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I re-read your initial request - lease a fun car and turn it in well-used at the end. For $800 a month you could enjoy something special and walk away at the end. Look at the deals BMW is offering:
I still intend to drive one, but the idea of a 4 door auto is not appealing enough to me to take on a car payment. I need to really gel with the car. Maybe it will happen.
Originally Posted by UnknownJinX
No manual option is a deal breaker for the 2.5T 6.
Honda Accord has a 6-speed option for both base 1.5T and higher power 2.0T engines.
Except that you can't find one, other than special order. I have saved searches. None have come up that would interest me.
Originally Posted by Nopstnz
How about an RX7? Come on, we all know you'll want to come back.
I did, after over a decade.
I'll never say never, but I don't see it without weird circumstances.
Originally Posted by wannawankel
I re-read your initial request - lease a fun car and turn it in well-used at the end. For $800 a month you could enjoy something special and walk away at the end. Look at the deals BMW is offering:
Eh. That's about $300 more per month (plus accompanying insurance) than I was thinking. I can get an M235i with low miles for under $500 per month. I'm going to look at a 2016 with 12K miles tomorrow afternoon. Sadly, it's an auto, but I'm willing to consider that compromise for the convenience of my wife being able to drive it.
In other news, the E46 crapped out on me due to shoddy workmanship by the shop that built it, and it is an absolute BITCH to work on compared to any given Mazda. Absolutely everything takes at least 4x as long. DAMMIT!!!
"In other news, the E46 crapped out on me due to shoddy workmanship by the shop that built it, and it is an absolute BITCH to work on compared to any given Mazda. Absolutely everything takes at least 4x as long. DAMMIT!!!"
^ They reassembled the entire drivetrain finger tight and never went back and torqued any of the bolts. Amazingly, it stayed together for one session, when I took it out to shake it down. (More amazingly, it was faster than the RX-8.) When I took it out again a few weeks later, I felt something shudder in the drivetrain, pulled into the pits, and found the center support bearing to have fallen down and eaten itself. When I got it up on jack stands in the garage, absolutely every nut or bolt I touched was loose. So, now I get to do the back or engine work (they didn't do that either), replace the clutch and flywheel, replace the front lower control arms (ball joints don't like to be loose), re-pin and re-seal the transmission, rebuild the shifter, and otherwise go through the entire car with torque wrenches.
Also... of the 12 bolts holding the driver seat in, 7 were loose. Of the 8 bolts holding the passenger seat in, 4 were loose. Many were not the proper grade, and some had been cut to fit. One of the backing plates for the harness was rubbing a fuel line. It's a mess. So much for buy and drive.
^ They reassembled the entire drivetrain finger tight and never went back and torqued any of the bolts. Amazingly, it stayed together for one session, when I took it out to shake it down. (More amazingly, it was faster than the RX-8.) When I took it out again a few weeks later, I felt something shudder in the drivetrain, pulled into the pits, and found the center support bearing to have fallen down and eaten itself. When I got it up on jack stands in the garage, absolutely every nut or bolt I touched was loose. So, now I get to do the back or engine work (they didn't do that either), replace the clutch and flywheel, replace the front lower control arms (ball joints don't like to be loose), re-pin and re-seal the transmission, rebuild the shifter, and otherwise go through the entire car with torque wrenches.
Also... of the 12 bolts holding the driver seat in, 7 were loose. Of the 8 bolts holding the passenger seat in, 4 were loose. Many were not the proper grade, and some had been cut to fit. One of the backing plates for the harness was rubbing a fuel line. It's a mess. So much for buy and drive.
look like you need to take their stickers off the car
Did you get around to test driving the M235i ?
Consider the auto option carefully... I did that once with a 335i. Nice car, but never felt worth the expense as an auto. In retrospect I think I would have enjoyed a manual 328i more :-D
In other news, I did go look at that 2016 M235i Auto with 12K miles, and it turned out to be a manual with 13K miles. And I bought it for under $30K, after the most difficult car negotiation I have ever been through. I walked away from it 3 times over 3 days, but they finally came around. Pics as soon as I pick it up, which might be next Saturday. This is why I normally buy from individuals.
I drove several more cars and kept coming back to the M235. I'll write up my impressions of those when I have time.
Originally Posted by Loki
Nice! That's a good choice and worthy successor. And like now you don't have to use turn indicators or stop at stop signs. Everything is better.
I know right?! The only real question here is how long it will take me to transmogrify into a typical BMW owner. Although... Does the 2 series really qualify as a Bimmer? Isn't it more of a poor man's wanna-be lower-case bimmer?
Anyway, I won't mind stopping at stop signs, because I have 332 ft/lbs of torque that come on at 1,300 RPM to get going again.
Originally Posted by wannawankel
Congrats on the M235
Thanks! Should be fun!
Last edited by Steve Dallas; Sep 16, 2019 at 11:04 AM.
I plan to write a complete review and comparison to the RX-8 in a new post. When I find the time, that is.
I know I said this car would never see the track, but it came with nearly gone PSS tires, so I took it to the track for a few laps to kill them off. It was 4 seconds faster than my RX-8 was, and I was barely trying. Wow.
I felt like I needed a 'new' car and had a think about what I'd like . Was thinking something under 100k that looks as good and would perform as well as my turbo 8 .
I ended up buying this :
My original plan was to turbo this one as well but after driving it around for a while I kinda like it as is ! I'm in the process of restoring it back to mint condition and really enjoying it ..apart from the bruised knuckles!
I plan to write a complete review and comparison to the RX-8 in a new post. When I find the time, that is.
I know I said this car would never see the track, but it came with nearly gone PSS tires, so I took it to the track for a few laps to kill them off. It was 4 seconds faster than my RX-8 was, and I was barely trying. Wow.
I dont think Australia even got manual versions of that car,
I plan to write a complete review and comparison to the RX-8 in a new post. When I find the time, that is.
I know I said this car would never see the track, but it came with nearly gone PSS tires, so I took it to the track for a few laps to kill them off. It was 4 seconds faster than my RX-8 was, and I was barely trying. Wow.
I just love the fact that you took it on track so soon :-D
Congrats on the new car.
I just love the fact that you took it on track so soon :-D
Congrats on the new car.
Yeah, and I shouldn't have. I was afraid it would be awesome, and then I would be tempted to make it more awesome, and then I would spend a lot of money. Parts 1 & 2 have transpired. The temptation to execute part 3 is very strong. Fortunately, the E46 has sapped all my car upgrade money for the foreseeable future.
This is a very cool car, but it is no RX-8. Except for being "sporty," it is almost the opposite of an RX-8, in fact. I'll explain when I find time to write that review.
Yeah, and I shouldn't have. I was afraid it would be awesome, and then I would be tempted to make it more awesome, and then I would spend a lot of money. Parts 1 & 2 have transpired. The temptation to execute part 3 is very strong. Fortunately, the E46 has sapped all my car upgrade money for the foreseeable future.
This is a very cool car, but it is no RX-8. Except for being "sporty," it is almost the opposite of an RX-8, in fact. I'll explain when I find time to write that review.
The only way to cure (3) is to take another car on track and have fun in it and then use the sensible side of your brain to remind yourself more why the new BMW is your fun street car and not a track car. (think about the cost of tires, brakes and other parts...)
The hard part is, you got too good a street car :-D
The only way to cure (3) is to take another car on track and have fun in it and then use the sensible side of your brain to remind yourself more why the new BMW is your fun street car and not a track car. (think about the cost of tires, brakes and other parts...)
The hard part is, you got too good a street car :-D
Amusingly, one of my students at a recent BMW CCA track day blamed all his poor driving on his "mooshy booshings" rather than his obvious lack of talent. It turns out, "mooshy booshings" is a thing. This car will do amazing things and pull more lateral Gs than a stock RX-8 (0.98 vs. 0.80), but you don't really feel it doing those amazing things. Intellectually, you know it is happening, and the car is stupid fast, but emotionally, you feel like you are just playing Forza in 3D with delayed G forces, which means significant timing adjustments need to be made. At least 3 reasons why are oil-filled bushings throughout, sound deadening overkill, and a numb electric steering rack.
The car is so quiet, that I forget to shift on the street. I have been programmed since the age of 12 to shift on cues from the sound of the engine and exhaust and the feel of the drivetrain. This car damps all of that so much, that I have to force myself to pay attention. It might take a while to get used to that...
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Last edited by Steve Dallas; Sep 26, 2019 at 08:33 PM.
Late to thread. I vote for Volvo, could try to find a Polestar.
You have hit upon my son's favorite car. Unfortunately, I have become a double Bimmer owner. Soon, very soon, I will likely embody all things Bimmer owner and shun all use of turn signals.
I took a mental-health-half-day-off-because-beautiful-weather yesterday and washed and waxed it. All 335 ft-lbs of torque of it.
In addition to torque numbers, the M235i beats the RX-8 in the number of silly homages to its heritage it wears. The RX-8 is adorned with 768 triangle-shaped thingies. The M235i, while not being an actual M car, wears no fewer than 1492 M insignia in various places.
Just stumbled upon this thread. Congrats Steve. I've been away from the forums for a while now. No idea you sold your 8. I bet you're missing it. Ironically I just bought Another Spirit R. That's what got me back on the forum 😂 Looking forward to the full review! Congrats again and enjoy the whip.
