FL for a work project. It was stormy that week, because it was summer and it is stormy all summer, and he literally got sunburned on a totally cloudy day. I thought this was hilarious and used to joke with him that he could get Moonburn he was so fair skinned.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

Thanks. What cooling system issues?

I dislike tinted windows; I’m not a block out the sun kind of guy. Is there technology that I can buy that will help? I read UV protectent spray, gummi fledge on the seals. I used to have a good sun visor for my 128i that helped a lot. And the M3 has rear and side window shades at the back. Maybe getting these while parked at work makes sense?

35% tint looks really classy and it does the job. But, you can use lighter shades. The benefit is they all block virtually 100% of UV. Check out www.llumar.com. They have regular and ceramic tint. Regular is fine. You don’t have to use ceramic. I’ve been using Llumar for over 40 years. I started using it when I was 2 years old!

[XutvJet]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

Thanks. What cooling system issues?

I dislike tinted windows; I’m not a block out the sun kind of guy. Is there technology that I can buy that will help? I read UV protectent spray, gummi fledge on the seals. I used to have a good sun visor for my 128i that helped a lot. And the M3 has rear and side window shades at the back. Maybe getting these while parked at work makes sense?

Just the typical 10+ y/o BMW cooling issues like leaks, cracks in plastic cooling system components, water pump failure, radiator fan, etc. You're going to be in an area with lots of heat and humidity so the engine bay will be hotter more often that Toronto and the cooling system working overtime to keep the engine and interior cool. The heat and humidity will tax parts and make them age much faster than living somewhere with a mild or cooler climate.

Like BlkGS noted, you can get varying tint levels. I recently tinted my M2 with a UV blocking premium ceramic tint and a nearly 50% tint which equates to a very light tint. You can clearly see into the car. Tinting the windows is a must in states like FL if you want any hope of preserving the interior. Dashboard sunshades are an absolute must too.

[spazzyfry123]

Where'd you land, OP?

I have a similar ~100 mile roundtrip daily commute, but I also opt to only come into the office three days a week instead of the full five - so I am closer to the 15k miles/year instead of what would be ~26k miles/year.

That said, I also have my E90 M3, but I've probably brought it into the office a week's worth of driving. Mileage, maintenance, fuel cost, depreciation, blah blah aside, I swear I see an accident every couple days. Not a "I got stuck in traffic and saw that an accident had happened", but a true accident I witness happen real time at least once a week. Mix that in with the debris, the near misses, etc... I just don't want to put my favorite car through that as it stresses me out to no end. There's been two occurrences that I've straddled some debris or something in a larger vehicle that likely could have totaled out my M with it going through the oil pan and what have you.

I choose to drive an old F-150 each day that I give zero f*cks about I handed some small cash over for that I don't hold wild insurance on (less $/mo). While the stress is down, I'm spending in fuel what I could lease a new Tesla for. Monthly charging would cost around $50. I wouldn't get rid of the truck, so insurance would be an add-on, not a delta.

Seems like overall, I could drive a new Tesla every day strictly as a commuter and spend maybe $200 more a month than I am now while still keeping the truck for truck things. I'm considering pulling the trigger...

[Lucky1]

Landing on wishing I had kept my 143k mileaged 128i 6 speed. Needed a new evaporator core though.
Would have been perfect car for this, or to split between E90 M3.

I don't feel like financing or buying a car right now. May just roll the dice, rack up the miles and repair or replace it with another E90 M3 hoping it won't be unobtainium by that time. Or find a miled out G80 M3 6 speed if they exist and E90 is not available. I do think life is too short to not drive the car that I chose for daily driving chores, and reality is I have weekend cars if I really want to feel like I'm "preserving" something.

Maybe I'll take the Z4 out once a week or every other week for the commute. Don't like driving with the top up (claustrophobic) and think I might stink from the road if I drive an hour down the highway into work. So would be top down on way home only

We'll see. I'm temporarily been driving a 430i and a 440i and both are nice cars but not worth enough to spend extra $$ on when I can just drive the E90 M3. It just seems like an oxymoron to spend money on a car to drive that you don't like just to avoid driving the car that you DO like.

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

Landing on wishing I had kept my 143k mileaged 128i 6 speed. Needed a new evaporator core though.
Would have been perfect car for this, or to split between E90 M3.

I don't feel like financing or buying a car right now. May just roll the dice, rack up the miles and repair or replace it with another E90 M3 hoping it won't be unobtainium by that time. Or find a miled out G80 M3 6 speed if they exist and E90 is not available. I do think life is too short to not drive the car that I chose for daily driving chores, and reality is I have weekend cars if I really want to feel like I'm "preserving" something.

Maybe I'll take the Z4 out once a week or every other week for the commute. Don't like driving with the top up (claustrophobic) and think I might stink from the road if I drive an hour down the highway into work. So would be top down on way home only

We'll see. I'm temporarily been driving a 430i and a 440i and both are nice cars but not worth enough to spend extra $$ on when I can just drive the E90 M3. It just seems like an oxymoron to spend money on a car to drive that you don't like just to avoid driving the car that you DO like.

You keep talking about finding a replacement E90 M3 if you decide to run up the miles on the one you have. The thing about that is it will be virtually impossible to do. So, in my opinion, if you decide to drive the M3 and rack up the miles do it with the plan in mind it will be virtually irreplaceable if you decide down the road you want another in similar condition to what yours currently is. It’ll be one and done.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

You keep talking about finding a replacement E90 M3 if you decide to run up the miles on the one you have. The thing about that is it will be virtually impossible to do. So, in my opinion, if you decide to drive the M3 and rack up the miles do it with the plan in mind it will be virtually irreplaceable if you decide down the road you want another in similar condition to what yours currently is. It’ll be one and done.

This ^

[pbonsalb]

So what? Enjoy the car rather than preserve it for later or its next owner. Who knows what could happen to the OP. If some of you guys want to drive beaters instead of nice cars, go ahead.

I had 10 years in an E90 M3 and am content with my time — about 80k miles. No regrets about moving on. No interest in driving an old truck, Tesla Model 3, old E90 with 400,000 miles, etc. In fact, I would seriously consider spending a bunch of money on a really nice car to sit in for 27,000 miles a year.

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

You keep talking about finding a replacement E90 M3 if you decide to run up the miles on the one you have. The thing about that is it will be virtually impossible to do. So, in my opinion, if you decide to drive the M3 and rack up the miles do it with the plan in mind it will be virtually irreplaceable if you decide down the road you want another in similar condition to what yours currently is. It’ll be one and done.

Agreed. It's tough to find a good spec E90 M3 as it sits today. In a few years it'll only be more expensive and harder to find a good one.

[AmuroRay]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

So what? Enjoy the car rather than preserve it for later or its next owner. Who knows what could happen to the OP. If some of you guys want to drive beaters instead of nice cars, go ahead.

I had 10 years in an E90 M3 and am content with my time — about 80k miles. No regrets about moving on. No interest in driving an old truck, Tesla Model 3, old E90 with 400,000 miles, etc. In fact, I would seriously consider spending a bunch of money on a really nice car to sit in for 27,000 miles a year.

This this and so much this.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

So what? Enjoy the car rather than preserve it for later or its next owner. Who knows what could happen to the OP. If some of you guys want to drive beaters instead of nice cars, go ahead.

I had 10 years in an E90 M3 and am content with my time — about 80k miles. No regrets about moving on. No interest in driving an old truck, Tesla Model 3, old E90 with 400,000 miles, etc. In fact, I would seriously consider spending a bunch of money on a really nice car to sit in for 27,000 miles a year.

Because the OP said if he uses up the E90 M3, at the end, he'll either rebuild the one he has at 300,000 miles, or try to find another M3 that hasn't been used up (i.e. someone DID save it for the next guy). If the OP likes the M3 so much that after he rags his out and wants a more fresh vintage E90 M3, when it will then be 20+ years old (near impossible - maybe BaT will have one in 2035), why not just keep the one he has at low mileage and in good shape, which his is.

[BlkGS]

You know what's striking about this conversation?

Nobody is like "who cares, use up the E90 and then trash it and buy a newer M3". That's bad for BMW right there, that nobody has any faith that they're going to build a car better than that much older one.

[pbonsalb]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Because the OP said if he uses up the E90 M3, at the end, he'll either rebuild the one he has at 300,000 miles, or try to find another M3 that hasn't been used up (i.e. someone DID save it for the next guy). If the OP likes the M3 so much that after he rags his out and wants a more fresh vintage E90 M3, when it will then be 20+ years old (near impossible - maybe BaT will have one in 2035), why not just keep the one he has at low mileage and in good shape, which his is.

You enjoy driving your 400,000 mile beater. Maybe other people are not curmudgeons.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

You enjoy driving your 400,000 mile beater. Maybe other people are not curmudgeons.

Thanks. Your attempt at an insult just means you have no answer to my post. You have no answer to my post because it's based on logic and direct experience.

[Lucky1]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

You know what's striking about this conversation?

Nobody is like "who cares, use up the E90 and then trash it and buy a newer M3". That's bad for BMW right there, that nobody has any faith that they're going to build a car better than that much older one.

It is striking, isn’t it? Although I wouldn’t use the word “better” in this case. Its just a twist on “they don’t make them like they used to”.

I like racy, high and FAST revving engines mates to a manual. That combination is so drivers car if you like rowing gears and rev matching. I also learned that faster car acceleration, louder cars and uncomfortably stiff cars are not great daily drivers either

You see, to me Porsche has solved part of the problem that BMW has created in the sense that they make cars that cater to both the need for speed and comfort crowd as well as the raw, racy and in their case now track focused. When you hit the 911 or Cayman GTS models, their lineup “forks” into Turbo for 911 and GT3/4 for the Cayman. You can choose which one you want based on what is important to you. Both perform exceptionally well but have completely different characters and daily livability

BMW IMO sticks to the “Turbo” route albeit availability of a manual on lower spec G80/82.

The last part of this for me personally is simply financial. I bought my E90 for 1/3rd the price of a G80 and 2/3rds fhe price of an F80. Maybe those cars will depreciate to there in a few years but they’re holding higher values.

If money were no object I’d do what all these crazy YouTubers are doing and buy a low mileage car for $80k+ USD I’d get an E46 M3 while I was at it too.

[Lucky1]

One of my original thoughts before I knew my commute would be long was to get an E93 M3 6 speed convertible alongside my E90 M3. Maybe I’ll do that and just distribute the mileage across both of them. At least I’ll have both of then in 50% better shape in a couple of years? Haven’t bothered mathing out the financial considerations yet.

I drove some M440i and 340i G83’s on the commute route recently. Love how quiet and relatively light (vs F83 hardtop) they are.

Ultimately I’ll need to drive the E90 M3 for a while until I get situated and from thefe make some decisions. Wifey is saying she may want a car too for occassional use; if that happens its probably going to be an automatic. So we’ll see if that pushes us EV or something else.

[Lucky1]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

35% tint looks really classy and it does the job. But, you can use lighter shades. The benefit is they all block virtually 100% of UV. Check out www.llumar.com. They have regular and ceramic tint. Regular is fine. You don’t have to use ceramic. I’ve been using Llumar for over 40 years. I started using it when I was 2 years old!

Thanks!! I think the car I am renting in FL has a light tint and I don’t mind it at all visibility wise. Not 100% sure at night when cornering but absolutely its 200% better than the super dark blackout tint on my last rental which was just unsafe at night.

Light tint and 100% UV protection sounds really good to me.

Do car front windshields naturally have UV protection from factory?

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

Thanks!! I think the car I am renting in FL has a light tint and I don’t mind it at all visibility wise. Not 100% sure at night when cornering but absolutely its 200% better than the super dark blackout tint on my last rental which was just unsafe at night.

Light tint and 100% UV protection sounds really good to me.

Do car front windshields naturally have UV protection from factory?

No, at least not enough.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

It is striking, isn’t it? Although I wouldn’t use the word “better” in this case. Its just a twist on “they don’t make them like they used to”.

I like racy, high and FAST revving engines mates to a manual. That combination is so drivers car if you like rowing gears and rev matching. I also learned that faster car acceleration, louder cars and uncomfortably stiff cars are not great daily drivers either

You see, to me Porsche has solved part of the problem that BMW has created in the sense that they make cars that cater to both the need for speed and comfort crowd as well as the raw, racy and in their case now track focused. When you hit the 911 or Cayman GTS models, their lineup “forks” into Turbo for 911 and GT3/4 for the Cayman. You can choose which one you want based on what is important to you. Both perform exceptionally well but have completely different characters and daily livability

BMW IMO sticks to the “Turbo” route albeit availability of a manual on lower spec G80/82.

The last part of this for me personally is simply financial. I bought my E90 for 1/3rd the price of a G80 and 2/3rds the price of an F80. Maybe those cars will depreciate to there in a few years but they’re holding higher values.

If money were no object I’d do what all these crazy YouTubers are doing and buy a low mileage car for $80k+ USD I’d get an E46 M3 while I was at it too.

Where I see a difference with the E90 M3 is, it is unique because it has the V8 in it. While my personal preference for BMWs is with one of their in-line 6 engines (I've had four overall - still have two) the V8 in the E90 makes it different, which is why preserving a E90 M3 is different than wearing out an in-line 6 M3 and buying the next new version of the in-line 6 M3. Yeah, I get it, the newer M3 are much more capable and have more power from the turbo in-line 6 they have now, but it's not the S65 in the E90 M3.

[lakefront]

One thing to consider is what kind of commute are you going to have? Putting a ton of miles on an M3 with just boring highway miles seems like a waste.

[BigSedanGuy]

I put 25k on my 6mt e90 m3 in the last year. Filling up twice a week isn't fun but it's well worth it. I also explored EV leases and have a charger at work, as well as an early Model S with Free Supercharging. At the end of the day it will still cost more for an experience that isn't as rewarding as driving the e90 m3 every day.