Hello
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Finally got my car back (it was the water pump after all) and had some fun with it this weekend. I told myself I was going to be gentle for a while, but damn I missed driving it.
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Hi all, I'm back again with more indecisiveness.
First a little context before I ask more questions;
Last year when I bought the 330, I purposely avoided all 335's because of the reliability issues. But last month when the E90 broke, I ended up buying a Honda for the wife. That thing won't break anytime soon, so I don't have to worry so much about my only car exploding on me.Now, I have a budget set to spend around 17k on a car by the end of the year (including selling mine). My thought had been on an E46 M3, but recently I have fallen madly in love with my car again, it's just a little....slow. So I got to thinking about 335's.
In my head, I can get a clean 335 for less than an M3, and it will have more power. The question is, should I?
I have someone that offered me a 335i that already has all the mods I would want and a warranty until 2019, for less than 11k. The car is loaded and even has the M Sport package, the only problems are its far away from me and its another automatic (I finally learned to drive stick and had my heart set on getting a manual car). I'm not sure I can pass this up, but I've been thinking about this so much over the last week that I need some words of wisdom from the experts. *cough* @patsbimmer1
As a bonus you get a professional picture of my car and a picture I took of it with my friends Datsun.
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The 335i is simply amazing for a street car. Sure it doesn't have an LSD, the stock tires are runflats, it has its share of issues that other cars dont have, but it is an amazing car. Making the assumption that you have $17k to go towards the car, I'd either keep $2000 set aside for an "N54 surprise buttsecks" fund, or purchase an extended warranty. The extended warranty on my FIL's 2007 already came in handy at 42k for the water pump failure.
Every car is going to break or require maintenance, its important that the car is worth sinking money into. In my mind a 335i definitely is.
Dont be afraid of the automatic in the 335i either. With the Dinan trans tune it is a fast-shifting and sporty transmission that is so direct, it actually feels a lot like a dual clutch trans.
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Yeah the car I'm looking at is 5k under budget at least, he says its up to date on maintenance and the warranty would be so nice to have. He has bremer wheels and conti's on it now, or I could always try to keep my wheels and tires since I just bought them this spring for over a grand...
Its not that I'm afraid of the auto, I quite enjoy it in my current car, I was just getting hyped over finally having a manual now that I can drive one.
My original plan was to buy an unmolested one and then mod it to round 400hp, and it sounds like the auto is more than sufficient to handle the extra power too. -
335i's break and frequently. Modding them only makes them less reliable and things like coil packs become regular maintenance. If you aren't capable of fixing these cars yourself then they can become pricey quick. Now, yes, you can easily have more whp than an m3 but make no mistakes, it's no M car. I love my car as a daily and the blast of speed is fun but on the track I know an M car would serve me better. There's also a lack of that visceral feel that you get from an M. What is fun is that it's not an M and people are usually clueless that a normal looking sedan is as quick as it is then you get the slight joy of telling them it's not an M, but then again you also have to constantly explain what it is and why it's fast.
What scares me about the car you're looking at is it's $11k and modded which makes me assume it's a higher mileage car (over 80k). That and it's modded with a warranty. Modded and warranty contradict each other unless you can turn the car back to stock when stuff breaks. Maybe this warranty company doesn't care but i'd be cautious. I'm also curious what kind of regular fail items have been replaced such as turbo's, injectors, water pump, hpfp, walnut blast, etc.
The auto is generally good as long as it has a dinan or alpina flash. If not it's fucking miserable. I have talked to a lot of people with auto's and they like them a lot with the flash but more often than not i'm told "I wish I bought a manual". Your power goal is easily attainable and handled just as well by an auto or manual.
Do you have any links to the car your considering?
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Thanks for chiming in!
Realistically I just want a toy, I don't know that I'll ever get the chance to go to a track day living way out here in LaCrosse. Its a 4 hour drive and 2 nights in a hotel and its just a lot to take on when I know I'll have to drive the car I brought back home afterwards. So it would just be a car for cruises and meets, shows, stuff like that.
Also I'm a quiet guy and the understated looks of most BMW's, including M's, is part of the charm to me. If someone is genuinely curious and wants to know about the car I would have no problems geeking out with them and explaining it.The car is high mileage, at 116k. Maybe I'm being really dumb here, but in my mind that's not a big deal if its been taken care of and he does say it has a warranty if something breaks, it seems to always be the same stuff that fails on these things.
Now the warranty thing is interesting, I agree. He is sending me more information on that tonight but says its national, good for the full powertrain and good until 2019 or 169k miles. I have 0 experience with warranties so I'm not entirely sure what to avoid either.Now for his list of maintenance, he says he has new plugs, coilpacks, valve cover, hpfp 15k miles ago, and a waterpump and thermostat at 88k miles. I'd be paying for a PPI at a euro shop near him before I go near it, which is scary by itself since I haven't done that before.
He is the second owner (waiting for VIN to run a carfax and confirm that) and sent me this list of mods;
Heat wrapped Downpipes
7" intercooler
Custom exhaust
3 different tuners (currently run mhd stage 2+) <- This one has me confused, why run 3 different tunes?
Transmission alpina flash
Carbon fiber lci csl trunk
Rear lci conversionHe doesn't have it listed any place yet so no link, we were just talking through a Chicago area BMW group.
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A pre lci with 116k for $11k is too high. You're paying for his mods which is bullshit. Mods don't add value to a car like this, it only makes it easier to sell to the right person. You can buy lightly modded LCI cars for less than $17k with lower miles.
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This took me 2 minutes fo find.
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Another auto but great color combo
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Point being, don't settle. Assuming you're financing this you'll be hangingbin to it for awhile so get lower miles and pay for the mods as you go. All in for less than $2k you can have 400whp so don't pay for someone elses power mods. Also, look for a car with a factory oil cooler and sport package. It's worth it.
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I needed that.
I won't be financing the car, but I will have to sell my current one first.
I think what I really want is an LCI manual coupe 335i. They are out there but not for cheap and I'd really like to have money leftover for maintenance and mods. I don't know if its worth modding if I spend that much of my money on getting the car itself.
The reason this is so difficult for me is because after I buy this next car its time to save for a house, so I need this thing to last and keep me excited enough to hold on to it. Even a stock one will be fun of course, but I'd like something special.
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http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1397855
This is what I need, I should browse this page more
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http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1392434
600whp for $18k...
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I should I have a buyer for the E90. I hope I'm not making a mistake though, I love it so much.
I think I decided on a 135i, seems like the clean enthusiast owned ones are just a tad cheaper than equivalent E92 335s and much easier to find than a clean E46 M3 for a decent price.
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Thanks, after I sell this I'll have around $14k to play with. I'm almost certain I'll have to fly out to get one though so that will have an impact on the final price. I found one in Miami for around 13, so its looking good so far.
As far as options and features, I really just want to make sure it has the sport package and is well taken care of. I'd like black or red the most, but if its something I don't like I could always wrap it later. Interior can be anything but I'd prefer to stay away from grey this time. Manual is preferred to get my feet wet there, but I can't say a bad thing about the auto either, and with the sport package it should have paddles too.
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Here are a few local options 2 of them have 112-115k miles other 2 are lower.
https://appleton.craigslist.org/cto/d/2009-bmw-135i-6-speed-price/6206431661.html
https://madison.craigslist.org/cto/d/2011-bmw-135i-sport-manual/6215665058.html
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haha I've seen all of these except for the last one. I might contact the last one after I sell mine, if he wants to come down a little that would be perfect.
I've been watching the market for a few months now and seen or contacted most local sellers. I started watching 1addicts after Pat reminded me about the forums for each chasis and they seem to have the nicest cars there.
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