Hey guys, I've been racking my brain for the last few weeks trying to figure out the best decision to make and have so far been unsuccessful so I'm doing what any reasonable person would: I'm asking the internet!
Here we go:
I've got a FBO e92 335xi with a stage 2 cobb OTS flash tune. I've got no access to ethanol. And I LOVE my car. The only thing I love more than this car is the e92 m3 front end...WANT. Paid off with a clean title in hand.
Here's what I've whittled down my options to:
1) keep my car and when I want more, find access to a fueling solution (anyone in the business of shipping ethanol?) and get new turbos/tune/etc. This is basically a "keep on keepin on" option.
2) sell the car, pay off my student loans, pick up this clean e36 m3 on CL for $7/8k and in a few years get something new (I've grown fond of modern creature comforts like keyless entry and such that the e36 doesn't have due to its age)
3) trade my 335 for an e92 m3, acknowledging that pretty much anything I do to get significantly more power out of the car will cost at least $15/20k
I've seen tons of n54 vs s65 threads lately and I think both have pros/cons...n54 needs fueling and s65 needs $$$$, to oversimplify things. Without turning this into another "which one is better" thread (and I know I'm treading dangerously close to it) I guess I'm asking with pump gas only, and with future modification a likely occurrence, which would you chose? I had to go aftermarket and tune to get the 400ish hp I'm assuming I've got now. An m3 would do that out of the box...but what happens when I want more than that? Not sure which direction to go!
Paying off those student loans sounds pretty tits...if I can deal with an older car. Also, ain't nobody got time for cracking subframes on an e36.
But then I'm looking around for cars and keep seeing these sexy e92 m3s for sale for like $30k...and I'm thinking yeah...I could get on board with that. But then you look into a "fbo" m3 and you're just hemorrhaging $$ to get there. And then you want a supercharger? $15k. TT? more than that. can't hook up the cobb and flash tune it...i can buy a $1000 "chip" for an advertised 40/50hp gain but damn, that seems kinda steep when the cobb was less than that and I get basically unlimited OTS tunes, it's an interface for a pro tune, and I can data log.
I get it, you gotta pay to play, and I'm totally cool with that. I paid for my current mods. And I'd do the same with any car...just...some you gotta pay more. way more.
I'm not going down the "get an integra" path again. I'm pretty much sold on BMWs for the time being. e36, e46 with a true manual (impossible to find), or e92 m3 are all on the table.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Here we go:
I've got a FBO e92 335xi with a stage 2 cobb OTS flash tune. I've got no access to ethanol. And I LOVE my car. The only thing I love more than this car is the e92 m3 front end...WANT. Paid off with a clean title in hand.
Here's what I've whittled down my options to:
1) keep my car and when I want more, find access to a fueling solution (anyone in the business of shipping ethanol?) and get new turbos/tune/etc. This is basically a "keep on keepin on" option.
2) sell the car, pay off my student loans, pick up this clean e36 m3 on CL for $7/8k and in a few years get something new (I've grown fond of modern creature comforts like keyless entry and such that the e36 doesn't have due to its age)
3) trade my 335 for an e92 m3, acknowledging that pretty much anything I do to get significantly more power out of the car will cost at least $15/20k
I've seen tons of n54 vs s65 threads lately and I think both have pros/cons...n54 needs fueling and s65 needs $$$$, to oversimplify things. Without turning this into another "which one is better" thread (and I know I'm treading dangerously close to it) I guess I'm asking with pump gas only, and with future modification a likely occurrence, which would you chose? I had to go aftermarket and tune to get the 400ish hp I'm assuming I've got now. An m3 would do that out of the box...but what happens when I want more than that? Not sure which direction to go!
Paying off those student loans sounds pretty tits...if I can deal with an older car. Also, ain't nobody got time for cracking subframes on an e36.
But then I'm looking around for cars and keep seeing these sexy e92 m3s for sale for like $30k...and I'm thinking yeah...I could get on board with that. But then you look into a "fbo" m3 and you're just hemorrhaging $$ to get there. And then you want a supercharger? $15k. TT? more than that. can't hook up the cobb and flash tune it...i can buy a $1000 "chip" for an advertised 40/50hp gain but damn, that seems kinda steep when the cobb was less than that and I get basically unlimited OTS tunes, it's an interface for a pro tune, and I can data log.
I get it, you gotta pay to play, and I'm totally cool with that. I paid for my current mods. And I'd do the same with any car...just...some you gotta pay more. way more.
I'm not going down the "get an integra" path again. I'm pretty much sold on BMWs for the time being. e36, e46 with a true manual (impossible to find), or e92 m3 are all on the table.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?