Hello all after a long hiatus.

I had an 08 sport 6MT coupe and had to get rid of it about 3.5 years ago when the wife got pregnant in favor of an 07 Tundra double cab 4x4 5.7L (very fun to drive btw).

The child rarely rides with me, so its time to go back to something a bit sportier. I really want a 335i due to the mod friendly nature and lots of undiscovered power, but am scared to death of geman cost of ownership and the pitfalls the cars have had.

So here i am back at a G. I think i want to go with a sedan this time to at least have a functioning back seat. Are there any issues i need to know about before jumping into this? I am still researching and havent seen aything significant. this would be an 08-10 model. pretty much my only prerequisite is a manual transmission.

anything good or bad pop out that would sway me to or from this car or a particular year?

TIA and its good to be back

 

The newer years of the 335i have most of the bugs and kinks worked out. This was something I looked into myself before purchasing my G. The mod-friendly nature of the 335i was very enticing, as you can essentially have a baby M3 for substantially less. Insurance was way more (for me at least), and I've owned way too many German turbo-charged cars to want to deal with another one.

For what it's worth, because you're looking for a manual trans, try to find a 2010 G37s. The 2010 had a minor facelift (interior and exterior). I personally like the look of the headlights of the 2010+ models. The only issue you will have is finding one for a good price. They are rare and hard to come by.

 

Which explains why I flew all the way to Texas and drove my '13 6MT back to Jersey

 

yeah i figured. sedans are cheaper but the fact that they are so few and far between in manual versions will basically make that a wash i guess

 

It's one of those things where if you find one, you buy it as an investment. There will always be someone out there who wants one, because of the rare factor.

And they're just outright darn fun to drive.

 

Hold out for a 6mt car....

Only thing that surprised me was some issues with child seat fit. Make sure any child seat you have/get is compatible with the G's back seat.

And i would probably go with 09+ to get the larger brakes.

 

Just go get a Recaro child seat that matches the car color or interior

 

It's not that simple

Only 2 Recar seats--booster and forward facing, are listed as fitting.

We had bought 2 car seats at Costco when they were on sale and it absolutely wasn't fitting in my car. The seats are heavily sculpted and it is hard to get them secure.

List of compatible car seats:
https://owners.infinitiusa.com/iowne...ation/snugKids

 

I have never looked into child seats as I'm no where close to ever be thinking about that.

 

That's my point

You would think that any car seat would fit, but it wasn't the case. Not a deal breaker, but don't buy a $200 car seat on sale at Costco, throw away the packaging, and realize months later it isn't going to fit.

 

Hahaha well I will definitely keep that in mind for future reference.

 

had no idea about the car seats...thats crappy..hmmmm

we have another on the way too

 

when you guys were doing your search, what else did you consider?

i was almost ruling out the 335
theres the TL - meh
S4 and A6 type stuff is going to be too pricey for what i want to drop, as will an IS-F
i dont want a V8

 

A6, IS-F are auto only. If you want a manual, its a short list...

I also considered the TL-SH AWD 6mt but couldn't find one. Seems they are more RAM than the 6mt G sedan.

Subaru Legacy GT is about the same size, turbo, MT, AWD.

 

Subaru Legacy GT Spec-B was in my interest - it's another one of those cars that are hard to come by. I looked into a the new TLs also, wasn't a fan. Definitely a very boring car. Just for kicks, I drove the Ford Taurus SHO, but you will not be getting one in Manual as they do not make it.

Other than that, I'd check out an A4 (a bit smaller but you can get one in 6MT as well). The new Lexus IS line is very nice, although I cannot comment on being able to get one in manual.