Not been on here fora few years since selling the wifes Fabia VRS.

Anyway have been doing the Renaultsport thing for a few years and been in a Megane R26 for the last 3.5 years and the wife has had a Clio 182, Trophy, 197 Cup & 200. So ticked that box.

Now the R26 is the most complete car I have owned with Leather in Glacier White.

Since I had a little girl 3 years ago I have been thinking I need an estate.... but I am actually carrying less baby junk by the day.

I have been thinking of every BMW 3. Starts with 335i to 335d to 330d to 330i to Alpina. Looked at a 330i and then scared myself with Engine Worries on coils, injectors etc. Also they are all £15k ish and have 60k miles.

I resent puting £6k to my car for something with double the miles and little more performance. And they are rougher than my car.

Then a VRS Estate drove past. And I found I can get almost a new car for the same money.

mmmmmmm.

The vRS combi is a really great car. I switched from a Type R to a Wrx when I had kids, then the octy for even more room. Hands down the best car I've had. After a few modifications, much faster than either and cheaper to run too.

The vRS combi is a really great car. I switched from a Type R to a Wrx when I had kids, then the octy for even more room. Hands down the best car I've had. After a few modifications, much faster than either and cheaper to run too.

Did you say a few modifications . . . ?

Revo stage 2, R32 front and rear brakes, Sachs clutch, Milltek resonated turbo back exhaust, Eibachs, ITG intake, Whiteline RARB + ALK . . . .

Ok ok, maybe more than a few. Totally transformed the car though in every department. Even as standard, the vRS offers excellent value for money, best car under £20k IMO.

Yeh your a liar sir a damn right liar!! a FEW?!!! lmao.

i wish i had went for the Estate in DSG..... such is life lol.

Do it! Best car I've ever had too!

Petrol DSG vRS Estate.

How about a diesel!?

Do it! As above, the octavia is the best car Ive owned, not the most fun, not the quickest but best all round car.

Do it! As above, the octavia is the best car Ive owned, not the most fun, not the quickest but best all round car.

Diesel vrs dsg estate. As above.

A 335i if you can find the estate, is a pretty awesome car 0-6 in a shade over 5 seconds, capable of over 33 mpg

I test drove one last week and im hooked!

A facelift 335i MY 58/09/59 car like you said is around £15k, same price as a 1 year old VRS

I know what my money would be going on!

Value for money a vRS is hard to beat IMO.

I am all over the place.

I see a 3 Series go past & think thats the car for me then a VRS & swap back.

What the 3 Series edges it is some respects the VRS fights back on Value.

I then get in my own car & think. Why am I changing?

Do you really need an estate?

Octy Hatch boot is pretty massive anyway. Might save a few pennies if you don't really need one.

I've had one guy come up to me in the street and ask about the VRS since he was so hacked off with the lack of usable space in his 3 series saloon. Differences in quality wasn't a concern at all.

3 Series doesn't really have that much room, considering it's supposed to be the size/class above the Octy. Saloon lacks practical load space and the seats don't fold as standard. The Touring is the one to go for as the luggage space is more usable, but even then you'd still get more in the Octy.

The 3 drives very well, but you need to ditch the runflats IMO and the MSport suspension isn't for everyone if you're looking for sporty looks and the larger wheels.

Try both and see where that leaves you

TBH with just the one kiddie (plus at 3 yrs old you don't need pushchairs any more) I'd probably stick with the renault if you're enjoying it? You could always just get a roof box if you occasionally need more luggage room?

I had a mk5 golf gti when my first one came along which was just fine really .. we only really needed the bigger car when we had our second.

Well don`t test drive a 330i or even 335i then

Despite what is being said if you want a very and I mean very fast car the 335i is near to an M3 without the OTT styling .

the sound as you open it up is magical

Granted the VRs is an awesome car ,can`t match the 335i estate a real Q car

Absolutely. The 335i mapped is devastating and upto the task of keeping up with an M3 certainly in normal conditions and mid-range. Only issue I saw was that the vast majority were autos, if looking 2nd hand.

Then again, it's unfair to compare it to the vRS like-for-like, seeing as it's a £35k+ car new.

For fairness, it needs to be the 320d for comparison purposes, certainly on cost!

Maybe a bit more like it on the cost front, but that's the only Touring I can see on sale at the moment, in manual form:

http://goo.gl/iz42P

My comparison was if you were me and wanted a practicle, fast, and relatively hassle free car for £15k.

Would you by a New...ish Octy VRS

or

Would you buy an Old...ish 3 Series

I forgot to mention I bought my wife a Z3M Coupe. Thats the 321bhp Breadvan with NO Traction control. So this car has to compliment that on my Driveway. So when I want to go camping or drive 500 miles to visit my Family in Scotland. Or my Wife has to rive in the snow at 4am.

For camping, vRS wagon every time. The boot is just massive (600+ litres) which beats a five series touring, a6 avant, passat and insignia wagons by some margin. I used to have an E46 touring (would expect similar boot space to an E91) and the boot was pretty poor - much smaller than the skoda.

For your 500 mile trip for family visits, can't comment on the bimmer but your vrs petrol will probably be doing somewhere around high thirties mpg if you're cruising at the legal limit.

For your 4am start in the snow - both cars would be crap on summer tyres, but rwd bmw worse as you'd expect. Put proper winter tyres on either and they will be fine - we never had a problem on our BMW in the snow when it had its blizzak winters on but pushed in to a choice, I'd always choose FWD over RWD to drive in the snow.

HTH.

Thought about a Scout?

given the choice of the two i'd go for the VRS (or newer car)

Had a look at & drive of a VRS Estate today.

The dealer was telling me of the great performance and then asking what it was like compared to the Megane.... he was not pleased with slower.

To be expected I suppose. This could be sorted with a Remap at a later stage.

Appart from that great overall package with incredible space. The Rear passenger space was very good.

Having had both an Octavia hatch and an estate, I was slightly disappointed by how little extra usable space there is in the estate version. Sure you could stuff it up to the roof, but then feel all claustrophobic, and I do like to have my luggage hidden from casual view.

With a toddler on board, the hatch should allow folding the 60% seat and use that space - maybe a tie down to stop the little mite getting swamped in turns. You would have to check the kiddie seat fits on the smaller side though.

If my experience with roof boxes is the norm - ugh!!!! Even with less than 1/2 the permitted weight.