Upgrade Current Car or Replace it?

[konster296]

Hi,

So I’ve owned my BMW 125i E82 for coming up to 2 years and I really do love it as it’s such a great all rounder whilst still being special thanks to its lovely (but strangled) N52.
I should be getting a company car soon, meaning that my 125i will be reserved for the weekends.

I’m struggling to decide whether I should spend £4-5k modifying it to make a faster road car and give it the ability to handle track days or sell it and get a sports car for £10-12k

Here’s a list of some of the cars I had in mind:
- 370Z
- 987 Boxster
- Z4 3.0si
- Megane/Clio RS

Part of me wants to access the potential of the E82 chassis with M3 bits and also tuning the N52. The other part of my brain says it’s a waste of money spending so much on parts when I could just get a proper sports car.

Any recommendations will be greatly appreciated as I’m pretty stuck on what to do.

Cheers!!

Edited by konster296 on Wednesday 3rd May 18:24

[keo]

Personally I buy a different car rather than modifying. No right or wrong answer though do what makes you happy.

[samoht]

If I were you I'd wait til I actually get the company car and have had it for three months or so, and then reflect on how you're using the two cars to decide whether to stick or twist the 125i.

To my mind the main opportunity from having two cars is in one of them being a ground-up sports car, i.e. not based on a saloon platform, with the compactness, light weight and weight balance that can come from a clean sheet design. I'd consider the 987 from your list, and also MX-5, MR2, and GT86, possibly stretch to a VX220 if 15k is doable.

At the same time if the BMW's engine means more to you than sports-car handling, there's nothing really wrong with spending £5k improving it I think. You won't get the money back when you sell, but it's not a stupid amount to spend if you'll enjoy the car for the next few years as a result.

[Jamescrs]

I do think that throwing money into your 125 is lost money insofar as you will never see it again come sale time, and in some respects it will make the car harder to sell as well.

That being said I own a BMW M240i myself and also until recently had a Porsche 986 Boxster, I sold the Porsche after about 18 months of ownership because when I drove it for more than a couple of days in a row I always wanted to get back in the BMW instead, for me at least the BMW is a better car in just about every aspect, accepting it also much newer than my Porsche was.

Depending on what your company car is going to be if it was me i'd either be looking at a small hot hatch with a view to making a really good track car or i'd be looking at a Lotus Elise or Caterham style kit car.

[konster296]

keo said:

Personally I buy a different car rather than modifying. No right or wrong answer though do what makes you happy.

samoht said:

If I were you I'd wait til I actually get the company car and have had it for three months or so, and then reflect on how you're using the two cars to decide whether to stick or twist the 125i.

To my mind the main opportunity from having two cars is in one of them being a ground-up sports car, i.e. not based on a saloon platform, with the compactness, light weight and weight balance that can come from a clean sheet design. I'd consider the 987 from your list, and also MX-5, MR2, and GT86, possibly stretch to a VX220 if 15k is doable.

At the same time if the BMW's engine means more to you than sports-car handling, there's nothing really wrong with spending £5k improving it I think. You won't get the money back when you sell, but it's not a stupid amount to spend if you'll enjoy the car for the next few years as a result.

Thank you both for the replies! it’s great to hear what you would do.
I’m now leaning towards getting a proper ground up performance car which I’ve never had before.

l’ll definitely wait until I actually get the company car as I might end up appreciating the 125i a bit more than I am now.

[konster296]

Jamescrs said:

I do think that throwing money into your 125 is lost money insofar as you will never see it again come sale time, and in some respects it will make the car harder to sell as well.

That being said I own a BMW M240i myself and also until recently had a Porsche 986 Boxster, I sold the Porsche after about 18 months of ownership because when I drove it for more than a couple of days in a row I always wanted to get back in the BMW instead, for me at least the BMW is a better car in just about every aspect, accepting it also much newer than my Porsche was.

Depending on what your company car is going to be if it was me i'd either be looking at a small hot hatch with a view to making a really good track car or i'd be looking at a Lotus Elise or Caterham style kit car.

Thank you for the reply mate yeah I am a bit worried about throwing quite a a lot of money into it (especially when it’s almost 75% of the cars value).
I’ve never been in a B58 powered BMW, but I can imagine how great a M240i is as an overall package.

I think I’ll be getting a 1.0 turbo petrol of some sort so probs an Octavia, Polo or one of the last Fiestas (hopefully).
As much as I’d love an early Elise or something similar, my car will be parked on the street and I think they need to be kept in a garage.

Edited by konster296 on Thursday 4th May 09:28

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say go for a full fat sportscar & then if you want to add some upgrades, you've started with a better base.
There really is no wrong answer.

[andburg]

konster296 said:

As much as I’d love an early Elise or something similar, my car will be parked on the street and I think they need to be kept in a garage.

I was about to suggest the company car will be driven far far more so ditch the practical hatchback and go for something completely different like a Elise / Caterham but not a great option with no garage.

Got somewhere to store a bike?