[Noah930]

Wow, > $25K?! Before I bought my 930, I also considered M3's. E30 version (the only "real" homologation special), of course, was my fave. Looking around, they all seemed to be around $15K (went to go look at a local one which had a $17K asking price--113K miles, looked pristine), and they all had over 100K miles. I thought the car I found was a bit much, but if you now find them to be $25K, it would have been a bargain.

E36 M3's are much more affordable (and plentiful) at around $20K (give or take $5K). But they don't look as good, and aren't as raw.

E46 cars have a lot of problems, too. Sure they look hawt, but after conversing with a couple good friends that have/had them, I'm not sure I would want to pay those maintenance and out-of-warranty bills. Of course, if Dad's gonna foot them... And while I haven't ever tried the SMG system, I've heard that it isn't as smooth as the DSG. If you're still determined to find an E46 M3, I'm fairly certain you can find one for $35K or less. Go take a look at Roadfly.org.