135i N55 or BRZ/FRS or 370Z?
Budget: $30K
Looking for a fun and engaging sports coupe that I can daily reliably. I would only buy in manual. I want to be able to track it (for fun) a few times per year, nothing crazy or competitive. For reference, I’ve driven my friends NA Miata and loved it. But I couldn’t daily it, it’s too slow when going in a straight line, as I’ll be on highways. I don’t mind the age or the interior. I’m quite fond of the size and weight. Just the power doesn’t do it for me.
I’m considering the 135i at the top of my list because it’s easily tunable. It won’t corner as well as a BRZ, but it’s got some grunt that I want from a daily on the highway. The N55 seems relatively reliable, other than gaskets in the engine bay. The turbo issues and fueling issues were fixed from the N54. I would just put on some nice wheels and tires, maybe a slightly louder exhaust, simple tune with MHD and call it a day. It’s relatively light weight at around 3300lbs I think. My worry here is reliability, and driving feel. I’m worried it’ll feel too much like a regular car and not fun. If anyone can chime in on this that’d be great.
The BRZ is a strong contender, as I think it looks the best, and it has the best handling and is the most lightweight. Which would be fun for the times I take it to a track. I would only do an exhaust and wheels/tires on this as it’s not setup to make power. I enjoy the 2700lbs weight with four seats, I think that’s quite impressive. I always hear it’s underpowered, which turns me off.
The 370z is the most reliable from what I hear, and it’s a better handling car than the 135i. But personally, it just looks too “immature”. The interior gauge cluster has that awful silver plastic, which makes it seem tacky and like an arcade driving game. I know, very much my opinion, but I want to like to look at what I’m driving. I don’t mind old interiors, (the E46 M3 is my dream car and it’s got one of the nicest interiors) but I want it to just look good, inside and out. It’s also quite heavy for only two seats, around 3300lbs.
Apart from aesthetics, the motor is very good and reliable, makes good power and I assume would be fun to drive around a track. Handling seems to be better than the 135i but worse than the BRZ. If the Z looked better I’d probably end up choosing that.
Note, I didn’t look at fuel economy and whilst I do care about it, I’m fine with sacrificing some for fun. Within reason of course.
Thanks, and let me know if there are other cars I’m missing.
Edit: What are everyone’s thoughts about paying a bit more for an E46 M3? I think it ticks all my boxes once the big 3 are done. It’s just quite hard to find a nice one in my my area.