Car to compete with an m140i? sub 16k
Discussion
Hammy98 said:
I'd had a quick look at the warranty on the BMW website, am I right in thinking its by an external company? Most of the examples I've been looking at have been 30-40k miles so the warranty would definitely be an option.
Seen it mentioned elsewhere that 2009 is the best year for the n54, any idea if thats the case?
I have a 2009 N54 and it's had EVERYTHING replaced under warranty. Most of the components were revised several times and around 2014 they seemed to find a solution for the injectors and HPFP. Seen it mentioned elsewhere that 2009 is the best year for the n54, any idea if thats the case?
If you want reliability then the N55 is not so bad. It can still be tuned to around 370bhp. Not quite the 400bhp the N54 gets from a simple tune but worth considering.
Google "N55 MHD". It was released not so long ago and has been the default tuning choice on the N54 for years.
Mike335i said:
It's through a 3rd party (mondial), but sold as BMW Extended warranty. Definitely worth it for lower mileage as the cost is not too bad.
I just had a quick look at the warranty quotes, ran a 2007 31k 335i from autotrader through. £600 for the year isnt bad considering it would more than likely need the turbos replaced within 2/3 years.Any idea if its possible for me to check with BMW themselves whether specific cars have had warranty work done?
And I hear you on the spec, Would need to be an M sport I think with the upgraded stereo as well as coral/cream leather. Could be searching for a while!
cj2013 said:
I had a similar dilemma at 19 (few years ago now), but decided to wait until I was 21 to get something more affordable to insure. Back then, you couldn't insure a "proper" car until you hit that age or spent a lot of money.
By the time I was 21, my mates with their 'quick' cars had hedged them and had no NCB with a few claims.
I went out and got myself a tidy Celica with pop up lights. Sounded good, looked good and could drop knickers from a distance. Girls thought it was a supercar because of the pop-up lights, and it did me well in those regards!
This is an idea thats crossed my mind a couple of times. I can insure a Celica gt4 for a pittance compared to some of the other cars that I'm discussing in this thread. I do worry about the reliability side of things though ad It would be a daily for 10-15k miles a year. Non-ruined ones are becoming harder to find as well.
I'm not saying you should go out and buy an old Celica, but I guess I'm being one of those boring people that can suggest that, if you're able to, it can be well worth saving up/waiting to insure something much tastier when you're a little older with some more NCB.
By the time I was 21, my mates with their 'quick' cars had hedged them and had no NCB with a few claims.
I went out and got myself a tidy Celica with pop up lights. Sounded good, looked good and could drop knickers from a distance. Girls thought it was a supercar because of the pop-up lights, and it did me well in those regards!
This is an idea thats crossed my mind a couple of times. I can insure a Celica gt4 for a pittance compared to some of the other cars that I'm discussing in this thread. I do worry about the reliability side of things though ad It would be a daily for 10-15k miles a year. Non-ruined ones are becoming harder to find as well.
I'm not saying you should go out and buy an old Celica, but I guess I'm being one of those boring people that can suggest that, if you're able to, it can be well worth saving up/waiting to insure something much tastier when you're a little older with some more NCB.
Hammy98 said:
This is an idea thats crossed my mind a couple of times. I can insure a Celica gt4 for a pittance compared to some of the other cars that I'm discussing in this thread. I do worry about the reliability side of things though ad It would be a daily for 10-15k miles a year. Non-ruined ones are becoming harder to find as well.
It's debatable as to whether you'd get more reliability from a newer out-of-warranty car.I guess you're referring to a gen 6 (twin round lights at the front) GT4?
You'd certainly get exclusivity, as there aren't that many knocking around. Generally a nice car, from back when Toyota were still making decent stuff.
I used to treat my old Gen 5 (1990) like dirt and it still carried on going, wheres my Gen 7 (2003) was much flimsier and temperamental at half the mileage.
All depends what you like, really. I have always found you get more appreciation with something more obscure/older, rather than the modern stuff.
(I've always had the hots for either a Clio V6 (which aren't reliable) or a 147 GTA, which I know very little about except I can't afford one)
Hammy98 said:
I just had a quick look at the warranty quotes, ran a 2007 31k 335i from autotrader through. £600 for the year isnt bad considering it would more than likely need the turbos replaced within 2/3 years.
Any idea if its possible for me to check with BMW themselves whether specific cars have had warranty work done?
And I hear you on the spec, Would need to be an M sport I think with the upgraded stereo as well as coral/cream leather. Could be searching for a while!
Worth ringing up the dealer that saw the car if you can as they should be able to help, but they might not be willing due "data protection". There is a BMW phone number you can ring for centralised information and any dealer can do a key read for the service history. Any idea if its possible for me to check with BMW themselves whether specific cars have had warranty work done?
And I hear you on the spec, Would need to be an M sport I think with the upgraded stereo as well as coral/cream leather. Could be searching for a while!
what size car would you like?
Obviously you have the smaller hot hatches, like fiesta st, corsa vxr nurburgring, clio 200 (one was written about yesterday or today on pistonheads homepage). These are fine day to day tbh.
You can get to serious licence loosing speeds in something like a m135i (well to be fair same for fiesta st etc).
end of the day your driving talent limits you as to how fast you can go. I am no means a talented driver, but drive a golf r, I will never push it to its limits but tbh its a bit dull in that its fast that before you know it you are up to speed limit and your only in second gear / heard one dsg fart.
Personally - golf gti, megane renault sport / seat cupra I would say if you want something bigger. Upgrade next to bmw 140i / golf r / seat cupra 300 if you wish and insurance is a bit less.
Your 19 - to put it in perspective, I was driving a rover 25 1.4 till I was 24 - yeah it didn't keep up with my mates lexus is200 or bmw 325i or fiesta st or focus st - but I had to rag the thing to the redline and time my gear change to perfection to keep up rather than relying on boost like you would in a m135i etc - I may have got to the end of the road after them, but it didn't matter I still had a smile on my face and didn't care - in the point and squirt cars you are talking about are fun, but a different type of fun.
Obviously you have the smaller hot hatches, like fiesta st, corsa vxr nurburgring, clio 200 (one was written about yesterday or today on pistonheads homepage). These are fine day to day tbh.
You can get to serious licence loosing speeds in something like a m135i (well to be fair same for fiesta st etc).
end of the day your driving talent limits you as to how fast you can go. I am no means a talented driver, but drive a golf r, I will never push it to its limits but tbh its a bit dull in that its fast that before you know it you are up to speed limit and your only in second gear / heard one dsg fart.
Personally - golf gti, megane renault sport / seat cupra I would say if you want something bigger. Upgrade next to bmw 140i / golf r / seat cupra 300 if you wish and insurance is a bit less.
Your 19 - to put it in perspective, I was driving a rover 25 1.4 till I was 24 - yeah it didn't keep up with my mates lexus is200 or bmw 325i or fiesta st or focus st - but I had to rag the thing to the redline and time my gear change to perfection to keep up rather than relying on boost like you would in a m135i etc - I may have got to the end of the road after them, but it didn't matter I still had a smile on my face and didn't care - in the point and squirt cars you are talking about are fun, but a different type of fun.
gazza5 said:
what size car would you like?
Obviously you have the smaller hot hatches, like fiesta st, corsa vxr nurburgring, clio 200 (one was written about yesterday or today on pistonheads homepage). These are fine day to day tbh.
You can get to serious licence loosing speeds in something like a m135i (well to be fair same for fiesta st etc).
end of the day your driving talent limits you as to how fast you can go. I am no means a talented driver, but drive a golf r, I will never push it to its limits but tbh its a bit dull in that its fast that before you know it you are up to speed limit and your only in second gear / heard one dsg fart.
Personally - golf gti, megane renault sport / seat cupra I would say if you want something bigger. Upgrade next to bmw 140i / golf r / seat cupra 300 if you wish and insurance is a bit less.
Your 19 - to put it in perspective, I was driving a rover 25 1.4 till I was 24 - yeah it didn't keep up with my mates lexus is200 or bmw 325i or fiesta st or focus st - but I had to rag the thing to the redline and time my gear change to perfection to keep up rather than relying on boost like you would in a m135i etc - I may have got to the end of the road after them, but it didn't matter I still had a smile on my face and didn't care - in the point and squirt cars you are talking about are fun, but a different type of fun.
It was 6 months ago! Obviously you have the smaller hot hatches, like fiesta st, corsa vxr nurburgring, clio 200 (one was written about yesterday or today on pistonheads homepage). These are fine day to day tbh.
You can get to serious licence loosing speeds in something like a m135i (well to be fair same for fiesta st etc).
end of the day your driving talent limits you as to how fast you can go. I am no means a talented driver, but drive a golf r, I will never push it to its limits but tbh its a bit dull in that its fast that before you know it you are up to speed limit and your only in second gear / heard one dsg fart.
Personally - golf gti, megane renault sport / seat cupra I would say if you want something bigger. Upgrade next to bmw 140i / golf r / seat cupra 300 if you wish and insurance is a bit less.
Your 19 - to put it in perspective, I was driving a rover 25 1.4 till I was 24 - yeah it didn't keep up with my mates lexus is200 or bmw 325i or fiesta st or focus st - but I had to rag the thing to the redline and time my gear change to perfection to keep up rather than relying on boost like you would in a m135i etc - I may have got to the end of the road after them, but it didn't matter I still had a smile on my face and didn't care - in the point and squirt cars you are talking about are fun, but a different type of fun.
Strange thread to have bumped.
I ended up with an F56 Mini Cooper S. Trying to get it booked in for a custom map at Evolve tuning later in the year, should put out about 280bhp from them. Other plans are a Qaife diff from Lohen in the new year and maybe a big brake kit if a reasonably priced one comes up.
My mate with the m140i has ended up with a new Focus St, pretty closely matched on a B road, he can pull away on straights obviously as he’s nearly 50bhp up.
My mate with the m140i has ended up with a new Focus St, pretty closely matched on a B road, he can pull away on straights obviously as he’s nearly 50bhp up.
Hammy98 said:
I ended up with an F56 Mini Cooper S. Trying to get it booked in for a custom map at Evolve tuning later in the year, should put out about 280bhp from them. Other plans are a Qaife diff from Lohen in the new year and maybe a big brake kit if a reasonably priced one comes up.
My mate with the m140i has ended up with a new Focus St, pretty closely matched on a B road, he can pull away on straights obviously as he’s nearly 50bhp up.
Thread may have been bumped but at least we got an answer!My mate with the m140i has ended up with a new Focus St, pretty closely matched on a B road, he can pull away on straights obviously as he’s nearly 50bhp up.
I'm currently looking at m135i's so bumped without realising how old the thread was!
scottyfocus said:
This fella's post's remind me of myself about 8 years ago.
I'm still recovering financially.
My thoughts exactly. I'm still recovering financially.
It's funny how the most expensive car I ever owned I purchased when I was 19. It was also the worst, the one I liked the least and I have had a larger disposable income at every subsequent car purchase.
'Tis an oft-repeated story though!
2Btoo said:
scottyfocus said:
This fella's post's remind me of myself about 8 years ago.
I'm still recovering financially.
My thoughts exactly. I'm still recovering financially.
It's funny how the most expensive car I ever owned I purchased when I was 19. It was also the worst, the one I liked the least and I have had a larger disposable income at every subsequent car purchase.
'Tis an oft-repeated story though!
At the time I was living at home and pretty cushty so it wasn't a bad situation to be in, until my girlfriend moved back from France 2 years earlier than we thought and we ended up getting a house together.
Admittedly a bad decision to move out in the first place on my part but you know how it is when you want your own space, needless to say that money I was spending monthly on a car would have been a huge help...
Hammy98 said:
I like the car though, and running it doesn't eat me alive as I've little to no other outgoings.
Next time around I'll be more sensible, but as of right now I'm just enjoying it.
I love my Cooper S too and I've had much more powerful cars in the past, yet this one has brought so many smiles and I like how you can have fun without doing serious speeds, I love it's handling and it's involving and enjoyable to drive. Next time around I'll be more sensible, but as of right now I'm just enjoying it.
cerb4.5lee said:
I love my Cooper S too and I've had much more powerful cars in the past, yet this one has brought so many smiles and I like how you can have fun without doing serious speeds, I love it's handling and it's involving and enjoyable to drive.
Good to hear praise for them from someone who's had some nice cars! I'm pretty smitten with mine.cerb4.5lee said:
I love my Cooper S too and I've had much more powerful cars in the past, yet this one has brought so many smiles and I like how you can have fun without doing serious speeds, I love it's handling and it's involving and enjoyable to drive.
I agree, mine was the R56 S but what a fun handling car, very neutral and would be quite a b
h in the wet actually, in a good way.Thankfully I had the MINI/Mondial warranty as not a reliable car, what with the Peugeot Prince engine N14. I managed to cook the brakes at the Ring too...
cerb4.5lee said:
I love my Cooper S too and I've had much more powerful cars in the past, yet this one has brought so many smiles and I like how you can have fun without doing serious speeds, I love it's handling and it's involving and enjoyable to drive.
Best car I've ever owned is my first, 1982 Austin Mini HL, all 54BHP of it.So fun.
nickfrog said:
cerb4.5lee said:
I love my Cooper S too and I've had much more powerful cars in the past, yet this one has brought so many smiles and I like how you can have fun without doing serious speeds, I love it's handling and it's involving and enjoyable to drive.
I agree, mine was the R56 S but what a fun handling car, very neutral and would be quite a bh in the wet actually, in a good way.Thankfully I had the MINI/Mondial warranty as not a reliable car, what with the Peugeot Prince engine N14. I managed to cook the brakes at the Ring too...
and I bet it was amazing fun at the ring, I must admit the brakes on mine aren't amazing but I'm hoping they will bed in more after a few more miles, the JCW brakes look much more meaty, the standard Cooper S brakes do look and feel weedy. Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff