Best BMW out there in terms of running costs v performance?

[HannsG]

EDIT: It must be a petrol

There are so many variations now. Say you had a budget of £20K

Last BMW I owned was an E46 M3 which I adored

135i, 235i, 130i, 335i....I could go on and on. I have even seen just today the M140i being called a 'Junior Supercar'

Edited by HannsG on Wednesday 28th March 15:23

[Shiv_P]

330d

[Jonno02]

The prices of 1~ year old M140i's against list is absolutely fantastic VFM. Hard to look past that.

[Herbs]

6 series for me

[Vitorio]

HannsG said:

I have even seen just today the M140i being called a 'Junior Supercar'

It seems the 140 is the new "just get a 330d and remap it" or "mx-5"

[cerb4.5lee]

I thought the 640d I had offered decent performance/running costs mix. It returned 40mpg which was really good I thought.

[Mike335i]

Modified m135i would take some beating at this price.

If you are Ok with diesel then a mapped 335d would be a very good balance of the two.

[Ares]

My Schnitzer 640d was the second most powerful car I've owned, but had by the the lowest running costs (unless you compare my old Caterham..!)

[cerb4.5lee]

A 335d must be in with a good shout aswell, they're quicker to 60 than my manual E92 M3 was. Plus they offer well over 40 mpg too.

[anonymous-user]

Has to be anything not too lardy with the x35d or x40d. Even the normal risks of something expensive and diesel-y stting itself at higher mileage isn't a factor because the x35i engines seem to be just as capable of doing that. The 335d or 640d offer astonishing economy for the performance on offer, although obviously if you use the performance a lot the economy isn't going to be quite so good

[culpz]

M135i for me. If 235i's can be had for 20k, that would be even better, as i really dislike the 1-Series shape and much prefer the coupe-style of the 2-Series. I'd personally have it with the ZF 8-speed gearbox too.

[MrBarry123]

culpz said:

M135i for me. If 235i's can be had for 20k, that would be even better, as i really dislike the 1-Series shape and much prefer the coupe-style of the 2-Series. I'd personally have it with the ZF 8-speed gearbox too.

[jas xjr]

How about an E46 m3? You could own a near perfect example.

[cerb4.5lee]

culpz said:

M135i for me. If 235i's can be had for 20k, that would be even better, as i really dislike the 1-Series shape and much prefer the coupe-style of the 2-Series. I'd personally have it with the ZF 8-speed gearbox too.

You can get 235i's for 20k and under and I'm a big fan. I'd go manual though because I get bored within 5 minutes of driving an auto!

[HannsG]

jas xjr said:

How about an E46 m3? You could own a near perfect example.

I had one

[Herbs]

or Z4M actually, thinking about it

[Shiv_P]

Running costs - surely the 6 cylinder diesels are the ones to have???????

[Herbs]

He did a cheeky edit - Petrol only

[dannyDC2]

HannsG said:

I had one

Sounds like you're due another

I remember reading about yours, how come you got rid?

[HannsG]

dannyDC2 said:

Sounds like you're due another

I remember reading about yours, how come you got rid?

I quit my permie job to go contracting and needed a cash fund in case I could not land a contract. I made £4-5K on the car after owning it for three years and putting 30k on the clock.

A bit of a surprise, but it sold within a week. That very week I landed a contract, and I'm still here. I should have kept it as there was no need to sell it.

Hindsight.....its a wonderful thing.