Yes he’s on bcbimmers too. Can’t remember his name. Black 128i and a 318ti thats m52 swapped.

I am clearly biased as I had a 128i that I liked a lot, but IMO there is absolutely nothing that is superior about an E46 except the motor in the M3. The chassis in the 128i dominates the E46 chassis in that it is lighter, stiffer, has superior suspension geometry, etc. The 128's N52 motor also beats up on the E46 330 motor as it makes more power, weighs a bunch less, and doesn't have any exploding crank pulley problems when you bump the redline. If the interior materials of an E46 are nicer, it must be offset by the fact they are generally 5-10 years older and would have way more wear and degradation due to age.

Those are not 1 series problems, they are 135i/335i problems (which are the same car). I don't think I've ever heard of a 128i blowing a diff and even the cars that are tracked generally don't need oil coolers unless you want to run 30 minute sessions in Texas in the summer.
We are actually two people... it was my 128i but my friend Rich (with the M52TI) drove it with me at autocross quite a bit.

As you can tell, I liked my car. I had bolt on mods and it made decent power, sounded nice, and was super pleasant to drive. In the 3 years I owned it with lots of autocross and street miles, the single repair the car needed was an overhaul of the PCV system. It's not the best car for every application, but in my opinion if a person is considering an E36 or E46, this car is worth considering and in my opinion, is an easy choice over an E46.

-Mark

Have you actually decided to get a place closer to work? I just remember you talking about buying a place with your parents in Maple Ridge.

That Maple Ridge to Richmond commute is going to suck major balls in terms of fuel cost for a lot of these cars you are looking at. Even at a very conservative 12l/100km you are looking at almost $30 per day in commute costs on a 200km round trip.
For some perspective - my F80 M3 is 13l/100km, my MS3 was about 13l/100km, my NC Miata was about 13l/100km(mostly spirited driving), and my wife's F56 Cooper 3cyl was about 10l/100km. Everything takes premium.

If you don't have to drive clients, screw the back seat. We had a Miata and Mini as his and her cars and it satisfied 95% of our needs. Only time we needed a bigger car was when we bought BIG furniture from Ikea, and that was a once a year occurrence.

I think some one asked what are you looking for in a car? That's probably a better place to start. What exactly do you NEED it to do and fulfill?

I bought the F80 M3 because I needed:
1) manual
2) 4 doors
3) not FWD
4) minimal modding required
I wanted:
1) LSD on driven wheels
2) good seats
3) decent interior
4) new or reliable

There were only a few cars that satisfied my needs: Subaru WRX, Golf R, F80 M3, ATS-V
I was a few signatures away from driving away in a 2017 WRX Sport Tech. At the end of the day, I didn't buy it because I really did not like the seats and there were a few deficiencies that I couldn't get over without having to mod it. I ordered the F80 a few months later.

When I was shopping for the F80, the thought of a S2k + SUV occurred to me and it would cost around the same. But with a S2k I would probably tinker and mod way too much and I wanted to avoid that.

FTFY ��

The RS wasn't on my radar at all. The trust was not there with Ford, I trust them less than BMW or VW lol.

That was directed at OP but okay.

lol

dat suspension setup :sweetjesus:

Your M4 went back to the dealership the second day you got it, noob :lol

This was the one I was mentioning in Type R thread.

I currently have my eye on this one, but SMG :/ but it looks prepped.

https://victoria.craigslist.org/cto/...127570769.html

Have you driven the smg? They’re not bad at all. And the trans is already the 6 speed unit so IIRC you just need a few things like shifter assembly/pedal box/software and you have a manual

I had a sneaking suspicion that you would run back to your old lover no matter how high maintenance she was to you.

What about a s3?

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van...126873800.html

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/rds...110777851.html

Quite frankly (and I might get flamed / failed for saying this), I find the S3 to be rather boring to drive. Don't get me wrong, it is very fast and extremely capable. But from a driver feel point of view, it is very unexciting. My old pos beater Civic with the D17 engine was more fun to drive than these recent gen S3.

My colleague had one and said it was way too small and unpractical, then he upgraded to a s5 sedan

Full disclosure: I did not own an S3 but I do share the same sentiments.

Early on, I went car shopping and boiled my options down to an Audi, either an A3 or S3, or A4/S4 (2017 model year at the time.) Add insult to injury, I bought a Toyota Corolla iM, but this was more circumstantial than anything. :lol

Just sitting in the A3 and S3 was not that great of an experience, and the test drive of both cars further confirmed that it wasn't that great of a car overall. Felt dull in general. The A4 was a big improvement and I enjoyed the vehicle way more. The S4 experience speaks for itself.

The A3/S3 would be good for someone getting into the world of a luxury German vehicle, but perhaps not a great step for someone moving from say an Accord or 3-series.

Didn’t read the whole thing, but what about a ‘15 mustang GT. Starting to drop to mid to high 20’s. A lot of car for that money, just got to be patient and wait for a performance pack one.

TC Kline single adjustables are not exactly the god level setup... when I had the doubles on my E36 they were pretty unremarkable and the swap to ASTs was like having a new car - both more comfortable on the road and FAR better on the track. I legitimately think people fanboi over the TCK stuff only because few have driven on them and something better back to back.

-Mark

Umm yeah they also cost a lot more :shefap:

You mean the AST’s We’re better, arguably one of the greatest suspension manufacturers in the world? Hardly a fair comparison lol

FWIW, TC Kline uses customized Koni shocks for their applications, so whether they are a fair comparison to AST/Moton/Ohlins/JRZ etc. is always an open discussion. I liked my setup, but to lowside67s points, I had nothing to compare to other than Ohlins, but not on an automotive application.

I actually looked into both TC Kline and AST when I was looking for an upgrade. TCK SA comes in at about $2500 USD, AST 5100 (SA) is $2660, AST 5200 (DA) is $4500.

Expensive, but I think the best deal is the SpecE46 kit with MCS SA, Hyperco, GC Race Plates, Hotchikis sways, coming in at $4,374USD

Anyway, I don't think I'll ever buy a VW/Audi. It turns out I'm a lot more brand loyal than I thought. If I wanted fwd, I'd get something Japanese. If I wanted AWD, I'd get a STI or RS before looking at Audi's. Golf R's are great, but just way too common. RWD gotta be BMW or Porsche.

Seems like the market is stale for cars right now. Here's a question: Is there a car that is fun-ish to drive, stick shift, good on gas/takes regular gas?

Prius with V8 sound emulator.

Done.