Hi all,

I've been visting this board for some weeks cause I'm trying to decide to Buy an Evo. I currently drive a 98 BMW M Roadster with Conforti chip and intake. I love my cars engine and torque, but the handling can be dicey especially in bumpy sweepers. I live in Ohio, so in the Winters the M goes nowhere while I drive an autox prepared VW scirocco without the race tires (Just gotta put the cat back on ) . Anyways, I'm looking at the Evo as a replacement. No dealerships around here have allowed me to test drive one unless I buy it. (Buh WHA?!)

So I ask you seasoned EVO drivers... you think I would miss my six's torque too much or is the Evo a logical step forward? I know the Evo will out handle the M anyday...

 

Well, the car will change everything you've learned about driving on a road course, the evo's line is different than a rwd car and actually the car has so much grip that you can sometimes get away without tracking out after clipping the apex. That takes care of the handling picture. In terms of torque, we're all used to 4 bangers, which is to say we're not afraid to rev. I think you'll be fine. With relatively mild mods (MBC + catback) I find that I'm not shifting all that much on a tight 1.6 mile technical road course.. the power is available when I want it. The Evo is certainly a step forward from the M Roadster in terms of potential, but if you're a purist and like rwd handling it might not be for you. And in terms of logic- you know as well as I do that logic doesn't play any role in our car buying decisions .

 

I had a 540i/6sp and aside from the luxury touches, I don't miss it at all. Boost is addicting.

 

It runs circles around my supercharged Z3.

 

rodw,

Concord, CA. I was paying cash and it was the end of the month, so I may have just lucked out since the dealer had to sell 5 cars that month to make his quota.

 

Went from a nearly mint BPU'd 97 M3/4 and I don't miss it at all. Only thing i miss is the girls looking toward the BMW, now its mostly young men looking at me. oh well what can you do. The EVO really is a purist car.

 

The two things that you will notice almost immediately are:

1) Luxury of the BMW interior
2) Turbo Lag

If you can get over those two you will not be disappointed…

 

they now have 1500 dollar incentive to get them outa here

 

link?

 

I see a lot of people talking about getting cars for invoice or less....

BUT WHERE ARE YOU GETTING THEM FROM? IT DOES NOT HELP US IF YOU DO NOT POST THE NAME OF THE DEALER.

 

Don't worry because the Evo produces more torque and hp anyhow. It just isn't as linear of a power delivery as that 3.2 you are used to.

I went from the 3.0 in the 330i to this, and I absolutely love it. A few mods later and you will REALLY love it.

Handling is a non-issue: this car will own any M roadster/coupe stock for stock, as you know the chassis on those cars is "slightly" outdated anyhow compared to the e46.

Good luck and what color are you looking to get?

 

in my honest opinion, you won't miss the m roadster if you were to buy an Evo... i haven't driven a m roadster, but the evo is such a great car and if you are all about performance then you will never look back... good luck with whatever you do

 

i didn't want the stereotype you get with a bmw,benz,audi,jag. the 80's yuppie, suit, cokehead, wall street image is still there.

 

Although my evo is sold and I was just checking on an FS post when I saw this post I felt compelled to respond because of my experience with both kinds of cars.

As far as the power goes, the Evo will more than meet your needs especially in comparing to a 240hp MRoadster. I owned a 2000 MCoupe and it was also shark injected and equipped with a CF CAI. Power potential-wise the Evo has a tremendous amount of head room for modding where the gains for the NA BMW's are pretty minimal unless you are talking Supercharging or turbocharging. I do love the power delivery of the BMW M-car NA inline 6 though, and the sound.....truly something special that the EVO will never have.

Handling-wise, again the Evo stock for stock, or modified will own the M-Roadster with its old-school trailing arm rear set-up. As far as the interior goes the MCoupe and Mroadster aren't necessarily what I would call luxury, but they do have a cool sort of sports-car look with the chrome rimmed round gauges in the center and they do have leather interior which for me is a plus.

Overall the numbers will tell you that the Evo is head and shoulders above the MRoadster. Having said all of that, there are only two cars out of the 45 I have owned that I really regret selling, one would be my 87 Buick Grand National, and the other is my BMW Mcoupe. Even though the Evo has better performance numbers, the MCoupe provided me with the most fun of any car I have owned to date. The MCoupe is definitely a different animal than the MRoadster due to the added rigidity of the fixed top, but overall they are very similar.

If I have the opportunity I will own another MCoupe, probably a 315hp 2002 model. On the other hand I loved my Evo and don't regret the experience of owning and driving one, but probably won't own another one.

Just my .02 for what its worth

N10S

 

value: What did you mean by HB $29K? That wasn't on Oahu was it?