ok so you've now sold the evo, its hard to make a call for someone else on what you want, I went through all the others that you are looking at and settled on the Evo so its like reversing out, I looked at the 370z, good with brembo brakes so can be tracked, bit heavy but good power, larger car more for 2 people than 4, convertible has no real roll over protection, rear wheel drive good, cant really mod other then intake and exhaust, then theres the Evo X, bit heavier then the 8, softer ride for DD, not a bad option if you want to go MR paddle shifter with luxury options.....dont forget the golf R, thats a bit of a track weapon too and has the luxury kit and the new ford focus when it comes out would be what I'd want if I had the money but I would probably settle on a second hand golf r if I had to sell the IX right now

 

If you're over the evo fad, get the 370z. Its a great car and tons of fun to drive. Just dont expect it to make a ton of power NA. I had one, loved it. Would have gotten another if I didnt need a new 4 season capable car.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. Tbh I'm not really over the evo fad I just felt like trying another platform, the 135i ticked all boxes.. Only now I realise the risk it could b in purchasing if many or major issues arise as they're allpretty much out of warranty now . 370z is a good alternative but without FI I don't wanna get bored of the power too quick.
Anyone above that had a bmw n54, was the car still essentially fun to drive and was it moded?? Did find the issues not too bad/costly or did you regret it ever since?
Evo x I would imagine be similar my 8 with a bit more of a modern interior and extra weight to carry around..
Anyone come from an evo8 to evo x... How did you find the transition? Power handling reliability etc etc?

Bottom line is I DON'T need a daily.. I only want FUN weekender. Even thought about dismissing all the modern cars and kswapping or turboing some old Honda lol... Or mx5s .. But then the dilemma of having a reliable car goes with it lol

 

"Evo Fad"?

 

i had a 335i with n54, car drove great and was "quick" , i ran a 13.1 with it in the 1/4 mile which is respectable. it however was nothing but problems and expensive ones at that

ive had quite a few different types of cars but im back at the evo, for the $ you just cant replicate it and hell for almost 2x the money you can't

 

You know... we all bought our cars because it was the cool thing to do.

 

yeah, i'm going to have to agree with some of the guys here. the N54 motor is a piece of ****. the carbon problems alone are a big red flag. add to the fact that the high pressure fuel pump issues were never fully resolved, the waterpumps are over engineered garbage that go out fairly regularly, and expensive. they use plastic for the charge pipe, which cracks regularly. the turbos have rattle issues, and they go bad fairly quickly with leaks and the like. the heat from the engine makes the gaskets go bad fairly quick, so if your oil filter housing starts leaking, ( which it will guaranteed), it will contaminate the drivebelt, and the belt will start to wear and walk off the pulley, and shred into the front main seal behind the crankshaft pulley, due the the conical design of it. you will rip up the seal, and possibly the timing chain components, and, worse case, damage the engine. they took care of a nasty issue where they put the belt on in a way that used to rub onto the front subframe and shred the belt that way. these are all common issues on the N54 motor. look into it. they are the biggest pieces of **** bmw has ever made. good luck in your search.

 

Not me, maybe others. I bought mine because it's what I wanted. After being in Japan, and seeing them up close and personal, knowing their history, I didn't/don't care what the masses do, or think, I got what I WANTED.

 

The evo is the ugliest car that took me 7 years of being surrounded by friends with 4g63's putting down solid numbers for me to cover my eyes with one hand and purchase it with the other.

 

all valid points.. hmmm..

only other cars i have really been looking at are the 370z, which IMO im not sure i am ready to go N/A yet, as i may get bored quickly.
EVO X, what do you think of jumping from an 8 to an X ? i see a lot of people doing it who seem to like it, but the car isnt a daily so i dont care for newer interior and creature comfots, also it will drive similar to a evo8 when the idea of selling the 8 was to dry a different platform (6cyl, rwd etc)

135 was the only car that ticked the boxes, but also has issues, which i guess i will have to look out for.. unless theres another car out there that i've missed. hmmm lucky i dont need it for a daily so im really in no rush and can take my time looking.

 

C5 Z06 or C6 with LS3 would be a totally different platform and totally different feel but accomplishes the same thing as the Evo in a different way. C5Z is actually the raw pure performance driving experience like the Evo but in a different platform.

 

This is the dilemma of most evo owners who sell, what to replace it with. Honestly, there's not a lot of cars in this price range that competes with the car pound for pound. The turbo AWD agile cars are popping up everywhere. It's a formula the evolution has perfected.
With that being said, I'd recommend a RWD V8 liKe a Holden commodore, E92 M3, W204 C63, etc. since you can't get a corvette. If not, maybe a Pcar. The 135i will be too close to the evo, and you'll find yourself comparing the 2.

 

If I was going for a 6.2 litre commodore Id look at the lighter FPV f6 310kw typhoon, racoon face turbo 6 with a bit of tuning you could get 350 to 400 kw out of them and with a bit of suspension work they would make a roaring track car. I've seen v8 comms on the track and they mostly hold you up till they get to the straight and in the wet they are terrible. One wet track day a guy bought a 317kw R8 ute out and he lasted 4 laps, kept losing the back and parked it for the day for safety reasons

one of these:

 

My bad on the Corvette recommendation. I didn't even realize you were from somewhere that couldn't get one. My phone doesn't show user location when I'm reading through posts. I was wondering why nobody had mentioned a Corvette yet but now I see.

 

IF i had the money i would definitely get a e92 M3 or a c63 but they are still so pricey in Australia.. two or three times the price of a 135/370/evo etc.

i'd prefer not to get a commodore or falcon as i prefer smaller/lighter cars (they are nearly 2tonnes)

and yeah unfortunately no corvettes or american muscle as such.. believe me, if i could get a corvette i'd def have gotten one !