Which moderately priced luxury sports coupe?

So I'm riding with my son in his 2020 Sonata. It's a really nice car that would be close to perfect if it had more power and was RWD. My son agrees and a couple of weeks later he comes to me and says you should buy this 2007 335i with 105 thousand miles! We look at it and it's really nice. Fast, luxurious, clean.... but the reliability ratings for that car aren't good, and I already have a collection of cars that need frequent care and feeding without BMW price tags.

But it would be really nice to have a cool weekend sports coupe. Something that would be fun in the twisties, or happily take the 2-hour drive to Laguna Seca in comfort. 

What does the tribe think would be a lower-trouble version of that car? I don't tend to track or autocross it. Would like to stay under $12k if I can

Edit: I tried to delete this post and add "used" to the title, but the forum will not let me. Is it possible to delete posts? And if not, why is there a delete button?

G37?

Audi A5, Lexus SC, GR86, Z4

Jaguar XK or XKR! They look like sex and really don't seem to get much love.

Example: https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventorylisting/viewDetailsFilterViewInventoryListing.action?sourceContext=carGurusHomePageModel&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity=d288&zip=33916#listing=336315497/NONE

The non-turbo e90/e92 is a good pick
Here's what the hive thought about it last time I brought it up:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/bmw-e90-talk-me-up-or-down/191948/page1/



 

CrustyRedXpress said:

Jaguar XK or XKR! They look like sex and really don't seem to get much love.

Example: https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventorylisting/viewDetailsFilterViewInventoryListing.action?sourceContext=carGurusHomePageModel&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity=d288&zip=33916#listing=336315497/NONE

 

Can someone explain why this is happening other than "old jag" price depreciation? That seems like a hell of a deal. 

In reply to singleslammer :

Most of them are 2nd, or 3rd, cars so they have low miles. Since most on the market have low miles, higher mile ones get killed. 

OHSCrifle said:

Audi A5, Lexus SC, GR86, Z4

I wouldn't exactly call a first gen Twin "luxurious."

Granted the 2nd gens are a step up, but he said $12k, not $32k. 

Well my son was so enamored of the Bimmer that he talked the guy down a grand and bought it himself. It really is a nice car. There is some turbo lag, but once it spools...woowee! Also very comfortable, a nice mix of ride and handling. Great seats, nice stereo, nice size. Now if we can just afford the repair bills.

So where do I go to edumacate myself on the care and feeding of this car?

Kia Stinger 

z31maniac said:

OHSCrifle said:

Audi A5, Lexus SC, GR86, Z4

I wouldn't exactly call a first gen Twin "luxurious."

Granted the 2nd gens are a step up, but he said $12k, not $32k. 

Yeah I agree. I was looking at sporty two doors, and $12k. Luxury is relative but I tried to exclude economy car derivatives. The cost target leaves pretty old cars and not many options. Pat gave the best answer in the first reply. 

Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:

Well my son was so enamored of the Bimmer that he talked the guy down a grand and bought it himself. It really is a nice car. There is some turbo lag, but once it spools...woowee! Also very comfortable, a nice mix of ride and handling. Great seats, nice stereo, nice size. Now if we can just afford the repair bills.

So where do I go to edumacate myself on the care and feeding of this car?

Start with the engine - this is a good beginner's guide from FCP Euro. At 105k, it's due for a water pump and thermostat, the oil filter housing gasket is leaking (and probably the valve cover gasket and the oil pan gasket as well), and you should check the accessory belt very carefully - if they come off, they tend to get sucked behind the crank pulley, through the front main seal, and grenade the engine by sending fragments of belt throughout the crankcase.

Volvo S40?

I would run the berk away from any Valvetronic equipped BMW.  When, not if, the system jams up, it takes out the valve control motor and the engine computer, and it is a five figure repair bill.  This is probably why I still see an occasional E46 still on the road but I never see any x35s on the road that aren't fairly new.  135/335/535 used to be common to see and now they are all gone.

Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:

Well my son was so enamored of the Bimmer that he talked the guy down a grand and bought it himself. It really is a nice car. There is some turbo lag, but once it spools...woowee! Also very comfortable, a nice mix of ride and handling. Great seats, nice stereo, nice size. Now if we can just afford the repair bills.

So where do I go to edumacate myself on the care and feeding of this car?

I forget what they are called that help with the turbo's, but there shouldn't be any lag on the N54. From idle they should be at peak torque under 2k and carry it to 5k. 

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Volvo S40?

 

I would run the berk away from any Valvetronic equipped BMW.  When, not if, the system jams up, it takes out the valve control motor and the engine computer, and it is a five figure repair bill.  This is probably why I still see an occasional E46 still on the road but I never see any x35s on the road that aren't fairly new.  135/335/535 used to be common to see and now they are all gone.

Valvetronic didn't happen until the N55 I thought? Being a 2007 this is the twin-turbo N54, not the single turbo N55. 

singleslammer said:

CrustyRedXpress said:

Jaguar XK or XKR! They look like sex and really don't seem to get much love.

Example: https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventorylisting/viewDetailsFilterViewInventoryListing.action?sourceContext=carGurusHomePageModel&entitySelectingHelper.selectedEntity=d288&zip=33916#listing=336315497/NONE

 

Can someone explain why this is happening other than "old jag" price depreciation? That seems like a hell of a deal. 

IMHO. Once unreliable always unreliable.    When Jaguar was only selling a few thousand cars a year Sir William only spent money on good looks but made it affordable by buying lowest cost accessories.   
    As a result unreliable was its reputation although the mechanical stuff was brilliant and extremely well built.   
 

Once  Jaguar became independent quality began a steady climb towards reliability made great strides. Massively improving under Fords ownership and continuing under  Tata. 
  As someone who feel in love with Sir Williams work.  I'd gladly trade all that reliability for his brilliance in style and advanced thinking. 

z31maniac said:

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Volvo S40?

 

I would run the berk away from any Valvetronic equipped BMW.  When, not if, the system jams up, it takes out the valve control motor and the engine computer, and it is a five figure repair bill.  This is probably why I still see an occasional E46 still on the road but I never see any x35s on the road that aren't fairly new.  135/335/535 used to be common to see and now they are all gone.

Valvetronic didn't happen until the N55 I thought? Being a 2007 this is the twin-turbo N54, not the single turbo N55. 

If it has the big motor on the valve cover then.  I thought all the turbo era engines had it.

Also those damned aluminum valve cover bolts. 4nm (?) plus 90 degrees. One more nm will break them.  They usually break in service.

In reply to singleslammer :

1. They were built under Ford ownership so they're now somewhat an orphan. But that also means that they're pretty reliable.

2. The back seats are useless for adults or even child's seat. This is a deal killer for a guy with one kid, one wife, and a two car garage, so he gets the 911 or m3 instead.

Honestly, I think they look amazing and love the idea of that massive hatchback for long roadtrips. I'd love to see a GRM'er pick one up.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

I think all the N5x series engines, turbo or not, had it - my N51 does. I haven't heard about any issues with it from my indy, though. Have you run into the problem you describe frequently?

In reply to CrustyRedXpress :

With regard to Jaguar's. If you do your own work those cars are in Brilliant  bargains.   
  If on the other hand any thing wrong has to go to a dealer or trusted mechanic  they are not for normal humans.  
 The dealerships know how to charge. Even though sales volume is small, they manage to make a comfortable living selling parts and service.   Look around at those facilities and locations. You will be paying for that if you can't do your own work.  
      There are alternate suppliers for parts. One source is cars fixed by dealerships or mechanics because many basic repairs cost do much that it's no longer economically sensible  to have it done.  Leaving plenty of really good parts  at bargain basement prices. 

I came here to suggest the Jag as well, but I also want to add BMW M6.  Why are these so cheap?  Is it only because of the nicosil engine thing?  

02Pilot said:

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

I think all the N5x series engines, turbo or not, had it - my N51 does. I haven't heard about any issues with it from my indy, though. Have you run into the problem you describe frequently?

Everything I'm finding says they don't. From forum posts to articles by other car mags that state it started with the N55 on the turbo engines. 

My indy didn't mention a big problem with them either and lots of YT videos so it's not a difficult fix either way. I checked it out before my disastorous experience with N55 135. 

tr8todd said:

I came here to suggest the Jag as well, but I also want to add BMW M6.  Why are these so cheap?  Is it only because of the nicosil engine thing?  

 

Nikasil on the V8 and parts availability for the V12 (it's basically two M20s mashed together with two ECUs, two throttle bodies, etc) and I think general parts availability. 

z31maniac said:

tr8todd said:

I came here to suggest the Jag as well, but I also want to add BMW M6.  Why are these so cheap?  Is it only because of the nicosil engine thing?  

 

Nikasil on the V8 and parts availability for the V12 (it's basically two M20s mashed together with two ECUs, two throttle bodies, etc) and I think general parts availability. 

I think you're thinking of the old 8-series cars, at least with the V-12 comment,

pres589 (djronnebaum) said:

z31maniac said:

tr8todd said:

I came here to suggest the Jag as well, but I also want to add BMW M6.  Why are these so cheap?  Is it only because of the nicosil engine thing?  

 

Nikasil on the V8 and parts availability for the V12 (it's basically two M20s mashed together with two ECUs, two throttle bodies, etc) and I think general parts availability. 

I think you're thinking of the old 8-series cars, at least with the V-12 comment,

Ahh you're right. I thought they stopped using Nikasil by the time they got to the V10 engines. Thank you for the correction.