It's really easy to say that a 1jz SC is a better choice when you own a stock motor SC, no one in this thread who has posted get the SC acctually has a 1jz SC, your opinions would be quite different if you did have one. I know first hand how much goes wrong with these cars, almost all of it being eletrical, which makes it even more of a pain in the *** because you have to figure out what the **** is wrong with it. You may think working on a BMW is hard, but I'd much rather have to wrench on a BMW once or twice a year than this ****ing SC every other day.

Buy the BMW.

 

smaller payments and more power is what matters in my eyes your only paying 400 a month because it's a German logo everything else can be done to the sc to be as good or better then the bimmer

 

As noted, I work for BMW

The 3-series are some of the EASIEST cars ever made to work on. This is one case where the Germans designed the cars to be easily serviceable.

 

if i worked for BMW, i'd go with the 335
2 questions, why not the turbo 335xi instead....? (since you have winter concerns)
& what would you drive in the winter if you DO keep the SC? winter car= more $

 

The 335Xi is a waste of money, weight, and complexity. All you need to drive a RWD 3-series in the winter is a set of separate winter wheels and tires. I would have a set of 17x7's with 205/50/17 winter tires if I got the BMW. It's amazing how much of a difference a REAL winter tire makes (and the thinner the better).

I already have a set of 17's with 225/45/17 winters on them for the SC.

 

^^gotcha.
tough decision, i see your dilemma.

 

personally i could not justify paying 225 more for the BMW. but thats just me cause i dislike almost all BMW's, they are boring and too common. yes the SC's have some gremlins, but you know almost all of them by now and most of them are easy to fix because of the input on these forums, etc.

 

I've drunkenly overlooked that last night

Well then, if that's the case, I'd get the 335i and never look back. I used to cruise around town with a guy that owned one of those with nothing but a full exhaust and a chip upgrade and he would constantly walk on my mkiv BPU without effort. Those things are pretty nuts!

 

haha lol my dad said SAABS are just purley upside down but its not a german car though

 

I'd take the one with a warranty.

 

uhhh.........me thinks you're (perhaps) a tad biased

 

Since you work for BMW & get hookups on parts, I'd go 335.

 

vehicle financing= FAIL

Sorry but I would have to stick with whatever is paid off. Maintenance on the SC isnt going to cost you the same as financing a BMW. $225 a month isnt bad for car payments, but the full coverage on top of it, plus regular maintenance with it adds up.

All the people that went with the cash for clunkers program realized this AFTER they threw away their cars that were paid off and just needed some maintenance done, and are now stuck with car payments for the next who knows how many years. Where if they would have kept the cars they had that were paid off (with in reason) and done the work needed to keep them "new", they would have saved a good amount of money over the next several years..

Yes a new/slightly used BMW would be nice to have, and if for free I would give up my SC for one, but not for one with payments..My SC is paid off, and the ONLY way I would replace it with another car, is if I had the cash to pay the total cost of the replacement+ maintenance.

 

uhhh... me thinks one might value my (biased) opinion over your average joe in this scenario. I make my living based on how many hours I can book working on these cars. If they were a bear to work on, I'd be broke. Sure, your electronics-laden 7-series can surely be a nightmare, but the big money is made on the 3-series... because they are so easy to work on that you can beat book time by a large margin and make yourself some serious dough.

After long consideration, I've decided to keep the SC. Who knows what kind of expenses I'm going to incur when buying a new place and that $225/month I'm saving may come in pretty handy.

That being said, once I'm settled in, if I can afford the extra $225/mo, I'll be trading up. That probably won't happen for another 1.5-2 years though

 

I'm with you on this one. That's how I live, if I don't have a cash to buy I just don't buy. Financing is fail