Car to compete with an m140i? sub 16k

[Hammy98]

Hi all,

Posted in here a while ago near Christmas time looking for new car ideas.

Basically, current car is worth about 5.5k trade in. Parents are lending me the difference up to a max of 10k.

I was planning to take finance however my parents have just sold their motorhome and are willing to lend me 10k over 2-3 years which I will pay back monthly over direct debit - avoiding finance companies etc.

One of my mates has just picked up an m140i, another has an s3. Looking for something to keep up with both, doesn't need to be faster but not wanting to be left trailing when going for a drive up in the highlands on a Sunday.

I do around 12k a year and that includes commuting, I rely on the car for getting to work so has to be reliable.

Insurance is also a factor, I can't quite insure an m135i/m140i.

So far my shortlist is as follows:

Mk3 Leon Cupra: Low mileage examples in my budget, can be mapped to 360bhp - would it keep up?

Mini Cooper S f56: Nicer interior than the leon, slower as standard but can go to 260bhp-ish. 300bhp for the JCW.

Mk2 Audi TTS: Older, quick as standard and very quick mapped IIRC.


Any other ideas? Would love a 5pot at some point but the only reasonable one to insure is a Volvo c30 t5.

[Hammy98]

Herbs said:

2 seater?

Can be, insurance is the main killer though as I'm sure I could pick up a lot of quick stuff.

[Hammy98]

wemorgan said:

Why not a M135? It's a very decent car. If your friend has the 5dr, then get the 3dr if you want to be different.

These still seem to be a little over budget, I'd be looking at sub 30k mileage. Any idea on reliability at higher mileages?

[Hammy98]

WonkeyDonkey said:

Lotus Elise.

Infinitely cooler than any German box car, may not be as quick in a straight line though if that's all you care about.

I'd love one, 12k miles a year though? 5-10 mile commute to and from work every day in start stop traffic.

[Hammy98]

CarAbuser said:

Any car with an N54 engine (Z4 35i, 335i, 135i). Tune with MHD for an easy 400bhp with no other mods and you will be passing both the S3 and M140i.

Was briefly set on an e92 335i but the potential wastegate actuator problems and expensive bits and pieces sort of pushed me away. The later single turbo ones (is that the n54) are a little out of budget for sub30k mileage.

EDIT: One silver car on autotrader for 15500, might be worth a look.

Edited by Hammy98 on Friday 24th March 10:25

[Hammy98]

seadragon said:

Well I am hardly an expert on mapping, but have had a few pretty quick cars in my time. I had a 55 plate Leon Cupra R225 and except for the super low front splitter which scraped over pretty much anything, I really loved the car. The quality felt really good and I would love to have one as a 2nd fun car again.

The Mk1 TT 240 QS I owned was also lovely. I am sure you will get lots of hints from other people, but nice to get maybe something you hadn’t considered

Good luck

Theres a black TT QS near where I stay, lovely looking car. My dad also used to have a mark 2 cupra, it had the double center exhausts from what I remember - K1?

[Hammy98]

Herbs said:

You'll be suprised on the insurance front as some work out quite a bit cheaper. Look at an Elise or Z4M - both would be great up there and won't cost you a penny in depreciation compared to a hot hatch.

A 3 litre z4 was costing 1800+ to insure, was gutting as I'd always wanted a coupe. Leon cupra for example was 1400. Reckon a Z4m might be cheaper?

[Hammy98]

I hear both of you on the Monaro. I'll run a few quotes and see what the story is.

[Hammy98]

caveman87 said:

125i coupe with a tune would keep up and in your price range and manual and only 2.0

Are these not an N/A 3 litre? The 125i hatch is a 2.0 twin turbo I believe

[Hammy98]

mike9009 said:

I presume a VX220 turbo would be out because of the daily driver requirement?

I was doing 10k miles in my vx220 back in the day - and I loved it (except cold mornings could be a challenge ). Insurance was surprisingly reasonable considering the performance on offer. Mechanical bits are reasonable and readily available - have a prang though and it can be difficult now.

Should easily keep up/ beat the german duo you mention.

Mike

Would love one! I'd maybe try a non turbo for a few months and see how I get on with it as a daily.

[Hammy98]

nunpuncher said:

I recon a mini GP would be the ultimate weapon for those roads. Much rarer and more original than your mates cars, reasonable running costs and will hold value really well.

GP is a good proposition, supercharged over turbo or the other way around?

I hear you on the cupra as well, theres a few floating around the 16k mark. Do you reckon the values will tumble a bit once the ex lease cars come onto the used market?

[Hammy98]

Cheers for all the replies btw. Instead of replying separately and bumping the thread constantly I'll address a few of the suggestions in one post.

Audi TT QS - are these the 1.8t? would imagine these are fairly quick with a map and the low weight & quattro. Anyone had any reliability issues? Just as they are a bit older than some of the other recommendations.

Supras etc - Insurance on these is astronomical unless N/A so rules them out unfortunately.

350z/370z - much the same as above, big displacement seems to kill them off with regards to insurance.

Mk6 Golf R/ Scirocco R/ Cupra R - Golf insurance is reasonable however they seem to be holding their value quite well so I can get a 2/3 year old cupra 280 for the same money. Scirocco and Cupra R insurance seems weirdly high so rules them out unfortunately.

Really fancy a Mini GP1, my dad had an r53 S when they first came out, noise from the supercharger was addictive. Away to run insurance quotes

EDIT: Gp insurance is eye watering, 3k! Seems limited numbers push it up a fair bit as am R56 JCW is half that.

Edited by Hammy98 on Monday 27th March 14:40

[Hammy98]

Meridius said:

If you cant quite insure an M135i/140i, can you insure any of those hot hatches once you've declared the remaps?

Insurance seems to vary wildly, some of the less common stuff is a lot cheaper to insure - I.e Mini Cooper S with a remap is a fair chunk less than a standard Fiesta ST.

[Hammy98]

awlp16 said:

Have you been quoted? My 370z was cheaper to insure than my 1.6tdi golf.

2.2k unfortunately

[Hammy98]

MonkeyMatt said:

How about a Mazda 3 MPS? often overlooked despite being a very good car! Fast, 256bhp, tuneable engine if thats what you want to do, very reliable and look pretty good, also its not one of the default Germans

Had a quick look at these on autotrader, always liked the facelift ones with the bonnet scoop. Doesn't seem to be any with mileage sub 40k which is a bit disappointing. I do 10-15k a year and would plan to keep for 2-3 years so would like a little lower mileage

[Hammy98]

Appreciate all the responses, I've ran quotes for most of the suggestions and I'm swaying towards either the mini or an n54 bmw.

sub 40k mile examples of the BMWs seem to be almost as much as an m135i, so most of the cars I'm looking at are in the 40-50k range on an 09-10 plate.

This originally put me right off as reliability was a main point in my decision. I'm now considering saving up 1k-1.5k as a slush fund for a 40-50k mile car - does anyone with experience think this would be sufficient?

[Hammy98]

LasseV said:

How much is BMW's insurance? It's your choice, but old japanese warhorse doesn't loose it's value and they are generally cheaper to run than turbo-BMW. So overall, maybe they are cheaper option?

335 is coming out at 2k with a hefty however manageable excess. Most of my other quotes seem to include an even higher excess!

I'm 19, insurance renewal on my current car is coming out at 1700 so dont mind the extra 300 and slightly larger excess for the 335.

Before anyone says silly prices... Majority of people my age group are paying 2-3k in their first year for a corsa or similar. My postcode seems to be not bad for quotes either, with mates a few miles away paying a fair chunk more.

[Hammy98]

Peperami said:

Judging by your username are you born in 98? I dont even want to imagine the insurance quotes on some of these suggestions... ! 2-3k?

When you say keep up do you mean dual carriageway racing or a B-road blast?

Mixture of both to be honest mate, we regularly take a drive up north on a sunday if the weather permits.

Insurance is extortionate in the grand scheme of things!

[Hammy98]

Mike335i said:

Most n54 issues were resolved by the n55, but the extended warranty on sub 60k mile examples is worth it and reasonable as a protective measure.
If you can be disciplined and have a slush fund I would say 2k should suffice, worst case scenario is new turbos (more common on older n54s) which at a dealer is 3.2k. Can be done cheaper.
My '09 n54 has had new injectors and a HPFP go so far.

I doubt you will much go faster in a 'daily driveable' for £16k.

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?

[Hammy98]

ITP said:

Just get a fiesta ST for 10k, you'd keep up easy, apart from jail time speeds on motorways etc and probably have more fun in the highlands for loads less purchase and insurance/running cost cash than the other 2.

I've thought about this, the ST does appeal to me however I'm after something a bit more refined. My idea behind the cooper S was that it was a bit of a middle ground between something like an ST and the BMW.