I may be bringing this thread back from the grave but its been almost a year with my 2nd E90. I think it was a better choice over the F30 for my personal taste.
It’s been a great year. Tuned on MHD stage 1 and XHP stage 3 for 30k miles, yes 30k in 11 months up and down the east coast. Only problems I had was replacing the water pump and thermostat at 120k miles on the clock. Car runs pretty damn smooth and problem free. It’s all good but I have the itch for something new again lol.
Recently out of town for work and I didn’t get a rental car. Decided to rent an F82 M4 for a couple of weeks. DAMNIT. It’s a great car. I’ve had F30 328s and 335s and they were fine. That M4 makes you feel different lol. Yeah its an M car and they tend to have a different dynamic to them but I’m going to pick up an F80 M3 soon.
Priced for low mile cars are looking good and as we get closer to the new M3 release, I’ll be watching the market and see if they keep dropping and pull the trigger at the right time.
Budget this time is 45k. Right now I am seeing low/no option models going for under 40 under 50k miles but cars with the executive, lighting, and driver assist packages going for 45-50 with under 30k miles.
If anyone cares, I’ll be shooting some video this week and doing a comparison video series. I’m no pro so dont expect greatness but I think its worth looking at the F80/82 from a E90 N54 owners perspective.
The reality of it is the N54 E9X generation was the terse mule for BMW to break in to the turbo performance market as they were/are forecasting the ever restricting emissions regulations. The S55 took all the good things from the N54 and fixed all the bad things. You look at the 335is with the DCT......I’d say that was BMW market testing the reaction to a performance I6 twin turbo model and its longevity.
Simply put, I experienced first hand what I want my E90 to be and why a non M car is not an M car. Absolutely nothing wrong with that but there’s more to an M car than power even if its just being part of the club. Got a teaser up. Again this is my take on coming from the old and experiencing the new and why I’m adding it to the garage. Not a shame on the potential legends that the N54 cars are. More of a nod to those cars leading the way.