2001 M3 vs 2003 Boxster

[dghii]

The E46 is still a great looking car. I'd take the M in a heartbeat over the Boxster.

[BIGJake111]

Originally Posted by dghii

The E46 is still a great looking car. I'd take the M in a heartbeat over the Boxster.

if it was the same number of miles....

[BIGJake111]

And yes dont knock the porsche tip that much, manual is better, but the auto is nowhere near as bad as many make it out to be, also many of these have never driven with one. I have gotten to know the shift points on mine so well that i can shift perfectly with just my right foot and nothing else still in auto mode. You get used to the degree of angle that the tip calculates for up shifts and down shifts, it is actually fairly exhilarating. Despite this though, when in manual mode the tiptronic is really really impressive for its age, the shifting is quick, about as good as Mercedes paddles from a year or two back. Many many journalist complain about how terribly slow semi autos are on cars of this age, pleauging everything from the smart roadster to Maserati. Many companies are just recently surpassing porsches outdated tiptronic while the pdk simply blows the doors off of most any transmission system out their. It is very nice in traffic to own a tip, and if i had to have an auto i must say the porsche tip is a very very good one.

[Topless]

The M3 has more value, the Boxster will still be more fun to drive. I had a rather amazing experience piloting a students 2003 Tip around a racetrack. A very fun car.

[cas951]

You need to add one more choice. For me it's neither of the two.

The E46 M3's have their own issue as we do with our cars. We have IMS issue and the E46 M3's have Crankshalf or Connecting rods breaking off. BMW did extend their warranty to 100k miles to cover the issue but after 100k it's no longer covered. Affected models are 2000-2003. 2004 or later are not affected.

Base Boxster Tip? I have a 2002 S Tip and it's ok even in manual mode. It's just not as fun. My brother has a 2003 base Tip and it sure could use some power.

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by cas951

The E46 M3's have their own issue as we do with our cars. We have IMS issue and the E46 M3's have Crankshalf or Connecting rods breaking off. BMW did extend their warranty to 100k miles to cover the issue but after 100k it's no longer covered. Affected models are 2000-2003..

can that isuse be addressed without pulling/splitting the engine?
If not then it's not really an equivalent issue from a second-hand buyer's perspective. IMS is addressed in one day at the shop and has been done by DIY'ers with no experience taking down transmissions.

[shadrach74]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

can that isuse be addressed without pulling/splitting the engine?
If not then it's not really an equivalent issue from a second-hand buyer's perspective. IMS is addressed in one day at the shop and has been done by DIY'ers with no experience taking down transmissions.

Uh the comparison is that you get 104HP per liter with an 2001 M3, for that kind of performance I can except that it may be a bit high strung in terms of maintenance.

2003 Boxster Base gives you 83.3 HP per liter (Yawn)...

Let's not pretend the the IMS is the only mode of failure for these engine, because it's not.

I love Porsches and I love Boxsters...but they are long on shortcomings for their performance. The Base tip has all of the shortcomings with the least performance.

[cas951]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

can that isuse be addressed without pulling/splitting the engine?
If not then it's not really an equivalent issue from a second-hand buyer's perspective. IMS is addressed in one day at the shop and has been done by DIY'ers with no experience taking down transmissions.

No there's no way to address this other than an engine tear down. This is not an equivalent issue. This is why I vote "Neither".