[KiwiRD]

Originally Posted by -Keith-

Strange thread. I don't think you can compare a 335i to a Cosworth! They are not special cars, and will continue to depreciate until they become uneconomical to keep on the roads.

The only BMWs that will stand any chance of becoming classic and worth cherishing for decades are ///M cars.

As such, do what you like with your 335i. It'll only be affected in the same way that any modified car is: your chosen mods will either attract or repel certain buyers

As for my stance on it all - subtle is best. And I would't touch a heavily tuned car of any type...

Oh I wasn't comparing a Cosworth to a 335i. I was using the Cosworth as an example due to its nature as a performance car, with so many of them ending up ragged to death with very few original examples left.

[KJMotorsport]

Originally Posted by -Keith-

Strange thread. I don't think you can compare a 335i to a Cosworth! They are not special cars, and will continue to depreciate until they become uneconomical to keep on the roads.

The only BMWs that will stand any chance of becoming classic and worth cherishing for decades are ///M cars.

As such, do what you like with your 335i. It'll only be affected in the same way that any modified car is: your chosen mods will either attract or repel certain buyers

As for my stance on it all - subtle is best. And I would't touch a heavily tuned car of any type...

Fair enough the cosworth comparison was a bit much but have a look at the older bm's 36 328i's are not special cars, as the price of the 36M has now started to creep up so has the price of 328i's. Same with the 46, as the price of a nice M has stagnated, the price of a nice 330i/ci has started to creep up. Will be the same with the 335 imo just a matter of time.

with the whole modifying/value thing, each to their own really, you do what you want, you shouldn't need to justify what you do to your car to anyone.

[djgandy]

Originally Posted by KJMotorsport

Fair enough the cosworth comparison was a bit much but have a look at the older bm's 36 328i's are not special cars, as the price of the 36M has now started to creep up so has the price of 328i's. Same with the 46, as the price of a nice M has stagnated, the price of a nice 330i/ci has started to creep up. Will be the same with the 335 imo just a matter of time.

with the whole modifying/value thing, each to their own really, you do what you want, you shouldn't need to justify what you do to your car to anyone.

I agree somewhat. You need to store and service a 335i and keep miles low for another 10-15 years before that happens sadly.

And then I think the real sought after model will be the N54 with DCT.

[Aragorn30d]

All cars become classics, even shit ones. Go try and buy a tidy E30 and you'll find even poverty spec cars with hopeless engines fetch solid money.

Clearly the better models in the range always hold more value, so ofcourse the M versions going to be worth more.

Furthermore, cars with a halo model tend to get dragged up with the price of the halo car. Folk pay thousands for a rotten escort 1.1L, because they can rebuild it into a restomod. When those cars were new, they were just crappy shopping cars that no-one gave a hoot about. The equivalent to comparing a cosworth to a 1.6 sierra, or a M3 to a 316i. If it werent for its rallying success, and the RS models at the top of the tree, the Escort would be languishing in the same place as other shopping cars from the same era. But that halo effect means folk want an escort, so will buy a crap one, then restore and upgrade it to the spec they want. It'll never be worth as much as a real RS2000, but you'll still pay a truckload for a restored RS2000-alike car built from a 1.1.

Clearly, its hard to look at a modern 335i and wonder how it can ever be a classic, but its no different to all the folk who owned Escorts in the 70's, or E30's in the 80's...

[gangzoom]

Life is short, far too short to waste time trying to work out if your current car will become a classic in 10 years+ time. If you enjoy the car, and cannot think what to change to next keep it.....Otherwise when you feel the time is right move on.

As others have said do what YOU want, not what you think other people want in 10 years time .

[surrey 335i]

Originally Posted by KiwiRD

Random question, and bear with me, but does anyone think that the 335i might be starting to head 'the way of the Sierra Cosworth?'

am I actually taking something away from it by adding to it - less is more and all?

I know that a Cosworth was a far rarer and more unique beast than a 335i, and therefore there was more value in keeping one standard, but I wonder if in 3 or 4 years there will just be a pile of ragged out modified 335is for sale in the same way you'll only find about 1 in 10 original Cosworths!

?

I used to run Cosworths before I got into EVO's/Subaru's before I moved to running 335i's.

I dont think that many of the 335i's are being modified, but I don't think it does them any harm its not as if its a rare car that is being spoiled.
In fact a boost upgrade and an LSD is a very worthwhile mod on these and maybe BMW should have included the diff option from new?

I used to run Sierra Cosworths back in the day and most of them were nicely modified (ie looked standard but went like a rocket, some photos below) as they were quite slow when in standard tune.

The Cosworth's were always suited to some tuning as Ford released them with only 220 bhp when the engines were really designed to be running over 300 bhp. It only took a chip to get to 280 bhp and a chip and some minor mods would get you to 340 bhp (which at the time felt like a lot more).

For the last 10 years or so any Cosworth owner I've met their car tends to be meticulously maintained/the cars are now garage queens.

Both these cars respond very well to some very slight tuning, in todays world putting a JB4 on a 335i to go from 300 to 370 bhp is fairly similar to chipping your Cossie from 220 to 280/-340.

Some of my old ones below, I always preferred the looks of the 3 door but its was my Sapphire 4x4's that I preferred to drive.
The 3 doors were wild to drive with 340 bhp, 15" wheels, RWD and cold damp UK roads it was not a good road car. The 4x4 were much better able to cope with the power and would still oversteer out roundabouts if you wanted to). I didnt like the Escort it had previously had a fortune spent on it, 345 bhp, but by that time I had already owned a couple of quick Evo's and Impreza's and the Escort got sold quite soon after buying it.