Legal Bill

Well, I'm only 8 months away from the two year anniversary. When I bought this car, I really thought I would keep it for over 5 years. (They really are quite good. Maybe the perfect sedan for me from a standpoint of handling and over-all driving feel.)

As to your second point, that is what I keep telling myself. Don't even think about it until it has been our for a year or even two. I was planning to follow the conversations on the BMW boards to find out about known problems. Someone here posted about overheating problems that have already surfaced, but I don't know if that has been confirmed.

Chris S

I drove one, and it's a great car, but I read too many stories about reliability issues on the bimmer forums. I'd hang on to what you have for another year or so, and once the M3 is out you'll be able to get a more sorted-out/reliable 335 at a better price.

Legal Bill

I remember when I was first considering the new 330i, I read the "rumors" about the 335 and thought it was total Urban Legand. I mean, why would BMW ever mass produce a twin turbo six when they just designed this exotic straight six with two part magnesium-aluminum alloy block? And then they did it!

I just read the road test in Road and Track and could not get over the performance figures. This new 3 series seems to be just as fast (and maybe faster) than an S4 and will probably handle better. I never thought that 45 more horse power would make such a huge difference. I think it must also have about 60 or 70 more ft-lbs of torque. But even with that, it is still about 200 pounds heavier than the 330, so I figured it might be three or four tenths faster to 60 and about the same through the quarter mile. But looking at some of the test results, it seems this car is 1.4 seconds faster than the 330i. That is a huge difference.

Legal Bill

Hmmm. That is a very good strategy. Thanks.

Onehots2k

I would definitely wait. My father is dying for a 335i conv. but he is gonna wait 2 yrs. he said so they can get there kinks out.(first yr bimmers are very glitchy) So he is going to sell is 04 325ci for an 05 M3 conv this weekend. gorgeous pre-owned car for 45k and 11,000 miles on her!!!

PsychoBen

Hey Bill. Looks like the 335i bug finally bit you... hard. I am still up for a test drive whenever

HwangTKD

I echo the sentiment of waiting. Most companies will make upgrades and address reliability issues to newly introduced models after 2 years. Look at the elise (limited slip), the evo (more hp and better interior), the s2000. Wait a bit, check out what the new m3 has to offer then make your move. You have 2 incredible cars that most people would die owning. Enjoy them=) I wish I had waited a bit before I bought my 1st s2000 and my evo.

rai

Not the same scenario, but along the same line, after I bought my S2000 in 2002 one year later I was looking at the C5 Z06. I finally got a test drive of the beast. Well needless to say I was blown away by the Z06 (not crazy about the interior).

But I didn't pull the trigger because 1) I still liked the S2000 and 2) the money lost on the S2000 would have been too much for one years of driving.

What I mean is after 1 year I would have lost about $11K in depreciation and loss of sales tax, not to mention the Z06 was gonna be my trade-in plus another $25K


So you have to say to yourself, yes the 335i is a better/faster car but does that make the 330i a bad car? No I think its still a great car. And second do you want to lose $10K on the trade in and pay the $20K difference between your trade in and the price of the new 335i (figure $30K vs near $50K)?

PS if you get the 335i (no LSD etc.) and then one year later the M3 comes out with all motor 420hp with 8K redline etc you may be thinking all over again even if you have the 335i at that time.

I don't plan to buy squat till the M3 and GTR are on the street.

derryck

I've traded cars in after only my first payment...don't try it very often.

s2kpdx01

I'm kind of in the same boat. I may be selling my evo sooner rather then later. I may soon need a bigger, more comfortable car for longer freeway drives. I got a good deal on it when I bought it so I might be OK, but it's not going to be great. I will deal.

Is the BMW your fun car or DD? If it's just the DD I wouldn't bother. The 330 is nice DD and handling car. You would be losing money for a little more power which most of the time you wouldn't really be using anyway.