Adding a fun commuter car to the garage

GR86. Best bang of the buck, price, styling, aftermarket support, fun factors.

MisterClutch888 wrote

GR86. Best bang of the buck, price, styling, aftermarket support, fun factors.

its painfully slow and you go down the rabbit hole of another "build" trying to make it feel remotely fast.

None of those cars listed seem interesting at all compared to what you have and would get boring fast or to do so would require mods to make it even mildly worth it.

I bought a Model Y about 6 months ago and it is so good. It is a great stablemate for my M3 and if I am honest a better car in virtually every way for a daily driver/commuter car.

The torque and technology is a whole new level.

amrazM wrote

its painfully slow and you go down the rabbit hole of another "build" trying to make it feel remotely fast.

Of coz when u are comparing to a m2. Im talking best bang of the buck kinda car. Fun factor, price, styling, aftermarket support all in one.

Model 3, enjoy!

range or performance? prices keep going up! love the look of the performance model 3

Richneerd wrote

Model 3, enjoy!

Golf R gets my vote. Good balance of comfort and fun for a daily/commuter, and a dose of practicality over the M (hatch boot, AWD). Efficient enough and an easy size for regular driving.

amrazM wrote

Whats the mileage on that 325i, it looks mint.

49K miles

wyatth wrote

Golf R gets my vote. Good balance of comfort and fun for a daily/commuter, and a dose of practicality over the M (hatch boot, AWD). Efficient enough and an easy size for regular driving.

I think the Golf R is a good candidate as well. the new gen Golf R is good, but the previous gen seems to be a bit better overall.

I would say find a 135i in good shape. Mine is a vert, its a good companion for our E92 M3.

https://lwautomotive.com/vdp/18515028/Used-2012-BMW-1-Series-2dr-Conv-135i-for-sale-in-Pittsburgh-PA-15237

tbuck wrote

^I would second this. Mine is an R55 Mini Clubman JCW and is a serious blast to drive, has plenty of room in the back to haul stuff, respectable mileage and is reasonably quick. There are certainly better/newer options but for the money hard to beat the smiles per mile factor. Also it is enough of a BMW to be easy to work on if you are already familiar with the BMW family.

How are these on the highway around ~80mph? Love how planted the e92 is at highway speeds, but I'm thinking of getting a daily/beater

Le-Blu wrote

How are these on the highway around ~80mph? Love how planted the e92 is at highway speeds, but I'm thinking of getting a daily/beater

Great, really good! It is a BMW after all, so good handling is a given. Depending on mileage you will have to do the usual bushings, ball joints and shocks, but mine is rock solid out to 130 or so (on my last trip in Mexico...). My main complaint in the handling area would be the fairly tiny tires. You would need to go aftermarket for larger wheels/tires.

I needed to start commuting again so traded the E90 M3 in for a E90 335i. Gas mileage isn't substantially better but the car was half the price and with a 6MT it's still pretty fun.

I've also had a GTI (pre-kids) which was terrific as a daily but some of these cars may be questionable in terms of reliability. I've already had a hand full of noises and issues coming out of the 335 I need to address but at this point it still drives so not going to go nuts on preventative maintainence like I did with the M3.

tbuck wrote

Great, really good! It is a BMW after all, so good handling is a given. Depending on mileage you will have to do the usual bushings, ball joints and shocks, but mine is rock solid out to 130 or so (on my last trip in Mexico...). My main complaint in the handling area would be the fairly tiny tires. You would need to go aftermarket for larger wheels/tires.

Awesome thank you! Will probably take a look at these in another month or two. Also tempted to get a 08ish Lexus for the comfort

UPDATE: A lot of great suggestions - thanks to everyone who responded! To close the book on my car situation, I decided I didn't really want to stretch my budget too much. I also concluded that I'd feel better in something new or CPO that would give me a good number of worry-free miles and a solid warranty. Pretty much fell in love with the new VW GTI on first drive and it looks killer in Moonstone Gray, so I pulled the trigger. Car should hit the lot mid April.

Only thing that stuck out to me on the test drive is that the pedals are a little too spaced apart for heel-toe. But I can fix that with aftermarket.

If anyone in NY or comparably expensive/crowded area is considering one of these, look at dealers in the mid west. I was able to get mine from Virginia for sticker price while every dealer in the NYC area is asking at least 5k over sticker.

Excellent choice, GTI is a great car.
Miss mine.

amrazM wrote

its painfully slow and you go down the rabbit hole of another "build" trying to make it feel remotely fast.

The new GR86 is much faster. Rated for 230hp but way under rated based on dyno testing. This generation GR86 is one of the fastest cars you can drive on the track like with the S2000.

Of course a fast track car doesn't translate into "fun" on the street so totally depends what you're looking for.

My fun daily is a F30 LCI 328i. A simple flash tune takes it to 300hp with loads of torque at any RPM, plenty of space for passengers and luggage and it is fun with RWD on the backroads. And you can still do 36mpg!

Eja144 wrote

UPDATE: A lot of great suggestions - thanks to everyone who responded! To close the book on my car situation, I decided I didn't really want to stretch my budget too much. I also concluded that I'd feel better in something new or CPO that would give me a good number of worry-free miles and a solid warranty. Pretty much fell in love with the new VW GTI on first drive and it looks killer in Moonstone Gray, so I pulled the trigger. Car should hit the lot mid April.

Only thing that stuck out to me on the test drive is that the pedals are a little too spaced apart for heel-toe. But I can fix that with aftermarket.

If anyone in NY or comparably expensive/crowded area is considering one of these, look at dealers in the mid west. I was able to get mine from Virginia for sticker price while every dealer in the NYC area is asking at least 5k over sticker.

Congrats on the pick up!

I would have recommended a F30 340i xdrive 6MT. Last manual awd 3 series, simple tune and bolt ones make it a very quick car.

I'll make this the final update, since this an M3 forum, not a VW forum, haha.

Just wanted to share the GTI I took delivery on yesterday. Had a nice 300 mile drive back home from the dealer to get acquainted with the car. Love almost everything about it so far. Still breaking in the engine, so I haven't really been able to push it, but the power band is impressive with nice, flat torque delivery throughout the mid-range. Clutch and shifter feel are also a highlight - really a joy to row through the gears on this car. I find the driving experience and handling characteristics to be a great complement to the M3.

Eja144 wrote

I'll make this the final update, since this an M3 forum, not a VW forum, haha.

Just wanted to share the GTI I took delivery on yesterday. Had a nice 300 mile drive back home from the dealer to get acquainted with the car. Love almost everything about it so far. Still breaking in the engine, so I haven't really been able to push it, but the power band is impressive with nice, flat torque delivery throughout the mid-range. Clutch and shifter feel are also a highlight - really a joy to row through the gears on this car. I find the driving experience and handling characteristics to be a great complement to the M3.

Good choice. I had a 6MT GTI a few years back. Terrific car.

MisterClutch888 wrote

Of coz when u are comparing to a m2. Im talking best bang of the buck kinda car. Fun factor, price, styling, aftermarket support all in one.

Fun factor my ***. It's so slow and boring. I'd rather ride a turtle!