What car should I get?
Posted by CometXZ1@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 27 comments
Looking to trade my 17’ Accord in for something more fun. I’m thinking a 2011 BMW 335i because I hear their engines can take a lot of power with something as simple as a downpipe and tune, but the support for the engine is horrible. It looks like the value of the vehicle hovers around 12,000, I know maintenance would kind of be a nightmare, but I would love to work on my own car to save on labor costs, and if the parts cost are only $2-3k a year I wouldn’t mind. I’m also thinking about a 2014 V6 Mustang, but I hear both the auto and manual transmission are fragile, just trying to look for a mostly reliable sports car that can handle extra power in the 10-15k range.
kneedoorman@reddit
You will regret buying a cheap car then adding 100hp to it
Regardless of whatever vehicle
CometXZ1@reddit (OP)
What makes you say that?
kneedoorman@reddit
It’s a car many years out of warranty, the hoses, timing chain plastics will need replacing soon
Adding more power (stress and heat) will cause more wear.
These are project cars when you have a reliable daily driver
CometXZ1@reddit (OP)
Fair enough, I didn’t even think about the hoses and plastics on the car, thank you for your input.
TheRealKrapotke@reddit
If you know this little about cars, maybe you should buy something reliable and something a bit less expensive as a project to learn on. Buying a car like the 335 with little to no knowledge as a daily will end you in a world of pain.
Fit-Contribution-97@reddit
Probably his cheating wife and erection disfunction.
kneedoorman@reddit
I’ve heard better from your mom when she getting rammed by village hobo behind Arby’s
crunch816@reddit
Get an FR-S and slap a V8 in there.
cronx42@reddit
Research the engine on that BMW. Iirc they're not particularly reliable.
CometXZ1@reddit (OP)
As far as I can tell, it seems like the engine it self is damn near bulletproof, but all the support for the engine like the radiator, fuel pump, etc fail easily if you don’t keep up on maintenance. Still seems like it would be a bad idea.
MIDNITE6361@reddit
As someone who’s seen the issues first hand of n54’s I’d suggest keeping around 3k in your pocket in the event that you need to get it repaired. Since you mentioned tuning look into other engines like ea888’s. Also make a ton of power from a dp and tune but more reliably and for cheaper.
CometXZ1@reddit (OP)
Looks like that engine’s in the golf and i’ve seen those do some crazy shit, I will definitely look into vehicles with that engine, do they take a lot of power reliably?
MIDNITE6361@reddit
With the tune I have on my GTI it’s more power than I can put down on my current tires lol. Came with 210hp and 260 torque from factory now it’s pushing around 350-360 hp and 420 pounds of torque from some bolt ons and tune on 91.
CometXZ1@reddit (OP)
I didn’t expect that at all, what kind of bolt ons did you use?
MIDNITE6361@reddit
Bare minimum is a downpipe and tune but I also have an intake. If you buy a turbo car you probably want to hear the turbo lol. An intercooler is highly recommended if you’re doing back to back pulls or tracking it.
CometXZ1@reddit (OP)
Damn that much of a power increase of dp,tune, intake? And yes of course i’d love to hear the turbo, intercooler definitely wouldn’t hurt, what year is your GTI?
MIDNITE6361@reddit
I have a 2017 base trim. Got it for 16500 with ~45k miles on it in perfect condition.
do2g@reddit
Out of curiosity, are there similar motors in Audis? Like a base A4? I’m not that familiar with interchangeability.
Roybuilds@reddit
Get a 2003 to 2007 Mercedes N 55 model
CometXZ1@reddit (OP)
What is an N55 mercedes?
Roybuilds@reddit
Sorry. E55, cls55, s55,cl55. All great cars. If getting s or cl be prepared to maintain the abc suspension or swap to coilovers
thing_dakine@reddit
I’d stay with the Honda dude
The_Real_NaCl@reddit
Do yourself and your wallet a favor and just skip the BMW. Those N54/55 engines are downright fragile and expensive to take care of, no matter how much power they can make. You’d be better off with a GTI if you’re wanting something tunable while still maintaining some semblance of reliability. If practicality isn’t a concern, there are also plenty of Miata’s and FR-S/BRZ/GT86’s in this price range. You can also find C5 Corvettes in this range with an endless aftermarket and LS engine reliability to boot.
CometXZ1@reddit (OP)
Fair enough, I started seeing BMWs as just “high maintenance” instead of “unreliable” as a way of justifying it. I was interested in those cars, but i started to stray away from them because all 3 of those have the boxer engine, I thought that they only infamously blow because people with WRXs boost them more than they can handle, but I still don’t know about them in those 3. I’ve never actually looked into a Corvette, I thought it would be out of that price range but a C5 would be awesome, I do know that some older V8s make less power than more earlier V6s, would you recommend a certain year for a C5?
The_Real_NaCl@reddit
The FR-S/BRZ/GT86 triplets are all the same car, just in different clothing. From what I understand, those FA boxer engines are decently reliable. Just don’t be stupid with cheap mods and a tune. You’re likely thinking of the older EJ series engines that would blow a head gasket if you looked at them wrong. The LS1 in the C5 makes roughly 350 stock, but they’ve been known to be underrated and are closer to 380ish. In a lighter car like the Vette, that’s gonna feel real good. Throw a set of heads, an intake manifold, hotter cam, headers, a good custom tune, etc., and you’re probably looking at 400-450 to the wheels in a car that’s 3200lbs.
CometXZ1@reddit (OP)
I am thinking about them blowing head gaskets, or seeing a cylinder shoot out of the top, or maybe it was a different car because i those those cylinders move horizontally, but is there really an improvement in the boxer engine? I always just thought they were a ticking bomb. I researched a little about that corvette and that sounds amazing, would it be practical to daily? Disregarding fuel usage. I know it’s a coupe and probably only a 2 seater but if I could get this car know and get an older prius or camry later I feel it would be worth it. I know it sounds lazy but not having to modify the transmission on a vehicle is my preference as I couldn’t do it myself and I feel anything with a trans would be expensive to work on. But with the corvette if I don’t need to lift the car or need to take the engine out to do any of those modifications that sounds perfect, I just have no idea how reliable they are.
Agreeable-Night5880@reddit
If it's your only car that you will be trading in for that BMW, I don't reccommend.