BRZ limited or 07 BMW 335i coupe?

[mokinbird87]

I`ve had it with all these stupid california stealerships marking up the BRZ for over $3000. the 335i hits all the check boxes for me, minus the fuel economy and high insurance cost (maintenance would probably be a bit more as well). I`ll be trading in my wrx so I must say having power would be nice, although BRZ makes enough power for me and the lack of it makes up for in the fuel economy department. For a similar or less amount of money, I can have a fully loaded twin turbo BMW which has potential everywhere if i decide to mod. but I really do like the BRZ's philosophy and design, and most importantly I dont want to look like 'another guy' with a BMW 3-series (it's like a civic here.. so ubiquitous).

[xDBOYx]

this is the same dilemma i had, i ended up with a BRZ Limited... dont know what you're looking for in a car or what you plan to do with it.. but because of the maintaince cost and prices of mods for the BMW, that tiped the scale for me..

[cnk]

^ +1

Made the same decision last year as well. Decided on the BRZ Ltd because of cost of ownership of BMW's and the horror stories you hear about issues. Seems that if you're lucky and have no issues, you love them, but if you have any issues. . .it's costly and time consuming to repair. I didn't want to deal with it.

[ericvanderwoodsen]

Same for me, love the 335i with the right power, geat ride, the luxury. The BRZ won me over with the looks, how it'll be the next Supra, Rx7 aka sought after tuner car which will keep resale up. Plus how easy it is to mod and cost of mods too because bimmer parts are $$$.

But I paid MRSP so I can see your side very well with them over pricing

[Lonewolf]

Originally Posted by mokinbird87

I`ve had it with all these stupid california stealerships marking up the BRZ for over $3000. the 335i hits all the check boxes for me, minus the fuel economy and high insurance cost (maintenance would probably be a bit more as well). I`ll be trading in my wrx so I must say having power would be nice, although BRZ makes enough power for me and the lack of it makes up for in the fuel economy department. For a similar or less amount of money, I can have a fully loaded twin turbo BMW which has potential everywhere if i decide to mod. but I really do like the BRZ's philosophy and design, and most importantly I dont want to look like 'another guy' with a BMW 3-series (it's like a civic here.. so ubiquitous).

Will the 335i have any kind of warranty? My family has learned the hard way about BMW's out of warranty....

Be sure the the fuel pump is updated to the latest version before you sign anything. The 335i is a fun, powerful cruiser, and I love the looks of it...just watch out for the ownership costs....

[fatoni]

Originally Posted by mokinbird87

I`ve had it with all these stupid california stealerships marking up the BRZ for over $3000. the 335i hits all the check boxes for me, minus the fuel economy and high insurance cost (maintenance would probably be a bit more as well). I`ll be trading in my wrx so I must say having power would be nice, although BRZ makes enough power for me and the lack of it makes up for in the fuel economy department. For a similar or less amount of money, I can have a fully loaded twin turbo BMW which has potential everywhere if i decide to mod. but I really do like the BRZ's philosophy and design, and most importantly I dont want to look like 'another guy' with a BMW 3-series (it's like a civic here.. so ubiquitous).

just get the frs then. seems like it solves your markup problem. they are cars with two very different philosophies. if you can go either way, flip a coin. if not, dont settle (settling for the objectively better car sounds kinda funny).

[Ganthrithor]

I was stuck for a while trying to decide between a BRZ and a 135i (similar enough to the 335 that I imagine the scenario is p much identical).

In the end I went for the BRZ since I figured what I'll lose in depreciation on the BRZ over the next few years I would have lost in mods to the 135 anyway (it drives so much nicer with a revised suspension / wheels / tires that I don't think I could have put those mods off for long, and I would have considered a Dinan exhaust entirely non-optional). Since you'll never get the cost of your mods back when selling a car, I figured the money-pit factor would be pretty similar for both cars, with the exception of maintenance stuff.

I figured just keeping a BMW supplied with things like tires and brakes would be considerably more expensive, and god forbid anything went seriously awry with a 135 because that would get expensive very quickly. My VW is expensive enough to work on and its a German econo-box.

In the end, I figured the BRZ would cost me a lot less to run (you literally only have to replace tires for the first three years, and they're the same size tires as my GTI-- aka inexpensive) and I wouldn't have to worry about it blowing up on me. It's always worring buying a used car, especially a 135 as they seem to be a real spoiled rich-kid's plaything / drag car. I was really worried about how hard most of them would have been flogged. Maybe that's not as big of a problem with the 335 since I suppose that caters to a more mature demographic, but it was a worry nonetheless.

I also decided that the BRZ would probably be better for my long-term health, since the N54-powered BMWs are so ridiculously fast / capable, especially once you've sorted the suspension out. I've driven a pretty heavily modified 135 quite a bit, and it's wicked fun and wicked fast, but jesus-- saying its hard not to speed in that car is a gross understatement. Its really easy to end up doing 90 on the freeway by accident, but the really unnerving thing is how the car tends to goad you into going incredibly quickly on back roads. We've got one really twisty section of road that runs through the foothills in my hometown that's a 35 zone marked for 15-25 mph corners and the car just wants to do 40+ through the corners and wants to hit 80 between some of them. It's kind if ridiculous.

It's not a problem of car control (I'm pretty comfortable with this aspect-- especially on roads I know well-- and the car handles wonderfully), the problem is other drivers-- people just do all kinds of boneheaded shit on the road. When you're zipping around at those speeds it just creates huge differentials between your speed and those around you, and other people just don't seem to be able to grasp what's going on. In addition to it becoming very difficult to react to normal idiocy (people on the wrong side / slopping across the road around blind corners, etc) you start getting lots of people who will, for example, pull up to a junction with the road you're on, come to a stop, look directly at you, see you bearing down on them at 60 mph, and then pull their Prius out into the road 150 feet in front of you doing 15 mph. It happens to me all the time. I don't think most people actually try to interpret speeds on the road-- they just look at distances and assume you're driving whatever speed they usually drive and estimate things accordingly.

Hmm. BMW problems.

Anyway, long story short I thought it would be better to buy a car that would be worry-free, cheaper to maintain, and would be fun to drive at saner speeds, so I went with the BRZ. I know for a fact that I will miss the sounds and that absolutely monstrous engine (420ft/lbs never gets old) -- not to mention the straightforward but high-quality cabin-- but I also know from driving my GTI and a few other cars I get to drive on occasion that it's also very rewarding to drive something that you can absolutely hammer on a regular basis, and the BRZ seems like that kind of car. You should still be able to steer it on the throttle all day long, but when Prius guy pulls out 100 feet ahead of you you'll just peel off 10-15 mph, get slightly aggravated, and not really care instead of having to threshold-brake and wonder about why the world keeps trying to kill you.

[Black Tire]

I have owned BMW's for 17 years and my FR-S for 9+ months. Cost of ownership for BMW's was probably about double when they were running well. Also, the 335i is a newer generation of 3-series that I put in the "big, heavy and floaty" category. Parts are bigger and heavier (and more, well "BMW"), so mods will be more expensive. Also, despite the two turbos, there is quite a bit of turbo lag in the 335i; this is especially a problem with the automatic. Also, when the BMW electronic gizmos go bad (and eventually they will), it will cost you $$$$$$$$.

I would go with the BRZ unless you need the size and space offered by the 335i.

[Mango22]

Just google HPFP issues... It's been an issue with the N54 engine from 07 to 09 or 2000. I think they use the N55 engine now but the HPFP is still an issue on that engine too.

Actually you should go to Bimmerpost.com and check out the recall/issue section on this car. I had an 2008 135i and had no issues with my HPFP, so you might get lucky. The 08 135 has the same engine as the 07 335, but I would give major consideration to the mileage and wear and tear on the 07 BMW and warranty left on that car (extended warranty?). BMWs are a blast until you have to get stuff fixed, out of warranty $$$$.

[Ganthrithor]

Originally Posted by Mango22

Just google HPFP issues... It's been an issue with the N54 engine from 07 to 09 or 2000. I think they use the N55 engine now but the HPFP is still an issue on that engine too.

Actually you should go to Bimmerpost.com and check out the recall/issue section on this car. I had an 2008 135i and had no issues with my HPFP, so you might get lucky. The 08 135 has the same engine as the 07 335, but I would give major consideration to the mileage and wear and tear on the 07 BMW and warranty left on that car (extended warranty?). BMWs are a blast until you have to get stuff fixed, out of warranty $$$$.

This probably is worth looking into-- at least see how many pumps the previous owner has been through. I think they eventually fixed the issue, but IIRC our 135 went through 3 pumps before they found a working one.

With regard to turbo lag, it's definitely noticeable at lower RPMs, but I've found that it's very manageable if you wring the engine out. At high revs you can still feel it, but it's not too intrusive. You adapt to it pretty quickly with seat time. Also that building surge feeling from low RPMs is addictive.

[Mango22]

Originally Posted by Ganthrithor

This probably is worth looking into-- at least see how many pumps the previous owner has been through. I think they eventually fixed the issue, but IIRC our 135 went through 3 pumps before they found a working one.

I also found this, which may help on his buying an 07

BMW has addressed the issue and will cover the HPFP for 10 years/120,000-miles under warranty (above and beyond the standard 4 year/50,000-mile limited New Vehicle warranty). The 2007-2009 E9x models are included.

[DSOmegaX]

Have you looked out of state? I know plenty of people who recently have bought their cars at invoice and actually even lower, and just had their cars either shipped back to so cal or they drove it back themselves. I personally got mine from Oregon for 1k under MSRP.

[DeepHunta]

Sorry man. I'd ditch the BRZ and get the Bimmer in a hearbeat.

The only thing that would return me to BRZ is the maintenance cost for german cars. YUCK!

But remember, 300 hp on the rear wheels!

[Ganthrithor]

Originally Posted by DeepHunta

But remember, 300 hp on the rear wheels!

...without a tune. :P