More as I think through it but I’m trying to use this space to gather my thoughts about some cars I want to buy. I can only buy one and I want to keep it for a decade so, my wife can attest, I’ve spent a lot of time the last year thinking about this.
The Audi TT RS (MK3), the BMW M2 G87, and the BMW M3 G80 all live in roughly the same price range and I wanted to put out some hard numbers on each of these as it could be helpful to another over-analyzer like myself.
Are there other vehicles? American made is out so no Camaro, Mustang or Corvette and Mercedes AMG just isn’t my thing. Mini Cooper S JCW is out because it’s just too slow and FWD, Lotus, Porsche (718 GS 4.0), McLaren, Ferrari and Lamborghini are all unreachable. I can find some used Ferraris in my budget but maintenance and parts will require more money than I can afford. I want something built in the last 10 years that has a “last of a breed” provenance. So just throwing some numbers out that I can recall later and maybe it helps someone else.
Comparing power, weights, dimensions:
Before inventory and rarity, there’s mass, size, and physics.
- Audi TT RS (MK3)
- Curb weight: ~3,250 lb
- Wheelbase: 98.6 in
- Length: 165.0 in
- Engine: 2.5L turbocharged inline-5
- Output: 394 hp / 354 lb-ft
- Power-to-weight: ~8.2 lb per hp
- Build location: Győr, Hungary
- BMW M2 (G87)
- Curb weight: ~3,814 lb
- Wheelbase: 108.1 in
- Length: 180.1 in
- Engine: 3.0L twin-turbo inline-6 (S58)
- Output: 453 hp
- Power-to-weight: ~8.4 lb per hp
- Build location: San Luis Potosí, Mexico
- BMW M3 (G80)
- Curb weight: 3,840–3,990 lb (spec dependent)
- Wheelbase: 112.5 in
- Length: 189.1 in
- Engine: 3.0L twin-turbo inline-6 (S58)
- Output: 473 hp (manual) / 503 hp (Competition)
- Power-to-weight: 7.6–8.4 lb per hp
- Build location: Munich, Germany
The TT RS is the outlier immediately. It’s shorter than some compact sedans, hundreds of pounds lighter, and powered by an engine architecture Audi effectively walked away from. In 2027, the 5-cylinder Audi 2.5L will be gone and only lives on now in the RS3 sedan.
The BMWs share an engine lineage. The S58 is brilliant, but it’s also scalable. Same architecture, different envelopes. There are way more S58s out there so parts, modifications, maintenance resources are vast.
12/23/2025 – Inventories – USA
I have to do inventory because BMW doesn’t tell us how many M2 and M3 vehicles are manufactured or sold. They only report sales of the series at large so we know how many 2 series sold so far in 2025 but they don’t tell us any further break downs. Nationwide lot breakdown helps a lot:
- TT RS (MK3): 56 total cars for sale (1,772 total sold in USA from 2018-2022)
- AWD
- DSG Transmission
- All are used at this point and finding a low mile non-modified is hard with only 20 as fully stock and under 30K miles
- Colors heavily skew gray/black/white so if you want a “hot color” like blue, red, orange, green, you have to wait or pay a little bit more. 60% of these were sold in Nardo Grey which I refuse to accept.
- BMW M2: 1,135 cars for sale (Est around 3,800 total produced so far)
- ~52% manual / 48% automatic
- ~76% new
- 27 M2 CS (real scarcity but $100K which is out of my budget)
- BMW M3: 1,317 cars (estimated around 5,900 total produced so far)
- ~15% manual versus automatic
- ~54% new
The big takeaway, of current inventories, how many of the 2 series and 3 series are M models (not m-lite but full M):
- M2 = ~14.3% of all 2 Series inventory
- M3 = ~11.1% of all 3 Series inventory
So in order to understand how many of the current generation M2 and M3 cars have actually sold and taking some liberties based on total 2/3-series sold by year since 2024 and total percentage inventory, we arrive at the below figures but these are actually still being built and sold. Each has surpassed the TT RS USA figures and regularly show up for sale any day of the week:
M2 – 3,830 produced so far
M3 – 5,901 produced so far
Manual versus Automatic
Manual transmissions often get treated as moral victories. The data paints something subtler.
- In the M2, manual is common—roughly half the market.
- In the M3, manual is a clear minority (~15%).
- In the TT RS, manual doesn’t exist.
Scarcity by configuration matters more than scarcity by badge. A manual M3 is statistically rarer than a manual M2. An M2 CS is rarer than either. The TT RS was only available as a 7-speed DSG dual clutch.
TT RS as an asset compared to still produced M2 and M3s
The TT RS is trading inside a narrow band now—roughly mid-$50Ks to mid-$70Ks depending on miles. That suggests depreciation compression. It will continue to depreciate but slower and it’s still considered a halo-car by enthusiasts so I imagine a sub-25K mile example 10 years from now would still hold a value of $50K where with thousands more M2/M3 (non-CS) out there, those would settle more into the 30-40K range even in rare color combinations.
Which one will I buy?
Obviously I’m still juggling all of these options. The right car to get for me is the TT RS. I am very familiar after owning two Golf Rs how the Gen5 Haldex AWD system works and its quirks. I know how a transversely mounted engine feels and responds and I know how to deal with a DSG transmission, short wheelbase and all of the Volkswagen derived quirks. I’m just very familiar. I own an inline-6 3-series today but it’s old and slow and nothing like the modern variants. The M3 and M2 are more modern, comfortable, roomier and have a warranty. The M2 can be had CPO (certified pre-owned) in some amazing colors for the same price as the lowest mile TTRS vehicles but the 4-year old TTRS will hold its resale better while the M2 will continue to depreciate unless I spend an extra $20K for a CS model.
The right call is the TTRS for a lot of reasons. It’s the lightest and smallest and most flickable. It’s also faster thanks to AWD. All 3 cars are tunable if that’s something I decide to do. A purple M2 CPO is literally $2,500 more than the used TTRS I’m looking at with 8,000 miles. that’s not a lot of money for a car that’s 4 years newer, has more stock power, comes in a manual, has more room and modern safety / infotainment systems and a bit more room in the backseat for the baby. It’s honestly challenging once you stack a TTRS and M2 side-by-side to pick a favorite except for when you factor in resale value which the M2 will take a dive because there are 5 times as many of them on the market.
Hard numbers based on a nationwide dealer snapshot taken on 12/23/2025:
| Metric | Audi TT RS (MK3) | BMW M2 | BMW M3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total U.S. listings | 56 | 1,135 | 1,317 |
| On lot | 55 (98%) | 964 (85%) | 972 (74%) |
| In transit | 1 (2%) | 171 (15%) | 345 (26%) |
| Manual | 0 | 595 (52%) | 202 (15%) |
| Automatic | 56 (100%) | 539 (48%) | 1,115 (85%) |
| New | 0 | 861 (76%) | 713 (54%) |
| Used | 56 (100%) | 260 (23%) | 576 (44%) |
| Drivetrain | AWD only | RWD only | RWD / AWD |
| CS variants | N/A | 27 | 12 |
| Curb weight | ~3,250 lb | ~3,814 lb | 3,840–3,990 lb |
| Power-to-weight | ~8.2 lb/hp | ~8.4 lb/hp | 7.6–8.4 lb/hp |
| Build location | Hungary | Mexico | Germany |
| Exterior color based on in stock on lots: | M2 (1,135 examples) | M3 (1,317) | TT RS (56) | TT RS 2018–2022 overall color mix for all model years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gray | 304 (26.8%) | 407 (30.9%) | 27 (48.2%) | over 60% |
| Black | 218 (19.2%) | 243 (18.4%) | 11 (19.6%) | Second-most common |
| White | 168 (14.8%) | 192 (14.6%) | 9 (16.1%) | Third-most common |
| Blue | 280 (24.7%) | 144 (10.9%) | 0 (0.0%) | “Fun colors” exist but are minority |
| Red | 83 (7.3%) | 79 (6.0%) | 4 (7.1%) | “Fun color” (minority) |
| Yellow | 50 (4.4%) | 41 (3.1%) | 2 (3.6%) | “Fun color” (rare) |
| Green | 12 (1.1%) | 120 (9.1%) | 2 (3.6%) | “Fun color” (rare) |
| Purple | 8 (0.7%) | 1 (0.1%) | 0 (0.0%) | “Fun color” (very rare) |
| Orange | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (1.8%) | “Fun color” (very rare) |
| Customized | 5 (0.4%) | 72 (5.5%) | 0 (0.0%) | less than 1% per year Audi Exclusive |