Am i crazy to get my 16 year old an M3??

I'm 18 and my first car was a 1989 Jeep Cherokee.. i say wait.. make him pay for it if he wants it.. i waited 2 years to get an M and I'm paying the payment as well as the insurance... im kinda in a little debt.. but its worth it! =)

it matters what kind of kid your son is. my dad got me a 1998 m3 and i turn 17 in december. u just have to not be a crazy person and realize how much power the car has. mine is a manual and my dad told me that if i drive stupid i will spin out and crash. so overall i think its a matter of trust.

NOT a good idea. Get him a 318.

i dont think its about how fast the car is. the decesion depends more on the responsibility of ur child.

Originally Posted by AvusBlua M3

I'm 18 and my first car was a 1989 Jeep Cherokee.. i say wait.. make him pay for it if he wants it.. i waited 2 years to get an M and I'm paying the payment as well as the insurance... im kinda in a little debt.. but its worth it! =)

welll...... avusblua... u state that the kid should pay for it himself. but his dad sed that if the kid kept good grades and didnt do drugs, he would buy him any car considering ther is a certain price range.

Originally Posted by SlideJdm

welll...... avusblua... u state that the kid should pay for it himself. but his dad sed that if the kid kept good grades and didnt do drugs, he would buy him any car considering ther is a certain price range.

Not necessarily.. anyone would want to drive a fast car fast. That is the point of the car. Especially with the way cops target BMWs, you can almost expect him to get a ticket within the first 3 months of driving an M3.

Please don't do it! If you love your child, DO NOT give him anything that powerful until his brain has had time to develop the areas which control judgement. Get him a Volvo, or some other tank, and let him learn before you turn him loose with a nuclear weapon. I'm serious.

I agree with everyone else. Too much power for a RWD car....even the 95'. Start him off in a truck or something of that stature.....I had a 99 SI for my third car- to give you an idea-my first car was a damn minivan

Originally Posted by Alexxm3

I agree with everyone else. Too much power for a RWD car....even the 95'. Start him off in a truck or something of that stature.....I had a 99 SI for my third car- to give you an idea-my first car was a damn minivan

Alex, I'm sure after the minivan you can now genuinely appreciate what you have, right? I drove around a '76 E21 320i and a 84 Mitsubishi Mighty Max for a couple years before I got my E36. I appreciate the car so much that 7 years later, even though it needs a ****load of maintence I do not have the heart to get rid of her.

I'm 25 and just got my first M3. I haven't done a single burnout, and treat it like a baby.

I started out with an 89 accord. Then I had an eclipse GSX.

My feelings are, young guys, no matter how responsible, will drive fast and irresponsibly, especially in a car like this. Even when I was a bit older (18-21), with the GSX, I street raced it, and did all sorts of dumb **** in it. It's all new when you're starting out, and when some punk in a civic pulls up and revs his japabomb, its hard to resist when you're young.

I think its a bad idea, asking for trouble, simply because I know what I would have done with that car if I had one at that age.

i agree with ya irie_M3. But then again.. i've seen hundreds of 20-30yr old drive like idiots and kill themselves too. Another problem is some people get over confident after doing a few driver training days/courses and still manage to write off their car anyway.

Guess just depends on the person and how responsible they are no matter what age..

I wonder what ever happened with this situation!? I want some resolution.

I know this post may be a little late but it depends on the kid.My parents bought a lexus sc 400 4 years before i started driving.... it was automatic and i knew i wouldn't like it when a sterted driving even at that age..... but anyway.... the car is a V8 and a beast for a 16 yo to drive but i drove it for about 2 years without getting a ticket and my parents rewarded me buy giving me the money that i was able to sell the lexus for and saved enough to get a 95 m3..... it wasn't much of a step up but it was my dream car and they let me get one because of my growing experience with the lexus. my advice is..... whatever car they get..... there is a tendency to want to drive fast..... i know because i've experienced it. but let your kid know that if he uses his brain and doesn't screw up his chances than i say he deserves it..... but it's important that you test him first with something small reliable and economic before you give him the keys to a well known racer..... just my thoughts....

Originally Posted by MatWiz

Give him the M3 and put a rev limiter behind his back.

That's the brightest idea I've heard yet. haha, he'll adjust to the fact that he doesn't really have a quick car if the revs are limited. He won't feel the need to show off or prove anything. As a first car, he wouldn't know what the pull of 240 horses should feel like, so it won't make a difference.

Limited to what? 3K rpm...lol Like everyone else. The M3 will write checks he doesn't have the skill set or maturity to cash. (but I don't know your kid, but I have never met one that I would give an M3 to.)

You could just put a governor on it and set it around 80. Fast enough to speed on the interstate but not fast enough to get into SERIOUS trouble with. Unless, he hits 80 in say, a 25 zone. Then he's screwed.

I'm 18, 19 in August. My first and current car was/is a 97 automatic M3 sedan. My dad told me he'd buy my first car within a certain price range and I'm on my own from then on.

I'm a teenager, so that means I've driven it 130 on the highway once just to try it out, but plenty of 30yr+ adults have done the same thing (glance over the threads on this forum). However, I'm also not an idiot. I've never (seriously) street raced, had a wreck, or gotten a speeding ticket.

You've got to know how responsible your kid is. My dad honestly didn't know what kind of performance an M3 had, and I had barely an idea. But when I got it, I realized it's faster than most cars on the road, but it's not a Ferrari.

I say go for it, if he's responsible. I'm living, breathing proof that not all new drivers are incompetent and will kill themselves by 25.

PS, Remember, mine's an automatic, and that definitely plays into how less dangerous things can be.

my mom gave me an sl500 for my first car and i wasn't responsible at all i totaled it in a year, now i have a bmw and i am responsible with it but im also 20 now....if he is a responsible young man i say go for it you know him the best out of any of us it is a very powerful car but if he has an appreciation for cars im sure he will treat it well

Does everyone realize they are replying to a post thats almost 2 years old? Just thought i'd point that out.

get your kid an e30.

I had a 02 s2k as my first car and I was fine... If I was fine with that (240hp, rwd, tail happy) Then your son should be fine, given he's responsible. In my area it's very common to see bitch ass little kids in much more powerful cars. M5's, M6's, cobras, etc. Just please make sure he maintains the car, I hate seeing kids drive 15k on the same old ass dino oil wit dings and dents all over etc etc.

Originally Posted by scottvlaiku

Does everyone realize they are replying to a post thats almost 2 years old? Just thought i'd point that out.

Great. Now I fell like a dickhead, thanks. What ended up happening with the kid?

No one knows your son better then you do. However Honestly unless he is a very VERY responsible driver and is not run by his ego, then YES you should get him one. Just think of it this way he going to reach 60MPH in 5.2 seconds, and will be able to take turns that say 25mph at 60 hahah so go with your GUT feeling

Even if they are responsible, they are going to feel the urge to show it off for their friends...
Or perhaps the hot date they are trying to impress, even if otherwise they are normal drivers.

One of my friends with a 95 m3 told me -- and i don't know if this is really true -- but the early E36 M3s had the control arm geometry such that the rear tires would toe out on compression and the later years would toe in on compression.

So when you are on the gas in a right turn, the fronts are pointing right and the rears are both pointing a little to the left.

Sounds great for a mature driver that knows how to handle the car...
Probably not so good for a kid whose emotions will get the best of him inevitably.

But then again, front drive is also lousy.
What is so great about plowing helplessly straight into the object you are trying to steer away from?

I think a rear drive car for best handling (better handling equals safer), but a car that is limited in power ( safer for kids ) is best.

LOL... the OP's kid is now 18 and yet people keep replying :-p

Oh well, i guess there's always another parent out there with another 16 y.o. who might be reading the boards...