Can aftermarket beat factory performance?

 

Nice vid. I don't know where they get the $70k msrp and a $20k dealer mark up though for the M. Sticker here in Vegas is $68k and that's with a dealer mark up.

 

WTF? There is no mark up on M3's... The dealer I bought my E46 M3 from was giving me $1k off MSRP for the E92.

Anyway, the modded 335i might be close to the M3 performance wise, but it is no M. A 420hp high revving(8400rpm) V8 is more exciting than the 335i's straight six. Not to mention the M3 looks and sounds bad ***. The 335i even with the stage 3 suspension setup couldn't match the handling prowess of the stock M3. Imagine what a nice set of coil overs could do for the M3.

They are both nice cars, but I had more fun when i test drove the M3. 335i seemed kind of boring and tame.

 

Ya that was BS. Dinan isnt cheap and Im not totally buying 56k out the door (or whatever price is quoted). Agreed that there are no markups on the M3. The M3 out performs in everyway as well as being more agressive and exclusive. Im pretty sure that at the end of the day they would be pretty close in price for similar performance but the M3 would be worth the extra couple k, especally in the resale.

Victory M3

 

Lets flip the omelet around for a second. The M-3 benefits from the already sucessful 3 series chasis, the 335i was on the market before the M-3.

Secondly and sadly for the 335i, the 335i had to be launched in the market with a false advertizing of performance because otherwise it would hurt the M-3 sales. The 335i has been advertized to keep a float the sales on the M-3. In reality the N54 engine makes 30-40hp more and another 30-40lbtq more, it also accelerates about .5 sec faster that what BMW claims.

This is nothing new, it happened to Porsche with the Cayman S and the regular Porsche 911, they ended having to "scale" down the Cayman other wise the cheaper and more entry model(Cayman) would destroy the 911 sales.

A 335 with coilovers also benefits from the great 3 series chasis. The brakes are already excellent on the 335i (it stops as good as the Evos).

The sound is very subjective, the V8 screaming at 8200rpms sound great but a set of twinturbos also sound very well. After all, I also would choose the M-3(who wouldn't) but just to let you know that the 335i put the performance bar very high as well thus it is very difficult to justify the great price gap between the 335i and the M-3.

..but here is what happens when you have a "mighty" M-3 and someone is next to you in a N54 powered 135i:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIYuJlQy6-8

^^ Isn't that the "high revin 8400rpm all mighty V8 420hp"trying to keep up with the "lesser" nimble N54 engine rated at only 306hp.. Oh yeah, I forgot, the M-3 had LSD and the other car didn't...

my .2c

Carlos

 

Except for the fact that the driver in the M3 couldn't drive. Still the 135i is impressive. Too much body roll though. The new M3 will break 12's stock. I highly doubt the 135i will.

 

the review is garbage, just another way to promote the aftermarket camp.

each car was built for different markets and different buyers.

the 335i was built for a mass market and as a result, the tuner market takes advantage of this opportunity to sell you clip on parts to win street races and quarter mile bragging rights. Meanwhile, the guy who's modded his car crawls back to the dealer wondering why their motor blew up after a couple months of hard driving.

the M3 was built from the ground up to live up to 20 years of ///M driving heritage and performance.

I've driven all ///M cars and the 135i/335i and there is no comparison, M Power wins hands down.

 

I cant wait for my Dinan Stage 2 tune. 385bhp 421ftlbs. with just a reflash and a factory matched warranty...a little expensive but you get what you pay for. Then add a turboback exhaust, CAI, and bigger FMIC and you're pushing about 430bhp+. E92 M3s better lookout for modded 335i's and 135i's