E46 or IS300 or MS6?

Sold all of my toys, have always owned f-bodies, currently driving my daily driver and looking to trade it in for something a bit more fun. I have been looking at 2003-06 Mazda 6s, Lincoln LS V8, Infinity G35 Coupe, MazdaSpeed 6, BMW 330i or Ci, and more recently the Lexus IS300.

My top choices are the 330, IS300 and the MS6.

I love the 330i, quick, sporty, fair amount of room for passengers, and all around fun to drive factor. My biggest qualms are that E46's are expensive to upkeep, and are prone to cooling system failures, VANOS issues, and all kinds of random expensive matainence. I am only looking at 2002-2005 sport package (M-Sport and ZHP) optioned cars, and will not settle for an Auto.

The IS300 looks cool inside and out, has the 2JZ, sounds great and handles and accelerates almost as well as the BMW, but with much less matainence. Biggest downside is fuel economy and high insurance premiums. They are also pretty pricey for being older, some 11 years old and still 10k plus.

I have owned Mazda's as dd's for years and have had excellent luck with them. 150k miles on three different cars and less than $1,000 spent in repairs. The MazdaSpeed is a bit pricier than the BMW and Lex, but it is AWD and turbocharged. I don't know much about their reliability.

I'm not looking to do much in terms of mods, maybe exhaust, CAI, minor suspension mods, etc. Just looking for a reliable ride that looks good and is fun to drive... year around.

Anyone owned any of these cars? Give me some input.

If you want more sportiness than luxury id say go with the MS6. If not go for the lexus

I don't think the ms6 is a big performer is it? Same a ms3 but much heavier I thought....

Too be honest I would probably take the Lexus over the MS6. It's got two more cylinders and the 2JZ is solid. I like rear wheel drive as well. It has 60 horses less, but also costs quite a bit less. The only MS6's that are in my price range have at least 100,000 miles.

brngrhd wrote:

I don't think the ms6 is a big performer is it? Same a ms3 but much heavier I thought....

Pretty sure it shares the same engine (2.3) as the MS3. They are pretty quick, 0 - 60 in less than 6 seconds, 270 something horsepower. I'm not sure on any other performance specs.

FYI, highway mileage on that IS300 is actually pretty good. My buddy averages about 27 on the highway in his auto IS300. The problem I have is the back seat is worthless, I have no idea how tall you are though. There is absolutely no way anyone could ride behind me.

E46... you are pretty much dead on. It will cost to take care of but will be a rewarding car to own.. I am on my 2nd e39 now.

Your choices are all over the place. I will quote a friend and say "buy the car you will be excited to drive, the one that will have you looking at your reflection in storefront windows".

Good luck with your choice, they are all nice cars.

Evan

I have a sweet m6sw you could buy.

I owned an IS300 for some time, and I've driven multiple BMWs. Performance wise, different strong suits, but about on the same level overall. I have a friend who currently owns an IS300 and he has put over 60000 miles on his in the past 2 years with the only repair being an o2 sensor. They will also probably hold their value better than the BMW as they both continue to age.

My biggest concern really is reliability. This will be my only vehicle until I finish college 2-3 years from now. IS300 sounds like my best bet. a friend of mine bought a very nice BMW 330i, 110k, meticulously maintained with a Bible of Records. just in the past 8 months he has had the car he has already spent over 3000 dollars in maintenance. now his check engine light is on and coolant light is on and he's looking at another grand. E46's are awesome cars but they are so costly to maintain. E90 is too pricey and maintenance is even more expensive. I see IS300's for sale routinely with 200+ K miles, in excellent running order. only problem with the Lexus is that I would probably have to settle for an automatic as they did not make very many manual transmission cars. it would still be pretty cool to have the shift buttons on the steering wheel though

Go with the M6 sport wagon. Perfect car for school. Low miles black leather. Nice.

shift buttons suck. Literally seems like a full second delay

What sucks in the IS is 2nd is the lowest you can shift it. The car does not allow you to shift 1-2, or 2-1. I suppose its because they were worried people would destroy the transmissions under the factory warranty. that's pretty lame that they are slow to respond to driver input. A full second delay would really dull the experience.

M6 Wagon? Didn't know there was such a thing. That's going to be way out of my price range lol. Speaking of M6's though I did look at a lot of E39 M5's and the 540i with Sport Package. They are awesome looking cars, but if I think maintaining a 3 series is going to be expensive multiply that by about 10 for a 5er. M5's are outta this world expensive, and even 540i's are ridiculous as well. I read on a forum that a guy traded in a E39 BMW 540i that ran perfect with around 60,000 miles after he found out it needed about 7-10k in upcoming matinence. Wtf!!!

You should get a Volkswagen beetle! More power than you can handle, and it'll be reliable!

$10,995. v6, moonroof, bose. Come drive it.

IS300 has the most potential and will easily be your most reliable and fairly cheap to own.

I owned a speed 3, I might go speed 6 but only if the awd is important. They make 263 crank HP and weigh a lot. But if you just want a good stock reliable year round daily its a good choice.

Blown91LX wrote:

$10,995. v6, moonroof, bose. Come drive it.

Mazda 6 wagon? Nice options, but I'm looking for a sedan only. I think the IS300 is exactly what I am looking for.

ThreeOhFive wrote:

Blown91LX wrote:

$10,995. v6, moonroof, bose. Come drive it.

Mazda 6 wagon? Nice options, but I'm looking for a sedan only. I think the IS300 is exactly what I am looking for.

It is EXACTLY what you're looking for

If you can find the IS in a manual, that's probably going to be your best bet. I personally love BMW's, but if you are worried about maintenance costs I would just save yourself the trouble and steer clear, that's why I got rid of mine; they are quite expensive to mod and maintain. I don't know anything about the MS6, so I can't comment there, but the IS is pretty rock solid, and easy to work on.

First, scrap the idea of a Lincoln LS V8, gargabe. The G35 would be the "coolest" car on that list IMO. Lexus would more reliable than the BMW but if insurance is a lot more, you have to account for that too. I would go for the Lexus or the G35 myself.

G35s, IMO, are too everywhere to still cool. But I've always liked uncommon cars.