What car after an E46? Obvious?

E90?

E46 was getting a hair long in the tooth and needed some work when some dumbass (me) totaled it.

Now I need a replacement. Equally sporty but a little more oomph than my 325i would be nice. Needs to be auto and not a death trap so my wife can drive it.

Thinking 07-10 335i. Have had VAG cars so these dont even seem scary in comparison. Also A good friend is parts manager at the local dealer.

Driven a few. Amazing w sports package.

Am I high on the 3's? Are there other things in the 15-17k range that I am missing? Help. Or enable. Either is fine.

Ps: lots of e46 parts fs in 2014 classifieds

A 335D is nice and will get you more mpgs than the 335i. Since they only come in auto, it won't feel so bad, but it's still a letdown if you ever autocross it, or want to row through the gears yourself. The same generation CTS is probably worth looking at, too.

I autocross with the BMWCCA here in San Diego, I've seen a 335D win 6S which is the 6cylinder stock class automatic 335i vs 335d I wouldn't put the D as far behind as you might think and its got stump pulling torque you will feel everytime you drive it.

I only autocrossed it, so I don't know how good it is as a street car. It's probably great on the street where the slow automatic doesn't hamper performance much. The torque is great, but it strangely felt like a gas powered car at WOT.

I'm kindof in the same place. Wifey has an E46 325XiT wagon and it's creeping up on 140k and while I've kept up on all the maintenance and upgraded some stuff... she depends on a 10yr old, 140k car for her job - which is driving around intensive.

I do not want any of the odd jelly bean shapes BMW was kicking out between the E46 and now. They drive like slightly more portly BMWs as long as you don't get the active/electric stuff but I would never get out of the car and while walking away... just sort of glance back at it's awesomeness like I have with E30,36,46 cars. I find them to be awkwardly styled and the driving dynamics don't make up for ugly like extra effort does for a stripper.

The new F30 chassis cars look great to me though. So, now I have to wait longer until they depreciate into my sweet spot. Maybe I'll just keep the E46. It is a brilliant car and there isn't anything wrong with it... but I'll catch a E36 M3storm the first time it costs her a gig because something suddenly is (she has been hinting at newer hardware for a while and I keep putting it off).

335d's are just a little too much $. Anything that costs as much as a nice, new Jetta will land me in one. My wife likes them too much to avoid. I am really shopping sub 15k but can push a little bit.

I hear you on the styling, but I don't find it quite that objectionable. I think the front of the F30's look a hair awkward, grilles are just a hair too wide. The update (09+) cars I think are the best of the group by far, but I get to pick one of those with high mileage or an older, lower mile pre-facelift.

Unfortunately for me I did the whole cooling system, brakes, four (good) tires, new sports struts, control arms, etc in the last year. Now I don't get to reap the benefits. Still a lot of work that was to be done, but nothing crazy. Still waiting to see what the buyback is, but I wouldn't bother fixing it, body is too dorked up to bother.

G35? CTSV.. That is where I would look.

Maybe a Lexus IS350?

wildcard Dodge charger SRT8?

This list should be relavent to your interests: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-quickest-sedans-of-2008-30000-to-40000-2008-dodge-charger-srt8-page-11

996?

Infiniti G37

That'd get you a super clean Corrado VR6. hehe.

E47

Sorry to hear about the car. I'm in my 3rd e46 now. First a wagon, then a ZHP and now another ZHP. My current one has ~148k on it, virtually all of which was there when I (recently) bought it. They really are great cars.

You could find a nice, very clean e46 330i ZHP well within your price range, especially since you want an auto. My current ZHP came with a 3.46 LSD installed, which makes the car feel much quicker.

Here are a bunch of options: http://nashville.craigslist.org/cto/4877491158.html
http://ithaca.craigslist.org/cto/4872419036.html
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/4873687912.html
http://www.delawarevalleymotors.com/inventorymanager.php?action=view&Id=533057#
http://www.zhpmafia.com/forums/showthread.php?15014-2005-ZHP-AT-Mystic-Blue-Black-Not-mine

Wife wanted something newer so we dumped off her E46 330i ZHP for a 2011 335i auto with pretty much every package. Got it out of warranty with 62k miles for $23k.

It's got a huge amount of power, just ridiculous amounts, but it definitely is more of a grand tourer than the ZHP was. She loves it though. I've gotta admit that it is pretty damned nice.

She doesn't drive many miles a year which is why I didn't bother with a warranty car since to get one CPO is closer to $30k. I wanted a newer car with the 8 speed auto, but again $30k. I don't mind the E46, but they are getting long in the tooth which is why we went to the 335.

E46 M3?

I'm just a fan of the e82's so that's my suggestion if you can do a 2 door.

Thanks for the G35/37 and the IS350, those seem like good ones to check out.

No coupes. Have to drive two kids to school a few days a week and they need to be able to GTFO themselves.

Thanks for the +1 on the 335i, doesn't sound too far off what I want. The other options are likely to be lower maintenance.. I'd think. Mine is 4dr, sport, premium, cold weather, xenons, and don't want to give any of that up. A lower mile E46 ZHP could work, but the 335's aren't much more at all, and it seems like more car for the $.

We have only had the car a few months at this point so I can't speak to maintenance at this point, but we do like the car in general.

I'll sell you my E46 325i.

I've got experience with owning an E46 (03 325i) and an E90 (06 325i) both at the same time. I see the pros and cons of each model, but my impression is the E90- is a better car in most ways, especially the drivetrain. The N52 3.0 is a good motor and gets decent mpg for the amount of performance. The 2.5 in the E46 is geared shorter to give roughly the same amount of acceleration as the 3.0 in the E90 but at the cost of a few mpgs and a little more frenetic feel. I think the interior of the E46 is a nicer quality and just has a more 'BMW' feel. I think the E90 interior is more 'generic'. Of course both of my cars are relative base models, so an E46 330 model is probably closer to the low end E90 325 but with a nicer interior.

unevolved wrote: I'll sell you my E46 325i.

PM me or email me at kandpperformance at gmail dot com Hopefully it has an N54 in it for the best of both worlds?

Got two E46 zhp's to check this weekend. Just in case I get nostalgic soon.

If anyone might want a parts car that runs and drives pm or email me. Getting the buyback price tomorrow.

Paul_VR6 wrote:

unevolved wrote: I'll sell you my E46 325i.

PM me or email me at kandpperformance at gmail dot com Hopefully it has an N54 in it for the best of both worlds?

You've got mail. No N54, it's still the original engine.

having an n54 335i, I would recommend a 335i with the n55. THe n54 has some well documented issues that pretty much every car will have (wastegate issues, HPFP, injectors), but luckily BMW is good about covering these issues. As far as I know the n55 seemed to have eliminated a lot of these issues. I have had the turbos, HPFP, injectors, coil packs, and ecu replaced all at the cost of BMW. Haven't had any issues since. I am very affraid of the day when these are no longer under warranty. Until then my jb4, dopwn pipes/exhaust, and FMIC make the car very fun all the time.

Drove the G37, meh. Only IS350 I could find was one I tuned a few months back. Feels good with 650whp, probably not as fun with less.

Honing in on 09 cars so I can get facelift with the N54. By now seems like all cars have gotten through their nag lists (hpfp, coils, etc).

Debating x-drive.. may help me avoid more telephone poles in the future.

SWMBO still wants a Jetta instead.

Swmbo got me a Jetta

'15 se w connectivity. Its not bad. Not the ultimate driving machine but good enough.

Shrug.