Leaving the 997 fold for now
 

I sold my 997 yesterday and moved into an '11 M3. It's certainly a very different car but with the miles I'm doing at the moment and of course the wonderful 4 years of free maintenance and factory warranty, it suits my needs a lot better. I did after all get 44k miles of fun out of my 911!

I'll certainly miss my 997 and I think in all honesty I'll be back in 3/4 years, hopefully with a new 991 GT3! But for now, I just wanted to say thank you to all of the members here that have offered advice and assistance over the years. I'll post up some pics of the new M3 later today, it's certainly a beauty, now I just need to get some HRE's on it again!

Edit - pics!

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/1050/img0622ct.jpg
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/2315/img0624oh.jpg
http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/9828/img0626aj.jpg
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/6219/img0628ky.jpg
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/4894/img0630n.jpg
http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/1752/img0632f.jpg
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/7484/img0634w.jpg

Congrats. Stick around though and give us updates on the M. There's not person here that doesn't at least respect the M3 if not love it.

You've earned your bonafides, we know you wont be hater....

Pics.............

Congrats on the new ride. Best of luck!

Looks beautiful - I just left an 08 M5 to get back into a 997TT. BTW - nothing is "free" - I'm sure the maintenance is built into the MSRP. Watch your battery too - these BMW's have similar issues as Porsche when it comes to battery life.

Oh I know it but when you saved over $10k from the sticker price, it certainly helps make it feel better :D

I even got a *free* Escort 9500ix thrown in but I don't think that was intentional!

Wow, you and I are on the same wave length!

I test drove an '09 M3 yesterday and I am still deciding. I would like to keep my Porsche and use the M3 for a DD.

What do you think of the DCT? The one I drove was a manual. Also, how good of a deal did you get (if you don't mind sharing).

Congrats on a beautiful car!

I have a 997.2 C4S PDK back in the UK as well (one of my Dad's 911's) so I got to spend a lot of time with over the summer. I thought the PDK was untouchable but in all honesty I feel the BMW DCT isn't far off at all.

To give you an idea, I drove the same car I bought on Friday night. I went in thinking I was going to be disappointed but I was blown away. 12 hours later I walked away with it. I really did find it *that* good. The DCT gearbox shifts amazingly quickly and the blips on the downshifts are beautiful when its in sport mode. Make sure you get one with the technology package so you can adjust the dampers as well as I've got to be honest, it's great to have the choice of the 3 settings.

I ended up paying $63500 and I got a fantastic trade on my 911/135i against it. It was basically a car for car swap. List price on my car was $74000.

Car looks great buddy
 

can't wait to see it in person. You know if you get the 911 bug one weekend mine is always available.

Cheers
Matthew

Thanks Matthew, between you, Eric and the GT3RS I have sitting back in the UK I think i'll have enough to tide me over in this "between 911" phase :D

Great friends are worth their weight in gold!

I'm new here but just wanted to say that I just ended a long happy relationship with my M3. It had almost 30K miles on it when sold. In three years, I didn't even have any serious warrantee work to have done. There is a lot I miss from the M3 which is why I keep bouncing back and forth between the two.

I'm in my Porsche phase now and loving it.

Good luck with the M3. You won't be disappointed. Just be aware that you may start missing elements of your 911 in about 2 years.

Cheers
Greg

I noticed that the M3's license plate says '911 DJH'... an indication that you will be in a 911 in no time. :)

I just realized that you live between FL and the UK where you have an RS... in that case the M3 in FL makes a lot of sense. The 11 is far more better suited to the rolling/curvy english countryside backroads. :)

Wow, that M3 is really nice, Dave. Good luck with the new car and stay in touch.

3/4 years = 9 months right?

Love the M3, enjoy it!

:)Cheers. Enjoy your new ride and best of luck with her. Hope to welcome you back to the fold in 3/4 years hopefully, if not in 3 or 4

congrats. awesome car. and you got a great deal. m3 are going for invoice these days, even for special orders, but your deal sounds better. perfect daily driver.