fullyloaded

If you want to tell if the 03 has been abused, look at the lug nuts and see if they have been scratched and look at the treads. If it is on the 2nd set of tires, then it was probably beaten on. An 03 with 12,000miles should have very little tread left if it has not been abused because my stock tires lasted 14k miles and I drive pretty hard but not to the point of abuse.

FresnoEVO

iTrader: (1)

i don't think an abused 03 is worth 11K of difference but that's just me... hell 11K is a stroker, turbo, and clutch... what else do you need?

taenaive

iTrader: (20)

You can't prove that I am wrong since no one tested 9 with 272 ex cam and stock cat back. However, I was referring to the thread below. Definitely with TBE and ex cam you make way more than 330 WHP.
Here is the link about IX dyno number with 272 ex cam and TBE.
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...ght=272+cam+iX

Warrtalon

iTrader: (6)

Ok, I can't prove you're wrong, but you can't prove that you're right, so why did you say it? That didn't make any sense when no one has done it. Hell, that link you provided shows that even with an exhaust cam, TBE, MBC, and flash, he only made 329/333 uncorrected. So, why would you say that with only an exhaust cam and tune, that IXs can make 330? That doesn't add up. Hell, without an MBC, the IX ECU forces the boost to lower and taper more, so you have to get an MBC. Plus, to run any decent boost, you have to open up the exhaust. It would be a terrible idea to just do an exhaust cam and tune without an mbc and TBE.

IXs can and have made 330-340whp with tbe/mbc/flash, so that's what you should have said - not exhaust cam/tune, because no one has proven that the exhaust cam makes a big difference, and that's not exactly an easy bolt-on part either.

blkdinan

iTrader: (7)

I guess the biggest thing you have to ask yourself is....are you going to have extra money to have fun with your car after spending the extra 11k. You will be extremely pissed with yourself if you get the new car and a bone stock 06 GTO sends you home crying. With 11k in mods and solid tuning you will not find an 05 or 06 that will even hang with the modded 03.

When I bought my car it was used and driven hard. But as long as it has not been modded before you buy it, these cars are made to be driven hard. I have about 5k in mods and with race gas and aggressive tuning I clean house every weekend..foreign/domestic I dont care.

That includes the MR! 330whp? Who cares, 11k of mods everyone cares!

steevo

iTrader: (3)

$20K flat looks pretty nice for an '03 with low miles. I bought my '03 with 12k on it. It had it's second set of tires on it. I couldn't wait, so I made sure it still had Mitsu warranty and got it. No regrets. Get the '03....save the extra money for the X.

Warrtalon

iTrader: (6)

The likelihood of him getting an 03 and it not needing a ton of work done that causes tons of headaches is minimal. Soon after purchase, it will likely need a new set of tires, new clutch, and new brakes, not to mention all the other quirks that probably won't be noticed until after owning it a few weeks. You guys keep talking about buying it cheap then spending the extra money on tons of mods, but when did that become the only factor when determining the value of a car? You forget that it's already a 3-year-old car that is out of warranty now and that is not nearly as valuable as an 05 or 06. Yeah, he'd pay more for those, but in 2 years, those would both still be worth over 20k while still under warranty for another 2-3 years and with all the awesome parts the 03 is missing.

Mr. Stock

iTrader: (3)

There's always the chance the 03 could have been used mostly as a track car so take that into consideration. I'd really have someone qualified look over the entire car, inside and out. Ditto the 05 but as everyone has already said, the 05+ has a lot more potential as is without swapping out major parts like turbos. Personally, I'd go for the 05 MR. The X is just around the corner too which is something to consider.

3000ways

I don't get what you are saying here? Are you implying that the author of this thread is buying the 2003 EVO VIII outright, meaning he has $31,000 worth of cash on him and if he bought the 2003 EVO VIII he would have $11,000 left over to instantly mod? Um I believe you are wrong with this. In my opinion the author of this thread plans to trade in his BMW for an EVO VIII or EVO IX and a $20,000 EVO VIII would mean lower monthly payments. Over time yes he would save money and have more money to spend on mods, but he is not going to instantly have $11,000 worth to mod.

I am in sort of the same boat as this author, I too plan to get an EVO, in the next 4-6 weeks, I also am considering a 2003/2004 EVO VIII because of the lower prices, but in all honesty, the 2003/3004 EVO VIII is my worst case scenerio. I hope to get a 2006 EVO IX RS, but I also have my eye on this 2005 EVO VIII RS that is on sale for a very attractive price.

The IX is an awesome car, and while yes a VIII would mean lower payments, you really do not need that much money to spend to make really good power with the IX. So yes you would save money on a VIII, but the money you save will be needed to keep pace with the IX which is making incredible power for less money.

Still with that said, a 05 MR for $27,000 is a very good price, and to rule it out would be a mistake. I believe your best option is to go for the IX, but to keep in mind that if you feel like the IX just won't fit under your budget, then you have the VIII MR to fall back on. Worst case scenerio a 03 VIII, while it may not be as good as a 05 or 06 EVO, it still is a bad *** car, and as far as I am concerned a 03/04 EVO is better than no EVO. Although I also like the 2002 C32/CLK55 AMG just in case

3000ways

Edited, not needed.

blkdinan

iTrader: (7)

I see the point in being safe with the new car. I guess my situation was a bit unique in that I had the extra money to do mods and when I bought the car in july 04 it only had 21k miles on it and still under warranty.
The deciding factor for me new or used was I did not need a warranty because the things I was going to do to it would void my warranty anyway. Just as I did with my new 01 330i when I supercharged it after having it just over a year. There is always the financial gamble you take when modding any car and if warranty and resale value were concerns of mine I would get the NEW CAR in a heart beat.

Good thread and nice discusion guys.

ElectricNine

I was in the same situation, but bought a ix two weeks ago. +1 for the ix. Car is amazing!

G20

iTrader: (13)

03 may has some problems but it's not that bad. I love to take my 03 over the MR out anytime and with less than $10k mods, not a lot of 04/05 and IX mods stock turbo can hang with it. On freeway it's a monster.

Despite saying that, if you can afford the IX and won't plan to upgrade the turbo then get it. The best thing about the IX is you'll be making the same or better power as the VIII (from low to high range) without touching the internals (i.e. the cams).

AznX TL

iTrader: (5)

all i have to say is 10.5 hotside

F0rcedFed

iTrader: (1)

Hotside 10.5 really that big of an advantage? Warrtalon seems to think the 03-04's are the devil. I've posted threads on this and had a TON of 03-04 guys say they drive the **** out of there cars and they really have had no problems, stock clutches on any EVO are junk, the tires wear out fast and there was an issue with the brembos/wing fading. You could always just find a taken care of 03-04 and try to find one with the stock clutch already replaced? Hell, if I could wait til fall I'd hope to find a used 05 for say... $23,000.