Hey guys, was a little worried when I couldn't find an introduction section in the forum, glad I found this thread. Anyways, probably a little "TL;DR" but here is my previous car and how I ended up deciding to trade it in for an FR-S!
My previous car was a heavily modded BMW 135i, with the N54 motor, a methanol injection, catless downpipes, full exhaust, tune, etc. Basically full bolt-ons. For anyone not familiar with the car, the 135i is one of the smaller cars in the BMW line-up, part of the lesser-known 1 series. For me, the car was perfect, love at first sight when one of my customers traded it in a little over a year and a half ago.
The N54 is a twin-turbo inline 6, comes stock with 300HP at crank, and is an absolute delight to drive, especially in a platform that only weighs ~3200 lbs. By the time I was finished modding, mine had over 420WHP, and was an 11 second car in the 1/4. I was, and still am proud of my little 1 series.
Fast forward to this month. The wife and I recently closed on our first home. The commute to and from work will be about triple of what it used to be, and DDing the 135i would probably be a nightmare, being that she gets about 14mpg. She suggested that, in light of our mortgage payment which is much higher than our current apartment's rent, we trim the BMW out of my life. Many fits of rage and sorrow ensue.
Well, after spending the majority of yesterday and today lurking the forums on here, and doing my research into the mods this platform has in progress, I can safely say that I believe I will be in good hands. The 1 series does have one flaw, and that is there isn't an enormous aftermarket scene. There are only a few major competitors, only 3 viable aftermarket turbo developers, etc. This platform, wow. Has progressed further in a year than the N54 has since its inception in 2007. Never seen the like. And it dawned on me. I can probably get the FR-S to where my BMW is now, maybe even further if I let the modding community work abit.
So, here I am now. I had my dealership purchase a lightly used White 2013 Scion FR-S from a neighboring Toyota dealership. The car is 6MT, fully loaded with the touchscreen, premium sound, and only 5000 miles, and I bought it wholesale for only $23k. I save money in car payments, double my MPG, lower insurance, pay less for parts, gain a warranty. But most importantly, the wife is happy.
Pictures of my BMW follow:
This is how it looks recently:
Euro Blackline taillights are very nice:
Her "grrrr" face:
All business in the engine bay:
And here is the replacement:
All around, I feel good, especially after driving it. I do miss the power, I do miss being faster than 90% of the modded cars in my town, but after driving the car, I didn't really think so much about killing the next CTS-V I saw, or murdering that M3 from down the street, or shaming that supercharged 5.0 Mustang I've seen in town. I just think...
"...Man, I bet I can totally drift this corner at 50 mph." And, for now, thats enough for me.
Glad to be here, looking forward to my many hours I'm sure I'll spend on this forum.