honestly i daily my evo, its not that bad, mpg and trunk space are the only downfalls, other wise i love it

 

Yeah... this is really a personal decision. Because as the previous post says... the trunk is small... but personally I don't put much stuff in my trunk anyways. Never had a problem grocery shopping, etc.

 

If daily commuting is 90% of your concern, stop looking at the Evo. I've had 4 Evos, a 135i, and a 335i, but the Bimmers do the daily drive way better, but fall short as performance cars.

I would say this is locked up for the BMW based on your criteria, but the fact you are coming out of an S2000 gives me hope for the Evo. The S2000 and Evo are both way more drivers cars than the 135/335. That's not to say that BMW doesn't make wonderful driver's cars, but the open differential hurts. Short of an M car, the Evo and S2000 shine brighter there.

Good luck, test drive both on a longer than normal trip to get a better idea of what they are about.
At your budget, you're not going to find a leather GSR, they are too new. An SSS 2008 is in that budget, but it's going to be pretty spartan interior. My past experience and current resale values absolutely show the Evo holds its value much better than the BMWs, especially since the fuel pump nightmare the Bimmer N54 motors have.

 

Im stuck between an EVO X and SRT8 for the baby on the way lol. Glad to see similar people are having this much trouble deciding lol

 

I completely hear what you're saying but I really don't need a drivers car for day to day commute, you can't use the handling of most sports cars on public streets safely anyway and I already have a track toy in the Lotus. As long as the car has decent steering feel, good power and safe brakes I'm happy in the "performance" department for a street car. I think either BMW checks those basic boxes. Even the 128i convertible automatic was sporty and fun through the mountains when we rented one to go from LA to SF on PCH.

Seems like if I could find a MR for the price I want, that might work but I want the nice features that the GSR does not have so maybe the Evo won't work this go around. I do appreciate the great feedback from all of you, seems like a great community.

 

Your lotus is a truley stunning car. Great at handling as well. The SC version to top. However, if you could part with it, you may find what you want in an evo x mr touring. There have been many reviews including the edmunds (best car for daily driving and corner carving review) where the evo x mr out performed the lotus on the road, curvy mountain road, straight line, and on the track. You could use it as a dd, and on the weekends on the track. Just one more opinion. But I am a big fan on the lotus and what it is all about, light weight sports car.

 

Evo is cool but I would never trade a Mitsubishi for the Lotus (no offense). Most the magazine tests used Elises with the crap narrow 5.5 inch wide wheels and small tires which makes a huge difference in performance. With a good set of wider front tires the Elise is fantastic. Then add 50 more rwhp to a stock Elise and the Evo won't touch it unless it has a ton of mods (needs 490 crank hp to match power to weight ratio then it's still heavier in the handling, braking dept). I put the spank on a slew of modified Evo 8 and X at the track yesterday, think the closest one to me was still nearly 3 seconds back per lap.


Besides, I'm not looking for a hardcore performance car to drive on the street. I much prefer two single purpose cars instead of a compromised track/daily driver.

 

I think I saw you on 1addicts.com as I just recently registered there regarding my new to me car 135i. My previous daily driver was an Evo9 which is far worse than an EvoX in terms of daily drivability, however, I honestly had no complaints and still found it fun for daily use. Like I said before, just test drive all of them and see how they are for daily use as everybodys opinion greatly varies to their standards.

 

Yep, I'm cross shopping a 135i, 335i, Evo X kind of weird. How come you went with the 135i instead of going to the Evo X?

 

The BMWs are great new or CPOed but if you go used, be sure you can service them at a reasonable cost.

Daily driverwise, they're all great. The Evo X's motor will buzz and boom a bit, at highway speeds. The seats and driving position are not for everyone either (I'm 6'2, 210lbs and it fits me perfect). Rear visability is poor with wing and rear seat head rests.

Bottom line, like many have already said, drive one, and not just around the block, but for a good 10 mile mix of city and highway miles.

 

honestly the evo is probably the worst DD I've ever owned in terms of comfort. As far as the manual gearbox is concerned, the gears are very short and touchy. Visibility is worse than most would think. Repairs are very expensive. The seats are cool, but the fact that you have to ratchet them up and down kills it for me sometimes. If it wasn't for the fact that the car was so much fun to drive, looks gorgeous, and is fast as hell, I would never have even thought about getting one.

The upsides are that it has great tq for a 4cyl (something I'm sure you would look forward to coming out of an s2000) so you don't really have to rev it much to get it going, the sound system is phenominal stock (I have the rockford fosgate package), and the sound deadening is actually pretty decent. The engine will probably be your worst noise concern, but it sounds nice anyway. Gas mileage really isn't that bad. I get around 23mpg city driving normally(of course you have to use premium or the car runs like crap...). Of course I baby my evo DDing except for a few merging/passing maneuvers.

Repairs are expensive, but generally not much of a hassle. Little stuff happens alot like vaccume hoses and intercooler pipes coming loose.

Top of head dealer prices on general wear items:
brake pads: $250 front only
O2 sensor: $400
spark plugs: $100 set
clutch: about $700 for the clutch itself then 10hrs labor to put it in.

not to mention rediculous prices on stuff like diff oil/trans fluid.

However alot of the stuff you can get alot cheaper by buying online.

Insurance is kinda pricey but that's to be expected in a car like this. I'm 25 with a squeaky clean record and I still pay 175/month full coverage.

 

I don't think it was weird at all as the 135i and EvoX were my only choices haha. As for why I went with a 135i over the EvoX, it all came down to finding one used at such a great price in excellent condition (BMW precertified as well). It was just simply too good of a deal to pass up.

I've owned the car for a week and I seriously need to upgrade it in terms of power as my Evo9 has spoiled me. However, I am really enjoying the luxuries and less attention from cops and other boy racer cars. I personally think you can't go wrong with either choices in terms for a daily driver, and if I had found an Evo9 in great condition at a good price, I'd probably be in that car still.

 

I disagree I find the X to be very comfortable.

 

335i >>>>>>>> 135i IMO. Unless you have some extra cash and get a 1M coupe, get a 335i.

 

The EVO is a great daily driver, not the most comfortable car or luxurious but works for me.