Should you buy new or used? BMW M4 (new) versus Ferrari 612 Scaglietti (used)

About £60,000 will get you a new M4 or a used Italian supercar – tough call
New BMW M4 versus a used Ferrari 612 Scaglietti
Graham Scott19 October 2015

If you were in the happy situation of having £60k to spend on your next car something like the BMW M4 would make an attractive proposition, and should satisfy the head and also some extent the heart.

But what if you thought outside the box? How about an Italian supercar that, when new, cost over £200k and you could have it for the same money. Head and heart?

Let’s find out.

So, on the one hand we have a BMW M4 DCT, that costs a whisker under £60,000 new.

On the other we have a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti which they made between 2004 and 2011. New, it cost over £210,000 but now we can find a 2006 left-hooker with HGTS Pack and a price of about £63,000.

That means it’s depreciated by not far off £150,000 in ten years and only 18,000 miles. Ouch. But that’s our gain and someone else’s loss.

The Ferrari feels a bit old-school to drive

To drive, the Ferrari feels a bit old-school. The ‘F1’ transmission is not exactly 2015 F1, but the big bellowing V12 pulls from nowhere right up to the 7400rpm redline.

There are large metal paddles on the wheel, and if you use these it all slides into place. No turbo lag, no clever electronics, no lifeless steering, just a great big tsunami of power, noise and drama.

The BMW is an exercise in technology

The BMW by contrast is an exercise in technology. There are switchable modes for everything, dual-clutch auto box, electric power steering and loads of acronyms.

The effect is it hardly startles off the line but once revs rise they rise really fast, necessitating quick, punchy gearshifts all the way. There’s a bit of turbo lag that combined with the violence of the thrust makes for slightly unsettling but rapid progress.

Naturally the BMW handles sharply and crisply but you notice how harsh and unforgiving it is. The bigger, heavier Ferrari, with less technology in the suspension, handles everything with real grace and a flowing, supple ride that is simply superior.

Inside it’s another win for the ageing Ferrari. There’s plenty of clever stuff in the M4’s cabin

Inside it’s another win for the ageing Ferrari. There’s plenty of clever stuff in the M4’s cabin, as well as good leather, but the Ferrari has fewer gizmos to incorporate and so does so with a real sense of luxury and style. It feels more of an event.

Let’s throw some numbers in the mix for a bit of a reality check. The M4 can manage a highly impressive 34.0mpg combined, whereas the 612 sloshes fuel at an average of 13.6mpg. In town it can be under 10mpg. Road tax for the Ferrari is £505 as it’s quite a polluter.

The BMW handles sharply and crisply but you notice how harsh and unforgiving it is

However, you could get a Ferrari Approved warranty if the car meets the criteria and, as part of that brutal depreciation so far, the 612 may well start to slowly increase in value from now on. The BMW on the other hand will be losing about £10,000 a year for the first three years.

So if you need to do a lot of miles then the Ferrari makes no sense. You’ll spend a fortune on fuel.

On the other hand, whatever you do with the BMW, you’re going to be losing about £800 a month in depreciation alone, while the Ferrari may actually go up in value and remains the finer driving experience.

Maybe it is possible to find a solution that pleases both head and heart after all.

BMW M4 DCT

Price today £59,550

Price when new £59,550

Engine 6 cyls in line, 2987cc, twin-turbo, petrol

Power 425bhp at 5500-7300rpm

Torque 406b ft at 1850-5500rpm

Gearbox 7-spd dual-clutch automatic

Kerb weight 1572kg

0-60mph 4.1sec

Top speed 155mph

Economy 34.0mpg

CO2/tax band 194g/km / 33%

Ferrari 612 Scaglietti HGTS (2006)

Price today £62,990

Price when new £187,745

Engine V12, 5748cc, petrol

Power 540bhp at 7200rpm

Torque 434b ft at 5250rpm

Gearbox 6-spd automatic

Kerb weight 1870kg

0-60mph 4.4sec

Top speed 196mph-plus

Economy 13.6mpg

CO2/tax band 475g/km / 37%

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