335i is an amazing car. I've wondered if it isn't the best overall car ever made (styling aside). The level to which they've brought the quality of the 3 series, the entry model, is a amazing. Basically, you get the performance of a 996 911 in a 4-door sedan with the appointments of a 7-series (though on a smaller scale), all for around $40K. The car is smooth and quiet, and the ride is amazing for the handling. If you can't tell, I'm sold on the car. It will probably be my next. Just a thought...you should look into European delivery. When I did my drive, I was surprised to see that the base Euro-delivery price for a sedan is only $35,900. I, personally, would only need the sport package on top of that, as I would go for the Alpine White, and I've heard the vinyl seats look and wear great. With Euro-delivery, I'm sure you could negotiate a nice lease deal.

 

IM not familiar with Euro delivery...

What exactly is it and its differnace from a regular car/purchase

 

I know what u mean.

Wise choice on the 335i btw. I think u will like it more, and it fits u better. Plus, u can run me in the M and we can finally put the debate about which is faster to rest.

 

^ No difference except that you have to go to Germany to take initial delivery of the car. You get to play with it on the Continent for as long as you like and then drop it off at a BMW center (my understanding is that they're all over Europe), and they ship the car over to the States for you. There's no additional cost for this, I believe. Some may chime in re. the cost of the trip to Europe, but you should go there anyway (certainly if you have the $$$ to buy a new $30K+ car).

 

I do all I can to resist stopping at the BMW dealer I pass most days on the way to work for a test drive. I have a feeling resistance may be futile after I do so!

Only prob. is that I can't get rid of the truck, and I don't think it would be a satisfactory replacement for the S2000, so I'd have to talk the wife into it displacing her Jetta TDI - but surprisingly enough, she LOVES that car and isn't that enthusiastic about letting it go. (it's a cool car, but no 335i on the fun factor)

 

Best car ever made. Resistance is futile.

 

Just an update for you guys,

I started looking at the 335i coupe, and it was JUST out of my comfortable price range. I could stretch the money but the next few years of my life are to be big ones , atleasti think, so i diddnt want to end up tight.

I checked out there 499 a month lease deal, but it required $3.5K down, and you only got 10k miles a year. So yea, F THAT.

I kinda gave up on the idea.Then I stumbled onto a european delivery site, rememberd bjohnston talking about it, and went in to take a look. IF your capable of "ED", which means having a job that allows you to leave the country and the patience to wait a couple of months for the car whle paying for it, the savings are huge.

People are paying 1k over invoice, thats huge. I wont get into the details of it, because your all internet savy. I just came to update and say im AIMING at the 335i at this moment, but the prospect of paying so little for a car and getting to visit germany means that id even settle for the new 328i coupe.

Ill keep you posted... Im gonna go check out the shifter on the bimmer and see how it feels. Im gonna also try out the paddle shifters ( which i REALLY dont want, but if the manu is HORRIBLE, then ill consider it.)

THANKS TO THOSE THAT RECOMEND THE BIMMER,AND TO BJOHNSTON FOR MENTIONING EURO DELIERY! I MIGHT BE DRIVING MY NEXT CAR ON THE RING AND ON THE BAHN!

 

Funny, I cruised around with some other cars the other day and had an STi owner ride with me. He kept on ranting about how solid the S felt, how much he missed a RWD platform.

 

FWIW the Evo X will have a different engine other than the proven 4g63...something called the 4b11t. i wouldn't jump on it so fast as its aftermarket will take time to grow, and plus if it aint broken (4g63 is not even maxed out in terms of potential yet IMHO) why fix it?

the 335i is a great idea IMHO. a little side note; a tune only will land u about 320-340whp and 340-370wtq on pump gas....wait till some bolt-on's come out and see what happens of course i'd wait to see how reliable the 335i with that power output will be, but at this point it's pretty promising.

good luck to ur decision. i personally, from everything u've described, believe the 335i to be the better car for you relative to the evo/sti. however keep in mind that the 328/335 will most likely be all over the streets pretty soon as well

 

i personally drove my friends STI and my brother evo quiet often. sti somes with 6speed as a base model while evo's the MR. i kind of liked the short shifter feeling on the sti shifters but then again its just personal preference. STI does have a lot more torque down low... so for daily driving/ hill climbing sti would be easier to drive without spooling the turbo. Evo's have a pretty big turbo spike .. 8] which is sort of a good thing.

coming from a s2000, i'll say you'll like the evo's steering a lot better than sti's. (btw the sti is 2005 and evo is 2006).

im just providing some information from my personal experience. but since 335i came in the picture, it just gets tougher to choose.

good luck with whatever decision you make =]