Thanks all, great responses. I fully went into this thinking I may be entering a flame zone, but it's cool to hear about everyone's experiences with the car. I wouldn't say the STI is a better car than the M3, but I did appreciate what the car had to offer to me personally for the price. I'd say I'm at a crossroads at the moment. I would either:
- Buy a BMW extended warranty on the M3 sometime next year for a few more years of coverage, and throw on a Bilstein B16 Damptronic kit to satisfy my suspension itch (or B6 damptronic shocks if they EVER get to USA). All in, I'm guessing this route will cost me roughly $8-10K, which I'm not entirely sold on given where I'm at in my life currently and where my priorities lie.
- Trade in my M3 for the 2020 STI and get a check back for the difference, and have a great budget for mods. You just get a lot more hardware for your money in comparison to M3 aftermarket. I like to experiment, but the cost of entry for the M3 is just so much higher than any car I've owned. It isn't that I can't "afford" it per se, but a lot of the parts out there are mentally tough for me to justify parting with the cash for. If I decide to go this route, I need to do this sooner rather than later, since my M3's value is only going down.
Either way, both cars are fun to me. There's no beating the looks or performance of the M3, but if it wasn't for my neighbor's kid coming home from college for the summer and parking his wingless STI in the driveway, the thought wouldn't have even crossed my mind haha.
