What to replace a 2009 BMW 335i with?

RussZS

RussZS

RussZS

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23 Jan 2006
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I have a 59 plate LCI BMW 335i E90 Saloon and I am looking to replace it shortly. It was my first BMW (always had hot hatches previously) and love the way it handles but the traction in the wet (its running around 370bhp with a Stage 1 tune) is frustrating at times.

Ideally my next car would be:

- Around 400bhp
- Automatic
- Room for a child seat (I have a 6 month old but he only goes in once per week tops)
- Possibly 4WD but something with decent handling/feedback

Budget is £30-40k and nothing older than 3-4 years or so.

I have looked at Audi S4 (3.0 TFSI) which can be tuned up from 333PS to 450-490 depending on mods, and with the upgraded dampers appears to handle pretty well. MRC have told me that putting some ARB's on will make it better too and in Avant form its plenty big, but I'm not sure if its overly subtle.

335D X Drive is an option too (400hp with a FMIC and remap) but not sure if I will miss the petrol noise - never had a diesel before.

A45 is too small boot wise for me.

What else would you look at please?
 
Yes I agree its why I haven't swapped it for one I think, plus the newer shape it out very soon with a newly designed engine.

Do you have any thoughts on the 340i? Again, totally new engine apparently and not very tuneable, essentially two of the 1.5's put together.

The N54 in mine is a peach of an engine, but its on 70k now which I know is nothing really but feels high.

I would really like an F80 M3 but they're out of budget at the moment.
 
Cleisthenes said:
Is a 6 series gran coupe of interest?
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I drove a 640D and it felt way too big to me. I was a huge fan of interior build and the spec on the one I tried was amazing but just a bit too big for me.

mjt said:
Have you considered an Alpina?

B3 3.0 Bi-Turbo has 404bhp... Next best thing to an out-of-budget M3..
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifi...oon-b3-3-0-bi-turbo-4dr-switch-tronic/4856894

D5 (dirty diesel though)
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifi...cation-with-only-one-owner-and-fbmwsh/4751912
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I didn't know the B3 existed - thanks, I'll take a look at that.

iaind said:
C63 AMG?
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A little too thirsty and the few I've driven its a bit of an animal so I think the traction issue would be worse. I do about 10k a year and mine is around early-mid 30's most of the time but C63's seem to be in the teens

The noise is amazing though
 
I was in the same position as you in the past. I sold my 335i and just could not find anything in the price range that was better so ended up buying another 335i.

Maybe a RS5 or RS6?
 
Dr House said:
I was in the same position as you in the past. I sold my 335i and just could not find anything in the price range that was better so ended up buying another 335i.

Maybe a RS5 or RS6?
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They are very good cars and nothing touches it near £15k

Previous gen (C6?) RS6 looks very dated to me now and new one is out of budget. RS5 looks great but not a fan of that NA engine tbh.

I could maybe look at downpipes and all of the other bits on mine but I've had it two years now so fancy a change.

S6 has caught my eye - 4.0 TFSI and 550i too which is a smaller turbo'd M5 engine.

I know I can get M5/6 in the money but the nice ones are £50k+
 
RussZS said:
Do you have any thoughts on the 340i?
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I have tried so hard to like the F30 - they are good value, the running costs are very appealing, the specifications are excellent - but I just cannot. They've ruined it by giving it essentially the same dash as 1 Series so I just can't get over that.

For this sort of money you could get a wonderful 550i. Not as bonkers as the 5 but probably closer to your requirements - just over 400bhp.

There is actually a '61 plate one on the BMW AUC site right now for £25k...
 
mjt said:
£30-40k would get you a nice 2015 BMW 535i M Sport...
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This is very true and interestingly there seem to be quite a few 2015 535i M Sport's around - enough for there to be a choice of colours and options.

No idea why, the older ones are like hens teeth!

If you pick a grey or silver one with wood trim then I'll buy it off you in 3 years time ;)
 
[TW]Fox;28884104 said:
I have tried so hard to like the F30 - they are good value, the running costs are very appealing, the specifications are excellent - but I just cannot. They've ruined it by giving it essentially the same dash as 1 Series so I just can't get over that.

For this sort of money you could get a wonderful 550i. Not as bonkers as the 5 but probably closer to your requirements - just over 400bhp.

There is actually a '61 plate one on the BMW AUC site right now for £25k...
Click to expand...

They will remap to around 500bhp too which is plenty isn't it.

I have been watching 550i's.

I know I'm contradicting myself a bit on this thread - AWD/RWD, then I dislike then like the same engine in RS5 and RS4 :confused:

550i is a great car IMO, great price, great spec, great power and won't be targeted for theft like M/RS cars, but perhaps a bit bland looking.

I am not far from Knights so will pop up and take a look
 
It's very well priced IMO - they usually get advertised for stupid money. There are two others, a 62 plate at 30 grand and a beige (yes, really) 2010 SE for only £1k less...

I've heard interesting things on the US forums about the reliability of that engine but you'd probably be able to negotiate 2 years warranty so probably not a real concern.
 
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