Discussion
I'm in the market for an automatic M3 costing about £25,000, but have stumbled across a cracking looking fully loaded auto 335. I know it's down by 110BHP and the brakes and suspension will be different, but otherwise the cars are pretty well identical and 0-60 is still a respectable 6 seconds. I'm no hooligan but do of course enjoys a decent drive. I'm now wondering if a 335 with its lower running costs will be almost as enjoyable. Any comments?
TorqueVR said:
I'm in the market for an automatic M3 costing about £25,000, but have stumbled across a cracking looking fully loaded auto 335. I know it's down by 110BHP and the brakes and suspension will be different, but otherwise the cars are pretty well identical and 0-60 is still a respectable 6 seconds. I'm no hooligan but do of course enjoys a decent drive. I'm now wondering if a 335 with its lower running costs will be almost as enjoyable. Any comments?
It won't. HTH.I do around 20,000 miles a year, I had the same dilemma. 335i or M3.
Yes, a 335i will never handle like a M3, but you can get 90% of the power of the M3 with a big hike in MPG compared to the M3.
Google 'JB4' for 335i. I have one for my 335i and it was dyno'd at 373bhp with just this modification, everything else standard.
I don't regret my decision one bit. It's debadged too (previous owner debadged it) so, to the untrained eye it just looks like every other 3 series on the road, until I put my foot down.
If you're doing lots of miles like I'm doing. Then it makes sense. I couldn't have another diesel!
Yes, a 335i will never handle like a M3, but you can get 90% of the power of the M3 with a big hike in MPG compared to the M3.
Google 'JB4' for 335i. I have one for my 335i and it was dyno'd at 373bhp with just this modification, everything else standard.
I don't regret my decision one bit. It's debadged too (previous owner debadged it) so, to the untrained eye it just looks like every other 3 series on the road, until I put my foot down.
If you're doing lots of miles like I'm doing. Then it makes sense. I couldn't have another diesel!
A bit more info
I drive a V60 diesel estate during the week, and have had a weekend car for the last 7 years. I've already got an E46 M6, and have driven an E93, so I'm well aware of what they are and how they go. The E46 replaced a TVR Chimaera and was meant to have been the next weekend car, but inevitably (with hindsight!!)I've been using it during the week as well. I do about 28,000 - 30,000 miles a year and simply cannot afford to run an M3 with that sort of use, but have knocked up 7,000 miles in it in 13 months. Most of my driving will be on motorways and A & B roads and the appeal of the 335 is that (to me at least) I will have lower running costs so I can use it more, with most of the fun. The 335 I have spotted has every conceivable extra and a stupidly low mileage.
I drive a V60 diesel estate during the week, and have had a weekend car for the last 7 years. I've already got an E46 M6, and have driven an E93, so I'm well aware of what they are and how they go. The E46 replaced a TVR Chimaera and was meant to have been the next weekend car, but inevitably (with hindsight!!)I've been using it during the week as well. I do about 28,000 - 30,000 miles a year and simply cannot afford to run an M3 with that sort of use, but have knocked up 7,000 miles in it in 13 months. Most of my driving will be on motorways and A & B roads and the appeal of the 335 is that (to me at least) I will have lower running costs so I can use it more, with most of the fun. The 335 I have spotted has every conceivable extra and a stupidly low mileage.
As a 335i owner I wouldn't recommend spending £25k on one. You should be able to get a well-specced 2010-plate (facelift) DCT for much less than that. Spend £2k (JB4, down-pipes, intercooler) on it and it will out-drag an M3, spend a bit more for it to out-handle one.
An M3 at that price will be pre-facelift I'd have thought.
If you don't mind owning a slightly older car, you can get a 2008 335i for £10k with a normal Auto box.
I was looking at swapping mine for a 62-plate E90 M3 that was up for £35k, but there's no way I could justify £20k to change so I'm keeping mine for another couple of years.
An M3 at that price will be pre-facelift I'd have thought.
If you don't mind owning a slightly older car, you can get a 2008 335i for £10k with a normal Auto box.
I was looking at swapping mine for a 62-plate E90 M3 that was up for £35k, but there's no way I could justify £20k to change so I'm keeping mine for another couple of years.
ArsE92 said:
As a 335i owner I wouldn't recommend spending £25k on one. You should be able to get a well-specced 2010-plate (facelift) DCT for much less than that. Spend £2k (JB4, down-pipes, intercooler) on it and it will out-drag an M3, spend a bit more for it to out-handle one.
An M3 at that price will be pre-facelift I'd have thought.
If you don't mind owning a slightly older car, you can get a 2008 335i for £10k with a normal Auto box.
I was looking at swapping mine for a 62-plate E90 M3 that was up for £35k, but there's no way I could justify £20k to change so I'm keeping mine for another couple of years.
So you can make your 335i out-drag an M3 and out-handle one quite cheaply, yet you still want to change your car for an M3??????An M3 at that price will be pre-facelift I'd have thought.
If you don't mind owning a slightly older car, you can get a 2008 335i for £10k with a normal Auto box.
I was looking at swapping mine for a 62-plate E90 M3 that was up for £35k, but there's no way I could justify £20k to change so I'm keeping mine for another couple of years.
Now that is what M cars are all about.
Eh, so you have a diesel to put the miles on and an e46 m3 for weekends (replaced tvr), but you use the m3 too much so are potentially thinking of a juicy v8 e90 m3 in addition to save money?!
Or have I missed something?
Edit: I wouldn't have thought a 335i would be that much less to run than an e46 m3 either.
Or have I missed something?
Edit: I wouldn't have thought a 335i would be that much less to run than an e46 m3 either.
Edited by danp on Monday 21st July 09:55
Captainawesome said:
ArsE92 said:
As a 335i owner I wouldn't recommend spending £25k on one. You should be able to get a well-specced 2010-plate (facelift) DCT for much less than that. Spend £2k (JB4, down-pipes, intercooler) on it and it will out-drag an M3, spend a bit more for it to out-handle one.
An M3 at that price will be pre-facelift I'd have thought.
If you don't mind owning a slightly older car, you can get a 2008 335i for £10k with a normal Auto box.
I was looking at swapping mine for a 62-plate E90 M3 that was up for £35k, but there's no way I could justify £20k to change so I'm keeping mine for another couple of years.
So you can make your 335i out-drag an M3 and out-handle one quite cheaply, yet you still want to change your car for an M3??????An M3 at that price will be pre-facelift I'd have thought.
If you don't mind owning a slightly older car, you can get a 2008 335i for £10k with a normal Auto box.
I was looking at swapping mine for a 62-plate E90 M3 that was up for £35k, but there's no way I could justify £20k to change so I'm keeping mine for another couple of years.
Now that is what M cars are all about.
Well, I'd always rather have the real deal. When I was looking to change I wanted a newer car with a high specfication etc, so the cost to change became the barrier. That's why I decided to keep the 335 and spend some money on it.
Of course, when I say "spend a bit more" for it to out-handle an M3, I'm basically saying replace the whole suspension
The 335i is a much nicer car to drive than the 335d. It's also a good bit faster too.
Surprisingly there isn't that much difference between fuel consumptions when used in the same manner.
The 335d is also more expensive to purchase in the first place. Makes the 335i an even easier decision to buy.
@ POST ABOVE RE: 2008 card for £10k?
Have a look at the prices and you'll not see any decent cars at that price for 08 plates. You are looking at older 2006 cars with the high road tax for £10k these days. Prices are heading north.
Surprisingly there isn't that much difference between fuel consumptions when used in the same manner.
The 335d is also more expensive to purchase in the first place. Makes the 335i an even easier decision to buy.
@ POST ABOVE RE: 2008 card for £10k?
Have a look at the prices and you'll not see any decent cars at that price for 08 plates. You are looking at older 2006 cars with the high road tax for £10k these days. Prices are heading north.
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