M3 f80 or 135i with mods for a fun street and track car ?

[sean24 0]

Hi Guys,

Very new to this bmw forum but wanted to ask the question and get some feedback from the experts being you guys. I'm looking at 2 cars for a fun street car and weekend track car and something to learn to drift in.

2 options are an older m3 f80 which makes sense but costs more and will depreciate more too, make a few mods  ie lower it, ecu tune , get it to 500 + hp , obviously would be a good car. Or get an older 135i ( 2012-2014 ) and have fun doing mods, put in an lsd ( and who could do it ? ) , rip the guts out of it to make it lighter, and create a fun, lighter, less risky car that i can give it sh*t and not to high a maintenance. i'm leaning towards the 135i for less cost and maybe more fun.

would be keen on your thoughts.

Sorry, to add as just read the newbies rules. My daily is a 335d wagon, stage 1 tune. 

Edited April 30, 2020 by sean24

[qube 3570]

completely different price range.

$65k for an M3 or $20-25 for an M135i.

I used to have an M135i and if you want to push it for big power you really need an LSD. I think roughly budget $5k + labour to fit.

It doesnt need to be any lighter, its not a heavy car and if you have an LSD you should be able to put all the power down without it being dangerous.

 

[sean24 0]

yeah, the price range is quite different. Hence why leaning towards the m135i. i'm thinking of mods incl ,  lsd, downpipe, stage 2 tune, coil overs, intercooler, and it should be a fun and cheaper reliable track car

[qube 3570]

buy my old one, its back on trademe. white 2012 one listed for $21995 at motorhub. ive spent heaps on it and i *think* it should still be in good condition.

the guy I sold it to changed to an evo7 not long after, hopefully he hasnt ruined the car lol

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

I think it all depends on your definition of fun... the way you describe the M135i you want to build and that you mention the word drift would suggest to me you are better off looking at an M135i to build up how you want it.

The M3 would probably be a more capable car in most situations, however with the 135i being smaller and lighter it would feel more "fun" to drive I would suggest.

Both good cars, and a great balance between a daily driver and a track car.

[Herbmiester 923]

Kind of an  apples vs oranges comparison. The M3 is pretty much track day ready out of the box and the S55 has the cooling systems for hard track work, early one s could do with a shock/spring upgrade. Drifting mods can run counter to track day setup so you may want to investigate that a bit more, my understanding is a track car can do some nice power slides but its not really a drift car, not enough steering lock for a start. As to the M135i its primarily a road car and a quick one at that but the N55 probably wont cope with lots of hard track day work without some cooling upgrades, a few weekends sure but I believe they can run into oil starvation problems with sustained high G cornering. I am sure someone sells a baffled oil pan. You will likely not be able to pull big power from a N55 with some major upgrades but 300kw and 550nm would be entirely reasonable.

[Driftit 2078]

I wouldn't pick ether to learn how to drift in.

Committed drifting will always end in the car being damaged in some way.  From Minor to Major a newer BMW like you have suggested is not a cheap fix.

You would be better off learning in an old E36 with low HP.  Learn car control before moving onto something powerful.  If you can make some old junk you don't care about Drift well you will be better off.
It would quite honestly be cheaper for you to fly to Japan and go to one of the Drift schools than it would be to even set up an M3 to drift well and reliably.

As for track day driving.  Both would be great fun.

[Matth5 471]

135i will be an awesome street car but not a reliable track car.

The engines aren't built for track abuse.

What about the E90 or E92 M3? They're great track cars and you only need some minor modifications to get them ready for track use. Just brakes really.