Why did we pick an out-of-warranty BMW as our next project car?

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Until we started to consider one for the fleet, I didn’t realize that they had depreciated that much. 

Because there is nothing as masochist as new but old German machinery? I'll leave the Italians out of this for the  moment....

Ranger50 said:

Because there is nothing as masochist as new but old German machinery? I'll leave the Italians out of this for the  moment....

Beat me to it.

My reply was going to be "because we like pain"

The BMW does drive very nicely, though. :)

David S. Wallens said:

The BMW does drive very nicely, though. :)

Right? 

I COMPLETELY get the appeal after spending  alittle time with this one. They're just so satisfying from behind the wheel, whether it's on the road or on track. Super easy to drive and great feedback and feel. Then something breaks and you wonder if it's all worth it. 

But I guess that's part of the narrative of this project. Is the juice worth the squeeze? And how much squeeze is there in these super-late-model years that are still new enough to be low mileage but old enough to be out of warranty.

As an E46 owner I'm extra curious if the performance even at baseline compares to the M3 currently in the stable. I love my car as a collectible but its primary use is for Autocross and TT, and the price of this 4 is well below M3 values these days...

In reply to albino09 :

Is our 435i faster than our E46-chassis M3? I hear we might know something soon. 

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

Plus it really does look good–love the silhouette. Should look really good once lowered and fitted with new wheels. 

Is the juice worth the squeeze.... I can't think of a better question to ask regarding BMWs. 

I was a huge fan of them, mainly because of the driving dynamics/experience, for so any years. But I got tired of squeezing the juice.

I hope this experiment proves me wrong, and I can love them again! 

This 435i has an open diff, correct? I wish BMW would offer them with an LSD like they did back in the day, now it's only the M cars. 

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

I've been a Japanese car guy to switch; I love the way German cars drive but I know the ownership experience would sour for me very quickly.

CyberEric said:

This 435i has an open diff, correct? I wish BMW would offer them with an LSD like they did back in the day, now it's only the M cars. 

When did they have a mechanical LSD in non-M cars?

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

Roughly E36 (mid 90's) and earlier.  LSDs were relatively common in early E36 (325i), e30 (325i, 325e, 318is), e28 models.  

I had an F20 M135i (hatch).  Was remarkably quick, but (to me) lacked a certain soul.  Might need to try a 4 series....

Nathan JansenvanDoorn said:

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

I had an F20 M135i (hatch).  Was remarkably quick, but (to me) lacked a certain soul.

blame it on the engineers.  as cars get better, they require less skill to drive closer to the edge.

Nathan JansenvanDoorn said:

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

Roughly E36 (mid 90's) and earlier.  LSDs were relatively common in early E36 (325i), e30 (325i, 325e, 318is), e28 models.  

I had an F20 M135i (hatch).  Was remarkably quick, but (to me) lacked a certain soul.  Might need to try a 4 series....

Also the bigger models too. 5s and 7s were quite common to find clutch pack LSDs before the late 90s (when abs modules and stability control computers took over the task of winter traction).

Yeah this 435i has an open diff and BMW's non-turn-offable E-diff brake intervention strategy. It's something I've talked to Bimmerworld about a lot and their general feeling is it's not a huge deal until you get either REALLY aggressive with suspension or REALLY gnarly with power. Initially we're using the SCCA Time Trial Sport division as our prep road map, so we feel like we can work around the lack of a mechanical diff with a big front bar and a patient right foot. 

"It’s a car that should be competitive for a trophy here or there but can also take a friend to dinner after the checker without them cutting themselves on a sharp piece of metal."

Oh remember when Kirk Cameron's character on Growing Pains bought an old Bug, took a girl he really liked out on a date where she cut herself on the interior thereby RUINING the date? I felt for him as a kid watching that. At least that's how I remember it.

In reply to Ranger50 :

What you said.    From listening to a friend who owned a BMW-centric shop, I don't think I would ever buy one that did not have a tip to toes full-boat warranty.  Though I understand that doing their own work just gives GRM more editorial content, so not the dis-incentive there. 

That said, a lot of them are out there on discount.  My buddy got a lot of customers who said, 'I got such a great deal on this one!'  And he told them that's because the records show that it is $7500 behind in recommended service items.  "Whaaaaat?  No, I just want the oil changed."

Also, I'm vertically over-endowed, and I see that like 95% of the Beemers out there this has a sunroof, which cancels my ability to fit in it, even without a helmet.

Why did we pick an out-of-warranty BMW as our next project car?

What could possibly get magazine-worthy content and keep the warranty?

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

So, many, many years ago, we had a Dodge Neon ACR as a project car. At the time, the Neon was new, and ours was kind of a pre-production model. We ran it in Showroom Stock C. 

We ran it at Daytona for the double SCCA weekend.

As JG and I loaded up, I thought of something: Dude, there’s a Dodge dealership across the street from the track, and in theory this car is under warranty.

So we left for the track with the bare minimum: floor jack, torque wrench, roll of tape. 

We wound up using all three and still won. :)

It's a bit difficult  imagining BMW following the Neon ACR's rule of checking warranty violations like pro wrestling referees check for cheating, though.

The big thing BMW is checking for is tunes.  Most set a software tampering fault that pretty much voids the power train warranty.  This includes Dinan as BMW no longer seems to have a great relationship with them.

My tuner runs the new/old bmw's with LS swaps. Best of both worlds? I dunno.

accordionfolder said:

My tuner runs the new/old bmw's with LS swaps. Best of both worlds? I dunno.

I don't know that mine is the best of any world, but it's FAST AS E36 M3 :-).

I'm a bit late to this... and will have to follow along... even if I'll harbor a selfish desire that this project had been i4 B48 powered.

Maybe this will end up with a good "recipe" for when I can justify a 330 or 430 of my own.