BMW 335i...are there two variants?

[Quigonjay]

really? when was the last time you saw a bog standard tubby?

[GeoffC320]

Do not start with "yeah but my tubby is 787,000 bhp. It's only fair to compare standard Vs standard or modded vs modded.

Why?? Surely it would be just as 'fair' to compare price with price? You could build quite a good MR2 for £30k I would think. It's all a bit irrelevant really.

Don't think you can really compare the cars sensibly, they serve quite different purposes and will probably appeal (largely) to different people. Only thing that is sure, right now if you only have £5k in your pocket there's only one of them you could buy and it ain't the 335...

[Lauren]

Do not start with "yeah but my tubby is 787,000 bhp. It's only fair to compare standard Vs standard or modded vs modded.

Why?? Surely it would be just as 'fair' to compare price with price? You could build quite a good MR2 for £30k I would think. It's all a bit irrelevant really.

Don't think you can really compare the cars sensibly, they serve quite different purposes and will probably appeal (largely) to different people. Only thing that is sure, right now if you only have £5k in your pocket there's only one of them you could buy and it ain't the 335...

Not really.

How are you going to realistically compare a 17 year old car with a brand new one on price?

If you are going to compare price then at least compare the as new price of a turbo with adjustments for inflation to bring it in line with the cost of a new 335i in todays money.

Sure if you only had 5K in your pocket you couldn't buy a new 335i, but you couldn't buy a new MR2 either.

[Kongaroo]

I agree with Jay. Probably the first thing someone does after they buy a tubby is get some sort of boost controller installed and up the boost. I know I did

Maybe that's why you see so few 'standard to standard' comparisons in driving experiences. Let's face it - a tubby owner is hardly going to try and turn down the boost to simulate standard power when he encounters something nice on the road - quite the opposite in fact

[GeoffC320]

Do not start with "yeah but my tubby is 787,000 bhp. It's only fair to compare standard Vs standard or modded vs modded.

Why?? Surely it would be just as 'fair' to compare price with price? You could build quite a good MR2 for £30k I would think. It's all a bit irrelevant really.

Don't think you can really compare the cars sensibly, they serve quite different purposes and will probably appeal (largely) to different people. Only thing that is sure, right now if you only have £5k in your pocket there's only one of them you could buy and it ain't the 335...

Not really.

How are you going to realistically compare a 17 year old car with a brand new one on price?

If you are going to compare price then at least compare the as new price of a turbo with adjustments for inflation to bring it in line with the cost of a new 335i in todays money.

Sure if you only had 5K in your pocket you couldn't buy a new 335i, but you couldn't buy a new MR2 either.

I take your point, but it really just confirms it's a bit pointless comparing. Cost IS a major factor though - I'd guess there are a lot more people on here that would love that level of performance but DO only have £5k to spend rather than £30k. And couldn't care less whether the car's new or not. If those are your limitations then it's clear what your choices are.

[matt_mr2t]

We're not comparing cost, we're comparing PERFORMANCE.

Cost IMO is entirely irrelivent in this conversation.

And if you want to start saying a modded tubby would have it. Just mod the BMW!

I've heard of these things with just a chip seeing 380+ bhp
To get a tubby up to 380bhp is ALOT of effort.

[Johnny G]

really? when was the last time you saw a bog standard tubby?

Yesterday - fella at work had one, bog standard Rev 1.

[GeoffC320]

I've heard of these things with just a chip seeing 380+ bhp
To get a tubby up to 380bhp is ALOT of effort.

You don't need to. It's 300kg lighter. You only need 310bhp to match the BM at 380bhp - as per your own calculations. On the pure numbers, it's really not at all difficult or expensive to get an MR2 up to the same power-to-weight as even the chipped BMW.

Once again, I don't understand what we're supposed to be comparing? Two completely different cars, for completely different budgets. If pure performance is the issue, the OP's car on 286 bhp ought to have the measure of the stock BMW. You've already done the math on that. I'll give you that weight matters less once the car is rolling, and that the 335i has a very nice spread of torque so in the real world when you're not at 9/10ths all the time then I daresay it's performance is far more accessible.

If you want a nice new car with 4 seats, then an MR2 is not even going to get a look-in. If you've only got a very limited budget and no kids, it's a fantastic choice.

To me it's just comparing apples to oranges I'm afraid.

[matt_mr2t]

I think if your to compare the two cars, money and mods should be removed from the equasion.

An MR2 could in theory be modded to be faster than a Veyron, doesnt make it a better car now does it.

[GeoffC320]

I think if your to compare the two cars, money and mods should be removed from the equasion.

An MR2 could in theory be modded to be faster than a Veyron, doesnt make it a better car now does it.

I totally agree with most of that.

But the original post was from a guy asking if there were two versions as he'd come across the BMW (which he actually seems to like) on the road and found it slower than he expected, in relation to his lightly modded tubby.

Examination of the relative power-to-weight ratios appears to prove that due to the BMW's extra weight, it could actually not be as quick as the OP's car. The original comparison was *purely* between the OP's (modded) MR2 and a (presumably) standard 335i.

I don't really know where all the rest of the 'argument' came from?

I don't think anyone's suggesting the MR2 could be a 'better' car (although it certainly may have characteristics many of us prefer). But the fact remains, for the money most of us have in our pockets, it's got to be one of the 'best' cars WE can afford.

As long as you don't need 4 seats.

[mr2nut123]

I think if your to compare the two cars, money and mods should be removed from the equasion.

An MR2 could in theory be modded to be faster than a Veyron, doesnt make it a better car now does it.

I totally agree with most of that.

But the original post was from a guy asking if there were two versions as he'd come across the BMW (which he actually seems to like) on the road and found it slower than he expected, in relation to his lightly modded tubby.

Examination of the relative power-to-weight ratios appears to prove that due to the BMW's extra weight, it could actually not be as quick as the OP's car. The original comparison was *purely* between the OP's (modded) MR2 and a (presumably) standard 335i.

I don't really know where all the rest of the 'argument' came from?

I don't think anyone's suggesting the MR2 could be a 'better' car (although it certainly may have characteristics many of us prefer). But the fact remains, for the money most of us have in our pockets, it's got to be one of the 'best' cars WE can afford.

As long as you don't need 4 seats.

Key word there that sums it up, charicteristics.

I prefer my old Toyota banger as its...

a) more reliable than most of these pants FWD fast shopping trolleys they seem to think are 'sports' cars these days..

b) it looks farrrrrrr better than most of the crap these days

c) with just the boost turned up it is considerably quicker than most stuff these days that are meant to be in the sports car range (we all know the MR2 was de-tuned due to Toyota not wanting it to make the Supra look slow)

d) it has 2 seats so mates can get the bus or drive themselves to where your meeting, I aren't a bloody taxi..

[matt_mr2t]

We're not comparing it to a crappy FWD hot hatch though.

We're comparing it to a VERY good BMW IMO which in it's own right looks very nice and will no doubt be very reliable.

I think one day, when it's as old as a tubby it'll be an equally apealing performance bargain for the masses.

And Goeff, I see what your saying about the original poster saying his car kept up. It's just alot of other people write this car off because of silly arguments. Hence why I stuck of the 335i a bit.