[Lucky1]

Hi, I'm on the verge of possibly relocating to Florida and taking on a project that will require me to travel and incur 27,000 miles annually on my car.

I'm bringing my daily E90 M3 6MT as well as my weekenders, Z4M Roadster and 911 Carrera 4S (991.1) 7MT.

My original plan was to just suck it up and drive the E90 until the engine blows (300,000+ miles?), and either replace the engine or the car itself. It currently has 73,160 miles on it.

Lately also wondering if there's a business case to get a used EV on a cheap monthly finance, like an Hyundai Ioniq 6 and pay FPL's $38 a month free charger install, free overnight charging and spare the E90 the mileage. I would have to pay extra on insurance for it too of course, but the monthly savings in fuel would be significant by my quick math.

I'm going to dive deeper into the math but I thought I'd talk to my fellow Bimmerposters, and beyond the E9x dedicated M3 forum, to see what they do. I know a lot of people look at the E9x as a weekender, and I appreciate that, but right now for better or worse its been my daily. I love driving it, its a fantastic all around car, serves its purpose as the ultimate family sedan that's also a manual sports car. I haven't been shy about putting miles on it up to now, but this is a lot of miles. Still, its meant to be driven (though fuel, oil and tire costs are certainly going to be not much fun).

Other ideas were to buy some cheap $10k commuter fuel sippers and continually buy and resell at the same price or similar if possible jumping from car to car. What would you guys do?

[nazali]

some quick maths

@27k/year
your on 73,160km
it will take 226,840km to get to 300k, when your engine blows up
thats 8 years time....

questions

1> are your going to be there for 8 years
(you'd need to be there more than 8 years as your engine wont grenade at exactly 300k)

2>y r u expecting your engine to grenade at 300k or at all, as a senior forum member I assume you have some sense on BMW's what to do not to do maintain, your not a noob so why should it grenade?

3> do you not consider your e90 not to be a daily driver, and average KM's is around 20-25k, so regardless of where you live TO or FLA, your going ot possibl;y do 20k a year anyway

4> why am I asking these questions

5> are you relocating for good ?

6> What are your hobbies?

7>What is your favorite food

8> What is your favorite TV show

As a Canuk, I'd not wanna be stepping into the US of A at the moment.
Heck were not even buying there ketchup were buying Frenchies

First word is Boy, 2nd is Cott

[nazali]

pro-tip driving in Floridah

Many areas have a high number of pedestrians, especially near tourist spots, so be vigilant when approaching crosswalks.

[nazali]

Oh just be careful with speeding, especially with Canadian plates.
You do not want to interact with American cops.
Though I expect you'd best wanna get US plates long term

[LH44]

If you're going to be in a car for 3+ hours in a car every single workday, I fail to see a reason why your top priority is not luxury and comfort. I'd dread waking up every morning if I had to spend most of my waking hours in a 3-Series or some cheap commuter car while my "nicer" car sits in the garage.

I'd get an S-Class, Lexus LS, or Range Rover.

[Lucky1]

Originally Posted by FC4

If you're going to be in a car for 3+ hours in a car every single workday, I fail to see a reason why your top priority is not luxury and comfort. I'd dread waking up every morning if I had to spend most of my waking hours in a 3-Series or some cheap commuter car while my "nicer" car sits in the garage.

I'd get an S-Class, Lexus LS, or Range Rover.

Thanks. Funny enough I think the E90 M3 is the most comfortable car I’ve ever owned (seats and suspension are fabulous together).

This is about whether its possible to both how to save money or break even moneywise in short or long term vs piling mileage on the car (which I do sort of scratch my head and ask myself why I actually care).

[vt100]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

Other ideas were to buy some cheap $10k commuter fuel sippers and continually buy and resell at the same price or similar if possible jumping from car to car. What would you guys do?

My daily commute is >100miles. I used to drive my Z4MC for half of the week (and another half 4Runner) to work for few years. But always felt bad putting so many miles on either of them. And even more I felt sick at gas stations filling them up twice a week

Now got Honda CR-Z with manual and can't be more happy It's a surprisingly fun to drive little car and (if I'm in the mood) it can give me up to 45mpg
And I got it with 45kmiles just for $8k.

[dreamingat30fps]

Most of the good EV deals are on leases and you wouldn't be able to do that with your mileage. A cheap used maybe, depends on your ability to charge at home and how far you will drive each day. Also don't trust anything FPL is selling, they are full of shit and pretty much everything they offer is a bad deal.

Honestly my guess would be that if saving money is the goal then just driving the E90 you already have would be the best. MAYBE buying some super cheap economy car that gets significantly better gas mileage than the E90 could be cheaper, but then you have to drive that for 27k miles a year.

[vt100]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

Most of the good EV deals are on leases and you wouldn't be able to do that with your mileage.

With 27kmiles/year it's about 100miles/day.
With that in mind and accounting for Florida's heat (so AC is always on plus battery cooling) only Tesla would be a more less reliable commuter it seems to me. In any other I'd die from range anxiety
But that's neither cheap nor driver friendly (with all controls done through the touchscreen) IMO

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

Hi, I'm on the verge of possibly relocating to Florida and taking on a project that will require me to travel and incur 27,000 miles annually on my car.

I'm bringing my daily E90 M3 6MT as well as my weekenders, Z4M Roadster and 911 Carrera 4S (991.1) 7MT.

[...]Lately also wondering if there's a business case to get a used EV on a cheap monthly finance, like an Hyundai Ioniq 6 and pay FPL's $38 a month free charger install, free overnight charging and spare the E90 the mileage. I would have to pay extra on insurance for it too of course, but the monthly savings in fuel would be significant by my quick math.

Your math is not wrong.
My rough calculations show annual savings of $3.2-3.6K (depending on specific electricity and gas price points). That ~$300/month is enough to cover the cost of leasing a new Model 3 RWD, although you will chew through mileage limits in a hurry. So consider buying used. You can grab a mint 2-3 year old used Model 3 RWD/AWD for ~$25K these days, including directly from Tesla.

Model 3's make for excellent commuter vehicles. FSD isn't perfect, but better than the alternatives. Even with out FSD, basic AP (auto-pilot) does make things much easier in stop-and-go traffic.
You will absolutely want to get an L2 charger for your home/work place, as that's the only way to get access to reasonable electricity rates.
Avoid Tesla (and other commercial) SuperChargers, as those are priced roughly to parity with gas prices per mile at ~$0.45+0.65/KWh, or roughly 4x what you would pay for electricity at home.

HTH,
a

[MJBO]

I think Hammond did a great job of summarising a daily:

Save the fun cars for the weekend, and have your best car as a daily. For me at the moment that's my G81, the AM V8 Vantage manual roadster is for the weekend.

As for your idea to buy cheap s***ers to spend the majority of your driving life, screw that.

[tturedraider]

Here’s the easy answer. You have an E90 M3 with only 73,000 miles. Don’t screw that up!!!!! Get another car to put the miles on!!!!! I hate EVs, so I would probably get some kind of “beater”. But, if an be EV works for you that might be okay. I would have a hard time giving up an M3 to drive a non-BMW. Maybe consider an F30 330i?


This guy is in NY and has had his car for sale forever. He hasn’t had it overpriced and from what I can tell it’s in good condition, so I have no idea why it hasn’t sold. It’s very well equipped. You might want to check it out.
https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=2018366

[freakystyly]

Life's too short to be stuck in an econo box you dislike. As mentioned above, go for something properly comfortable if you can keep the m3 on the side.

I hear Florida has straight and boring roads, not unlike Toronto so good handling would likely be wasted. Gas prices are approx. 15-20% cheaper if my math is right, including exchange rate.

[BlkGS]

Florida is a big and diverse place. The answer for Miami Dade will not the the answer for the keys, pandha dlez or central Florida.

You say you're going to be on a project? Will your miles be going around during the day or just a single daily commute? Will you be going to construction sites, or just offices? Do you need to bring tools, people, gear, or just yourself?

If you aren't going to be going to construction sites won't need to haul huge cargo (guessing not if you're considering the M3) and won't need to routinely carry 3 or more people, the choice is obvious.... A high mile but clean C5 Corvette. They're crazy reliable (don't kid yourself on that M3 making it to 300k without multiple rounds of rod bearings and other major service - the Vette will just need oil changes), do 30mpg highway, and can be had for like $15k in good shape. Worst case, parts are cheap and you can find find a dude to work on them everywhere, plus their ability to be DIY'd is huge.

Budget $20k for a few upkeeps and updates (you'll want a new radio for sure), then drive it for 200k miles or whatever you're needing and sell it for probaby close to what you paid for it.

[zx10guy]

Being someone that has done and is doing 27,000 miles (not kilometers) a year on my daily beater, I can provide some perspective. The car in question is a 2019 Toyota C-HR LE. It was bought brand new Jan of 2019 for just over $20k out the door. Car currently has over 162,000 miles. When you put on all those miles, cost of maintenance and repairs becomes a real significant factor as those things come up quick. Even though I do 10,000 mile oil change intervals, it seems I'm doing oil changes as frequently as those that do 5,000 mile change intervals because of how much I drive. With that said, I've done to the car are the following: 3 transmission flushes, an alignment, two sets of tires, front and rear brake pad replacement, oil changes, one set of wiper blades all around, one battery, two serpentine belts, coolant drain and refill, one set of spark plugs, and two engine air filters. All of the prior I did DIY except the trans flushes, alignment, and the tire replacements. You can make some educated guesses as to what the maintenance costs would be with your E90 M3 doing those kind of miles.

The mileage I put on my car is mainly due to my personal things. There is some work mileage in that total but it's maybe less than a 1/4 if that. With this new work situation requiring that many miles, I hope your employer is either paying you a higher salary to cover the personal expenses you're taking on or they're reimbursing you for the mileage. I'd say a company car would be in order but based on what you've said, it doesn't seem to be an option. I work from home and any mileage I put on my car that's tied to work is reimbursed along with any tolls and parking.

On the topic of enjoying the car you're driving for those miles, yes, you don't want to be physically miserable. But I think it's a little silly to get a nice car to run it into the ground due to work requirements. Because are you really enjoying the car when you driving it for work? I know mentally I have a different mindset when I'm driving for work versus when I'm driving for a personal reason. Also, that 27,000 mile annually doesn't take into account the time I waste sitting in the stupid DC area traffic when I do have to drive through it. The C-HR is an econobox but it's decently comfortable. Has been cheap to operate. Good on gas mileage. And has been reliable. Something else for you to think about is the more time on the road, the more risk of something happening to your car. My C-HR has been involved in three deer strike incidents; two of them actually damaging my car and one denting the crap out of the front wheel on a bike on a hitch mounted rack. So consider the chances of getting into some wreck to be higher whether it's your fault or someone else's.

I have my weekend toys too. My 1er was my daily until I got the C-HR. And my 1er was on it's way to racking up the same amount of miles. I don't drive it much now but I did take it out the other day to do an emission test. It was a treat to drive and a nice change over the C-HR. I also have three motorcycles that I take out periodically on rotation.

In my mind, the smart thing to do is to buy a used, recent model, low mileage Toyota/Mazda/Honda or buy a "lower" end model of those new to drive into the ground.

[pbonsalb]

I want to put as many miles as possible on my nice car. I don’t want to drive an econobox or some cheap used car. I am not trying to preserve it for the next owner or to keep the miles low so it needs less maintenance or repairs.

But people are different and the OP is concerned about costs since he is doing the math on driving a more fuel efficient car. I agree the E90 M3 is not fuel efficient — I had one for 10 years — I get better mpg in my F90 M5 that is heavier and makes 50% more power. The OP has to decide what is important for him in his driving.

[ash_schwin]

I thought I would be fine daily driving my G80 6MT for a new job I just took back in November that requires me to drive 30K+ miles a year. After 6 weeks, I gave in and ended up buying a commuter Honda Accord for gas mileage.

[pbonsalb]

30,000/25mpg=1200 gallons
30,000/35mpg=857 gallons
1200x$4=$4800
857x$3=$2571

You are saving roughly $2229 per year by registering, insuring, maintaining and repairing an extra car. You could not pay me $2229 per year to drive a Honda Accord for 30,000 miles instead of a G80 M3. But each to his own.

[AmuroRay]

I'm not saving it for the other guy, and I'm not going to drive a car I hate. Rotate the mileage between all the cars and enjoy ever single mile.

[pbonsalb]

The OP says the E90 M3 is the most comfortable car he has ever owned. I drove one for 10 years and thought it was OK but definitely not the most comfortable car. If I had to drive 25-30k miles per year again, I’d probably buy a more comfortable car than my F90 M5. Maybe an S class Mercedes? I sure wouldn’t be trying to save money given the time I would have to sit in the car.

[Lucky1]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

I want to put as many miles as possible on my nice car. I don’t want to drive an econobox or some cheap used car. I am not trying to preserve it for the next owner or to keep the miles low so it needs less maintenance or repairs.

But people are different and the OP is concerned about costs since he is doing the math on driving a more fuel efficient car. I agree the E90 M3 is not fuel efficient — I had one for 10 years — I get better mpg in my F90 M5 that is heavier and makes 50% more power. The OP has to decide what is important for him in his driving.

Well I think this leans in a bit on where I'm going...its not that I don't want to drive the M3 or drive its value down. I'm just asking myself if there is another car I can drive, enjoy equally from a straight road, cruise control perspective and save money in the end. And when I look at cars that can do 28mpg or 36mpg I'm saving $160 in fuel a month. That's definitely not enough to make me not drive the M3.

I drove a Model 3 and for this use case with little excessive braking into a corner and turning except getting on and off the highway, I would definitely consider driving it if I could save enough on fuel costs to effectively make a lease or finance a wash.

That said how much will that cost vs say just driving the M3 into the ground, $10k - $0k and then buying another E90 M3 when that happens. I'm going to try the math this weekend, just really busy with getting things in order and really appreciate everyone's perspective. Its a fun and practical topic/challenge to toss around with a few keen minds such as yourselves.

[BlkGS]

A C5 Corvette will do everything the M3 does, better (outside of comfort and refinement and luxury), and be way more reliable and economical.

Drive a C5, they're wonderful highway cruisers and tons of power.