3 minutes ago, MarkyG82 said:

 

For a while I was set on a 272/280. I need rid of my oil burner as I mainly do short trips now due to reducing family numbers and not doing a weekly trip for studying.

 

I'm now looking at Passat gte/superb IV to partly future proof myself but I wouldn't pass up a 272 if I found one in the right spec/price (£25k sportline estate, under the 40k ved, heated seats). If they did a 4x4 gte/iv I'd be all over it!

I see. Some free mileage is nice to have for sure and maybe in the future it might mean easier circulation depending on your country's regulations etc. but "IF's" sometimes are too far away/too irrelevant...

Performance and tuning wise though, a remapped 272 is at another league completely compared to those hybrids and the cost is around the same (or maybe even higher for the PHEVs being a bit younger and all?)

I got this car in order to have careless family carrying during that hardest time of their first years when carrying those huge strollers and all other paraphernalia is a requirement, while also being able to enjoy blasts of decent forward acceleration when I drive on my own. I didn't expect to stick with it for more than 2-3 years but it's hands down such an incredible and complete package that has along this time spoiled me to the extent I can hardly consider anything below an RS4 an (overall) upgrade...

 

54 minutes ago, newbie69 said:

I got this car in order to have careless family carrying during that hardest time of their first years when carrying those huge strollers and all other paraphernalia is a requirement, while also being able to enjoy blasts of decent forward acceleration when I drive on my own. I didn't expect to stick with it for more than 2-3 years but it's hands down such an incredible and complete package that has along this time spoiled me to the extent I can hardly consider anything below an RS4 an (overall) upgrade...

so you're coming to my conclusion too, albeit for slightly different reasons.
I would change for an Alpina B5 and you for an RS4, everything else would be accepting a compromise.
I think we should look on the bright side and be happy to have a good car to drive...and we can even improve it 

As a new convert to the church of the 280 club I’d say keep it and enjoy it for what it is! 

I’m loving mine, accepting the lower fuel economy compared to the diesel mk2 140 (remapped to 170) and looking at a remap stage 1 in the future when I’ve paid for it and the warranty is up.

if you want a track capable car then buy a weekend toy but since you appear to have already spent good money on decent mods I’d be sticking with it.

never understand upgrading cars then selling them, as others have said you’re just giving away free upgrades to the next owner!

a good friend of mine has had loads of fast fords, recently had an ST stage 2 mountuned to around 350bhp then chopped in for an RS which soon got a stage 1 to 375bhp. Next thing he chops it in for a bog standard Kuga! That’s around £5-7K of mods done that he will never get back no matter the fact he sold the cars for close to his original purchase price.....

Edited 7 November, 20205 yr by SkudMissile21

6 hours ago, Roscio said:

so you're coming to my conclusion too, albeit for slightly different reasons.
I would change for an Alpina B5 and you for an RS4, everything else would be accepting a compromise.
I think we should look on the bright side and be happy to have a good car to drive...and we can even improve it 

Not sure but it's possible... It's not a good period to sell anyway and winter is starting so I will soon enter "standby mode" with fast driving and mods which means this decision will move to next spring unless some car that really attracts me comes along...

M340i is more tempting than the RS4 to be honest, I feel it would be better to drive than the Audi despite being a bit slower, but that would be more money that I am currently willing to pay for a car that will still be used/abused for daily purposes.

2 hours ago, SkudMissile21 said:

As a new convert to the church of the 280 club I’d say keep it and enjoy it for what it is! 

I’m loving mine, accepting the lower fuel economy compared to the diesel mk2 140 (remapped to 170) and looking at a remap stage 1 in the future when I’ve paid for it and the warranty is up.

if you want a track capable car then buy a weekend toy but since you appear to have already spent good money on decent mods I’d be sticking with it.

never understand upgrading cars then selling them, as others have said you’re just giving away free upgrades to the next owner!

a good friend of mine has had loads of fast fords, recently had an ST stage 2 mountuned to around 350bhp then chopped in for an RS which soon got a stage 1 to 375bhp. Next thing he chops it in for a bog standard Kuga! That’s around £5-7K of mods done that he will never get back no matter the fact he sold the cars for close to his original purchase price.....

I am more or less of the same mindset but really a remap and some cheap suspension mods that I even carried out myself (no installation cost) don't count as serious modding in my book. All in all their cost is more or less equivalent with having ticked a few more extras during ordering plus I always considered these the basic/minimum mods that I would have to do anyway to be able to live with this particular car as it left me a bit underwhelmed as stock (for my standards), then see what I'do from that point on if it weren't enough.

I am at that point now and in reality I only consider the real modding to be starting now (if i keep it), when every new upgrade will come with a 4-digit price tag (shocks, brakes, stage 2, haldex controller?), which is why I want to be sure about it, that it will take me where i want to and not act as a temporary stage before blowing it all away for a different car. When modifying a car, you build something personal which might be just right for you and you alone so you shouldn't be expecting to get any significant amount of that cost back (not without going into lots of un-installation trouble anyway).

Edited 8 November, 20205 yr by newbie69

19 hours ago, newbie69 said:

M340i is more tempting than the RS4 to be honest, I feel it would be better to drive than the Audi despite being a bit slower, but that would be more money that I am currently willing to pay for a car that will still be used/abused for daily purposes.

M340i would have many of the features I look for, specially the engine. I wasted some time setting up an M340i on bmw website and I got up to 85k €.  I fold.

 

19 hours ago, newbie69 said:

I am at that point now and in reality I only consider the real modding to be starting now (if i keep it), when every new upgrade will come with a 4-digit price tag (shocks, brakes, stage 2, haldex controller?), which is why I want to be sure about it, that it will take me where i want to and not act as a temporary stage before blowing it all away for a different car. When modifying a car, you build something personal which might be just right for you and you alone so you shouldn't be expecting to get any significant amount of that cost back (not without going into lots of un-installation trouble anyway).

Totally agree. Modifying a car is a waste of money for the most, but for me it's turning money into pleasure of driving. For sure I don't expect to get any of this costs back. I'm also interested in the halex controller...

57 minutes ago, Roscio said:

M340i would have many of the features I look for, specially the engine. I wasted some time setting up an M340i on bmw website and I got up to 85k €.  I fold.

 

Totally agree. Modifying a car is a waste of money for the most, but for me it's turning money into pleasure of driving. For sure I don't expect to get any of this costs back. I'm also interested in the halex controller...

Yes if I had to pick just one "sensible" car to upgrade to if money was not an issue the M340i would be my choice (Ok an RS6 sure but it's not "sensible" by any means). However with it being so young, prices are still stupid high for a well equipped one to make sense financially to me. Maybe in two-three years time. Also, theoretical talk for the moment, but are you sure about its engine? To me it's not a top priority but you've said you'd like to have a V6 and the M340i's I6 is not something particularly special. The performance is great but sound and character don't seem like something to remember from the reviews and feed-back I've read. 

I spent some time today looking into the Haldex controller options and I have discovered some interesting stuff. I am awaiting contact from a particular manufacturer but at the moment I'm quite excited as it seems I might have found something that could provide what I am after. I'll report back.

7 hours ago, newbie69 said:

but are you sure about its engine? To me it's not a top priority but you've said you'd like to have a V6 and the M340i's I6 is not something particularly special. The performance is great but sound and character don't seem like something to remember from the reviews and feed-back I've read. 

No, I'd like to have a V8. Or at least a 6 cyl engine, and Bmw's I6 is music to my ears. But I get that today's I4 turbo engines are capable of good performances, like 6cyl were till few years ago. Now if you buy a 330i or 530i you get a 2.0 L I4 .

in the 90s a cousin of mine had a 320i E36 with I6 engine, I can still remember how lovely the sound was...

 

8 hours ago, newbie69 said:

I spent some time today looking into the Haldex controller options and I have discovered some interesting stuff. I am awaiting contact from a particular manufacturer but at the moment I'm quite excited as it seems I might have found something that could provide what I am after. I'll report back.

@newbie69 I have driven the supra with B58 engine and it's a very impressive engine wise. 

 

Incredibly powerful all across the rev range and turbo lag is very minimal. A stock M340i will definitely be an upgrade compared to a stage 1 280/272 not to mention what you can achieve by remapping the M340i. 

 

I'd love to drive an estate M340i but like you said, cost is an issue plus overall it's a smaller car. 540i would be great but even more costly. 

 

 

8 hours ago, KeteCantek said:

@newbie69 I have driven the supra with B58 engine and it's a very impressive engine wise. 

 

Incredibly powerful all across the rev range and turbo lag is very minimal. A stock M340i will definitely be an upgrade compared to a stage 1 280/272 not to mention what you can achieve by remapping the M340i. 

 

I'd love to drive an estate M340i but like you said, cost is an issue plus overall it's a smaller car. 540i would be great but even more costly. 

 

 

It would be an upgrade but not for the reasons you're suggesting! My stage 1 is actually neck and neck with a stock M340i in the 0-100km/h and 1/4 mile runs clocking between 4.1"- 4.2"  and 12.1"-12.4" respectively.  For the M340i to be  an upgrade on a straight line compared to my current car I'd need to have it mapped as soon as I got it otherwise I'd feel pretty annoyed having spent nearly twice as much as the Superb to only match the Superb's performance 

But honestly it's not power or engine performance at all that I'm missing with this car or that drives me into considering one of the cars I mentioned. Being already as fast as it is without even touching the exhaust and with plenty more to be unlocked should I want to go down that road, it's the least of issues really. What I would like is a firmer handling with a better body control and some extra playfulness and adjustability when pushing on.

Upgrading to Bisltein B6 seems like the minimum next modification, maybe even coilovers although the fact that I could retain my factory adaptive and adjustable suspension with the B6's, but with firmer operation across all modes is probably all the adjustability I need, plus I am happy with the height it currently sits since the Eibachs went on. More importantly, I might JUST have come across a solution regarding the behavior and the playfulness of the car but I don't want to speculate too much before I know or try it out so it could be that the tables are turning towards sticking with it and making it much better and closer to what I am after, we'll see.