335i or m3 v8 as daily car
Discussion
Which would be more reliable.
M3 would be 2008 ish upto £20k
335i would be 2009-12 in coupe with DCT or normal auto upto £14k
I’d finance either and they appear to be similar a month... the only issue being a fault occurring therefore which is most likely to break or consistently break etc.
How longs a piece of string... I know it goes on condition so assume each has been well cared for and is around 40-60k mileage.
Cheers
M3 would be 2008 ish upto £20k
335i would be 2009-12 in coupe with DCT or normal auto upto £14k
I’d finance either and they appear to be similar a month... the only issue being a fault occurring therefore which is most likely to break or consistently break etc.
How longs a piece of string... I know it goes on condition so assume each has been well cared for and is around 40-60k mileage.
Cheers
Although I had a very reliable 335i, according to my BMW Specialist (who knows more than me) turbo cars are a greater risk of unreliability. He has more problems with F gen. M cars than the older ones for example. And more with 335i's than older Ms.
Thus, for reliability I'd bet on the M3.
But for risk, consider one of the M3's weak areas, rod bearings, I believe could f/up the whole engine. So what I'd do is factor in replacements, to your budget, they seem to be around £1400.
Then buy the M3. I'm not sure if appreciation matters if you're financing and handing back, but if so then Rassi is right I reckon.
As a daily, could you get a slightly newer M3, with CIC iDrive. Added to builds from 1-9-2008 but seemingly more common on 09 plates onwards. It's much better, than the CCC.
Thus, for reliability I'd bet on the M3.
But for risk, consider one of the M3's weak areas, rod bearings, I believe could f/up the whole engine. So what I'd do is factor in replacements, to your budget, they seem to be around £1400.
Then buy the M3. I'm not sure if appreciation matters if you're financing and handing back, but if so then Rassi is right I reckon.
As a daily, could you get a slightly newer M3, with CIC iDrive. Added to builds from 1-9-2008 but seemingly more common on 09 plates onwards. It's much better, than the CCC.
Thanks... it boils down to the fact I want a petrol and 6 cylinders or more. The 330i 2008 and newer seems to suffer similar issues to the 335i and there are loads more 335i’s so may as well focus on this variant.
The m3 scares me somewhat but reading up it seems actuators and the rods appear to be most common issues. There also loads of m3’s available.
335’s on the other hand appear to be constantly in the garage for diagnostics... but then this google scare mongering.
The m3 scares me somewhat but reading up it seems actuators and the rods appear to be most common issues. There also loads of m3’s available.
335’s on the other hand appear to be constantly in the garage for diagnostics... but then this google scare mongering.
You could very well find actuators have been done, though try and check what company. Rebuild.org have good reputation. Lifetime warranty and cost I recall is circa 400£ plus travel for home fit if you don’t go to site. I’ve seen 750£ for someone other end of country.
335i is the only other alternative. Don’t go ordinary auto ; crappy and lifeless. DCT was in mine , very good.
They Can’t always be in garage , I found earlier ones I checked out had more problems. N55 is supposedly more reliable. But I preferred sound and responsiveness of N54 and pre LCI looks. So a late 2009 , DCT was sweet spot.
But I’d still say M3 is better car. Some AUC cars , LCI, are low £20k, wangle a 2 year warranty (or even just the standard 1) and you are covered for the big jobs.?
335i is the only other alternative. Don’t go ordinary auto ; crappy and lifeless. DCT was in mine , very good.
They Can’t always be in garage , I found earlier ones I checked out had more problems. N55 is supposedly more reliable. But I preferred sound and responsiveness of N54 and pre LCI looks. So a late 2009 , DCT was sweet spot.
But I’d still say M3 is better car. Some AUC cars , LCI, are low £20k, wangle a 2 year warranty (or even just the standard 1) and you are covered for the big jobs.?
Have used both as a daily. Both great cars. You'll get almost 100 miles more to a tank of fuel in the 335i in normal use. Performance wise, there's not a lot in it to be honest. Both mine were manuals, which I prefer. Both could cost if the usual known issues raise their heads.
Given the choice, the M3 is certainly the more special car, and it feels it. I think it's a safer place to put your money too. If you can, stick the BMW warranty on whichever you choose. Well worth it.
Given the choice, the M3 is certainly the more special car, and it feels it. I think it's a safer place to put your money too. If you can, stick the BMW warranty on whichever you choose. Well worth it.
MattOz said:
Have used both as a daily. Both great cars. You'll get almost 100 miles more to a tank of fuel in the 335i in normal use. Performance wise, there's not a lot in it to be honest. Both mine were manuals, which I prefer. Both could cost if the usual known issues raise their heads.
Given the choice, the M3 is certainly the more special car, and it feels it. I think it's a safer place to put your money too. If you can, stick the BMW warranty on whichever you choose. Well worth it.
I've had both as well, manual e90 M3 with EDC, plus a manual 335i. With a bit of tinkering, the 335i is easily as quick, but you will never get the drame/intoxicating noise of the M3 from it. You'll get a good 10mpg more out of the turbo'd car on a run though. The manual M3's also drive like a rocket powered truck at low speeds, but at higher speeds, it all begins to make perfect sense. The 335i is easy peasy artound town, but not as heavy & mechanical when "on it".Given the choice, the M3 is certainly the more special car, and it feels it. I think it's a safer place to put your money too. If you can, stick the BMW warranty on whichever you choose. Well worth it.
The autobox in the 335i is perfectly fine if you map it with XHP stage 2 (android+OTG adapter+kcan cable+£175) and easily as good as the 335i's version of DCT after the work. I wouldnt discount them based on what they are like as standard!!
Re: reliability:
- the 335i has issues with the turbos, coil packs, injectors, HP fuel pump etc, but barring the turbos, they are all easy DIYs, none of which will grenade your engine and leave you with an 8 grand bill for a rebuild. PMP cars will do the turbos for about £1500 by the looks of things.
- the M3 has issues with the actuators & rod bearings predominently. The former are an easy DIY, the latter arent. If the latter fail, your engine s
ts itself in spectular fashion. The only way to check them, is to replace them, its not something that i think you'd want to DIY. Its £1500 at a specialist.The issue i have always had with ///M cars, having had a Z3M, 2 x e46's and an e90, is that you are constantly listening for noises that shouldnt be there, fearing the potential for wallet crippling expenditure, parts are expensive, the engines are crazy money and generally, whilst running costs are similar to any other e90 when they are working, when they break it is always £££££'s. Barring the turbos, the 335i is as cheap on parts as any other non-M BMW.
Also shortly going to be in the market for a new motor, the e92/93 m3 was a hot favourite of mine but having second thoughts about it now. Don’t get me wrong I’d love the idea of v8 m3, very special car, after quite abit of reasearching seems you have to be at the 20k mark to get a decent lowish mileage pre lci model, so your basically talking about a 10/11 year old car! I personally wouldnt touch a high mileage one or a 15k one. The risk is too high imo. 20k buys you a lot of car even nowadays. I tend to hang on to my vehicles for 3/4 years, I feel like a 15/16 year old m3 might not get you a great return back, but who knows it could appreciate. Id be looking for a ‘special’ one if that is the route you go down, edition 500, competition, an Indiviual colour frozen silver/Monte Carlo edition etc, thing is where talking 25k plus for them. In a years time the early m2 and m4s will be at 25k. I’m currently already in a 2008 e93 sport so I guess I want to change, Owned for almost 5 years now so the m3 besides being a totally different animal will look very similar to my current car. I wouldn’t touch a 335i with a barge pole, I know 2 people who’ve had nothing but trouble with there’s, the early model pre lci where fairly troublesome. I could’ve bought a 335i when I bought my current car 5 years ago but the thought of a turbo worried me. M3 wins hands down out of the two, but I’d save some money aside for a rainy day, because they can be very costly if gone wrong. I’m just being negative though, if you get a well maintained example with lots of paperwork and bills for work you should be fine. I’d take out a Bmw comphrenhive warranty whatever you do. Add roughly £100 quid on top of what ever your finance repayments are. My current vehicle which is an 2008 325 costs me 106 quid a month for warranty due to its age, plus 100 quid excess
As you can see I’m very passionate about this topic, I think I’m just trying to persuade myself not to buy one more than anything lol (I cream my pants over the v8 M really )
Good luck
As you can see I’m very passionate about this topic, I think I’m just trying to persuade myself not to buy one more than anything lol (I cream my pants over the v8 M really )
Good luck
Oh my recommendations would be a 428/430/435i- which you could get for easily under 20k, 235/240 20k+ mark. Even a 135i, again easily under 15k 1 Series arent everyone’s cuppa though. But whatever floats your boat. As someone who wanted a m3 too. I’m heading in the 4 series m140 direction, 640d is a possibility and a slight golf r itch.
rassi said:
Not comparable, in my opinion. Buy wisely, and the E92 M3 will appreciate, the 335i will not.
But as a daily the 335i will be much better.More economical.
Cheaper to run
Faster most of the time due to the turbos.
Less worried if it gets dinked or damaged.
Why would anyone buy an m3 as a daily car when the whole point of a daily is something comfortable and relaxing.
xjay1337 said:
But as a daily the 335i will be much better.
More economical.
Cheaper to run
Faster most of the time due to the turbos.
Less worried if it gets dinked or damaged.
Why would anyone buy an m3 as a daily car when the whole point of a daily is something comfortable and relaxing.
A M3 is comfortable and relaxing though. It is designed to be a daily car with a bit more fiz, not a track special that could be used on the road.More economical.
Cheaper to run
Faster most of the time due to the turbos.
Less worried if it gets dinked or damaged.
Why would anyone buy an m3 as a daily car when the whole point of a daily is something comfortable and relaxing.
Any 335i is just as likely to be worried about their car getting dinked or damaged, they are not exactly shed money and not cheap to repair. They are a little more economical and cheaper to maintain, but still not exactly cheap.
My V8 was completely reliable for a year until the other weekend and the engine seal gave way - apparently they don't check for leaks during servicing as bits are hidden behind various covers. If you do get one I would get a full health check from a specialist who can do a full inspection with the undertrays off. Then you have the throttle actuators and rod-bearing to worry about. Either change them or risk it and buy a warranty.
Personally I would go for a 335i. It will be as quick in the real world. for your money it will be a facelift with the N55 engine which was significantly more reliable than the n54
The most important part of this though is adding a bmw mondial warranty on a 335i is MUCH cheaper than an m3 if you wanted to. I had a 335i 2 years ago. Only had 1 issue with it (comfort access) - I still miss the noise it made. BMW warranty was only 500 odd a year.
As others have suggested if you increased the budget to 20k for a non M3 then you have a whole host of cars you could have .
The most important part of this though is adding a bmw mondial warranty on a 335i is MUCH cheaper than an m3 if you wanted to. I had a 335i 2 years ago. Only had 1 issue with it (comfort access) - I still miss the noise it made. BMW warranty was only 500 odd a year.
As others have suggested if you increased the budget to 20k for a non M3 then you have a whole host of cars you could have .
haha On a serious note, your essentially looking at a 60k car with an m3- I’m assuming your going to hire purchase due to the age of it? If you were to buy a lemon the car isn’t yours anyway, the finance company owns it, therefore its in there best interest to sort it. I’m sure there laws etc, not too clued up on it all haven’t financed a car before. Apparently you can hand by when half the loan is paid also, not that you’d want to but another get out of jail card!
I've had 2 x E92 M3s in the last 6 months. Both were BMW FSH cars, both had relatively low mileages.
Both of mine has a constant stream of problems - seized calipers, o2 & NoX sensors, thermostat, dead batteries, flywheel, purge valve, rough idling, limp modes and fault codes galore.
One was a frozen edition and the paint was a bl--dy nightmare to get repaired. Botched efforts led to me rejecting it.
When on song, they are fantastic cars - but I wouldn't go near another because they were so temperamental.
Both of mine has a constant stream of problems - seized calipers, o2 & NoX sensors, thermostat, dead batteries, flywheel, purge valve, rough idling, limp modes and fault codes galore.
One was a frozen edition and the paint was a bl--dy nightmare to get repaired. Botched efforts led to me rejecting it.
When on song, they are fantastic cars - but I wouldn't go near another because they were so temperamental.
I was in a fairly similar place recently; an M135/140 or an E90 M3 as a daily.
In the end I went slightly off piste and ordered a new M140 because I was working to a monthly budget (running it on a car allowance) and hit a good deal. The M3 still appeals, but due to needing to put a chunk of mi day aside each month for maintenance it meant that I’d be buying at the lower end if the market, so pre-LCI cars or those with a higher mileage and I decided that I wasn’t have enough. I also decided that the fuel costs for roughly 15k per year would grow tiresome.
The 135/140 isn’t far off M3 pace on paper but the running costs are far far less albeit lacking the drama and fizz of the V8.
In the end I went slightly off piste and ordered a new M140 because I was working to a monthly budget (running it on a car allowance) and hit a good deal. The M3 still appeals, but due to needing to put a chunk of mi day aside each month for maintenance it meant that I’d be buying at the lower end if the market, so pre-LCI cars or those with a higher mileage and I decided that I wasn’t have enough. I also decided that the fuel costs for roughly 15k per year would grow tiresome.
The 135/140 isn’t far off M3 pace on paper but the running costs are far far less albeit lacking the drama and fizz of the V8.
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