Switching from bmw 335i coupe to GTI...will I regret it?

hpowders said:

That sucks!I thought BMW finally fixed this.

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Me too. I was very close last year to buying a CPO 2007 loaded 335i coupe, with 27K miles. Alas, the carfax report is what swayed me...

• Whole fuel pump system replaced at 10k
• Again at 20k
• Turbos replaced at 25k

McQueen77 said:

Which means you either put a sizable down payment or financed it for a long long time?

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I had a trade in worth about $2k and I put an extra 10? on it. Had saved up for a while. I wanted to keep the monthly payment low, its how I set up my budget. The GTI I bought was actually a tad more than I wanted to spend on a car.

Worked out though, because even though I got 1.9 financing over 5 years I'm not making much money in my savings or stocks. So far I've actually taken less of a money hit than if I had invested it instead of put it down on the car, lol.

I've rebuilt my savings account since then, got it all back. This is so I can eventually buy a house and a toy car (like a 90's 911 or something) in the near future.

johnny_p said:

I had a trade in worth about $2k and I put an extra 10? on it. Had saved up for a while. I wanted to keep the monthly payment low, its how I set up my budget. The GTI I bought was actually a tad more than I wanted to spend on a car.

Worked out though, because even though I got 1.9 financing over 5 years I'm not making much money in my savings or stocks. So far I've actually taken less of a money hit than if I had invested it instead of put it down on the car, lol.

I've rebuilt my savings account since then, got it all back. This is so I can eventually buy a house and a toy car (like a 90's 911 or something) in the near future.

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Sounds like you've got your stuff together man, nicely done. I do wonder though if you could have invested the $10k and made more off the interest than paying down the car that fast with such a great finance rate? Of course what does one invest in now days?... I bought almost 50 shares of Apple when the recession hit and it was only $98/share. Sold a year ago when we bought my wife a new ride...kicking myself for selling too soon. I could have quadrupled my money with what it's at now...

:threadjacked:

MuteWhoa said:

Me too. I was very close last year to buying a CPO 2007 loaded 335i coupe, with 27K miles. Alas, the carfax report is what swayed me...

• Whole fuel pump system replaced at 10k
• Again at 20k
• Turbos replaced at 25k

Click to expand...

I bought a CPO 2007 328i several years ago because of the HPFP scare and it's been trouble free, but I really wanted the power of the 335i. The 328i was my second choice. The car is comfortable, but a little boring. The GTI should be the next one in 2013.

owned both

It might be crazy but I like the GTI more than the BMW 335i. My GTI has an ARP Tune and other tasty add ones. This car has it all. Overall packages the GTI is the best car out there. Owned E36M3, 2x BMW 335s, Honda Civic SI Mugen, and others. GTI is very reliable, I avg 32mpg, interior is perfect ( I have autobahn pcg.), excellent manual transmission, car looks super sleek. Forgot to mention that it's a great family car. Drove across the country with no complaints. Like someone already mentioned in the thread, there is a lot of options for power increase, to include new turbos to push over 400hp...good luck with that though.

I wouldn't go near another N54. In the 18 months that I owned my 335i I had several misfiring issues that resulted in replacing the injectors, plugs, HPFP, LPFP, ECU, fuel pressure sensor, intake manifold pressure sensor plus a few other things. That still didn't cure things so the head came off and was decoked, plus valve grinding. It was okay for a another few months but started running rough again. The N54 is a POS disguised as a fantastic drive - it draws you in with its amazing sound and ridiculously wide torque band, then it stops working.

I'm certainly not the only person to have these sort of troubles and BMW continues to deny that there are any serious problems. Avoid at all costs is my advice. In fact, given the way that BMW behaved (both the dealer and BMW central customer services) I could never recommend buying a BMW.

I have a 328i and it is very well balanced and is planted like a tank, but it is a very heavy car and not as tossable as the GTI. The 335i takes it up a notch in power, but it's still too heavy for a car that's supposed to be a sport sedan.

God damnit let this thread die or be locked

Entirely different builds and different price ranges. What one can do is buy a 335i CPO that's 4-5 years old for the equivalent price of a new GTI Autobahn. Finding a low mileage 335i may not be easy, however.

Since I came from a Porsche 911 to a new GTI, I can see someone making the move from a 335i to a GTI. It would take some getting used to power wise, but the GTI is more tossable than a 335i.

I came from an E46 M3 and I loved that car, but I really love my GTI. I rarely miss the power and I have more fun driving the GTI.