2000 328Ci - How to make it faster? Or should I get a G35?

[nshuman]

Hey... So sometime within the next week or so I'm looking to get my second car, and there are two cars in particular that I'm looking at.

The first is a 2004 Infiniti G35 Sedan.. It has just under 60k miles and is selling for around $14,500. The other car is a 2000 328Ci, also with just under 60k miles, but selling for around $11,000. Both cars have the winter package, and the BMW has the sport package as well. Both have a completely clean Carfax report and look to be in excellent condition (I will of course have the car checked out by my mechanic before I buy it). I love both cars and will be totally satisfied and happy with whichever I decide to get, I would just like some opinions.

As for speed, the G35 is definitely quicker than the BMW (does 0-60 in about a second faster), but the BMW is a few thousand dollars cheaper.

Basically, I have two questions...
1. Which of the cars do you think is a better deal, and

2. If I were to go with the BMW, are there any reasonably priced ways to improve its acceleration so that it would be somewhere comparable to the g35?

Thanks for taking the time to read this and give me some feedback, I really appreciate it.

Nick

[Broken-wrench]

If you really knew cars, you would get the BMW. Fast is a term that is really a non factor. If you want a car that will do 130 ALL DAY for weeks on end, the BMW is your only choice. Don't think the G35 could take that. I could get a Neon with nitrous that would be faster for around 1000 miles until it blew up. Point is , which car is better engineered? BMW, hands down. If you want straight line speed , get an old Camero & put a big block in it. In several road racing series, the factory sponsored Infinity's are regularly beaten by numerous privateer BMW teams ~ WHY? : they are better engineered cars to begin with! They are also very easy to tune to get the most out of them. Hey, that Infinity is nothing more than a fancy Nissan to begin with.

How to make the BMW faster? Easy. Almost all parts are bolt on. Jack the car up & put some Bilsteins on it with some Eibach springs. Add to that some Racing Dynamic M3 sway bars & your suspension is almost done! Then reprogram the ECU to remap for more power. Add then and most importantly a B&B exhaust package with an Autothority induction or something similar & you'll forget all about that rice burner !!

[nshuman]

True, I completely agree with you that it is more important to have a car that is engineered better and will last longer. I guess I may have not posted everything I had meant to. I definitely care more about a car that is going to last me a long time than I do about a car thats going to be incredibly fast. Both cars are definitely reasonably quick. I know that BMW's are engineered better, but do you still feel that a 2000 BMW is going to hold up longer than an Infiniti that was made 4 years later? Which car should I expect to have to put more money into for repairs? And also, all of those add-ons/mods that you described to me, how much would it cost to buy all of them and have them installed? And if I'm somewhat short on cash and have, say, $2000 to spend to make the BMW faster, how would that money best be spent? Thanks for your response.

[Broken-wrench]

You are asking lots of questions that no one can answer. I would have no idea which car would last longer as no one could tell you how they were maintained and by whom the work was done. Best bet is that the BMW would have been maintained better ( do you have access to service records to both cars?). I do know that BMW used 4 325's for the 50K mile EPA tests. The BMW used all Mobil products in the tests. The engines all has Mobil1 in them. The cars were maintained per factory recommendations. After the tests, the cars were given to Mobil salesmen to be driven into very high mileage numbers. The cars were maintained on the BMW schedule by BMW dealers & paid for by BMW. After the cars reached 2 MILLION MILES, the engines were pulled & dissembled. All parts were measured for wear. Only 2 parts did not meet brand new specifications. However, they were still with in tolerances, and were not replaced. The engines got new gasket sets & reassembled & reinstalled into the cars from where they came. They were driven another 500,000 miles & returned to the BMW museum in Munich where they are on display today.


Make up your own mind.

[daddyo8]

NShuman,
If Broken-Wrench has not sufficiently convinced you of the merit and soundness of a BMW purchase, I strongly advise you to buy a rice burner so as to experience the benefits of a disposable car. Japanese have indeed made some impressive gains in quality over the years I have been watching them, since 1961 when a family friend
during our station in Japan bought a toyota, but I doubt if they'll surpass the Germans in engineering prowess.
Choose wisely, Grasshopper.

[DavidDock84]

for g35's, theres no better company than stillen. If you want to fork out some money, they have a beautiful twin turbo set up will make your G35 scream with power. If you dont want to spend this kind of money now, you could upgrade your exhaust, add a cold air intake, and some headers. that'll give you some extra power for not that much money.
go to stillen.com or sportcompactonly.com for anything you'll ever want for your car. good choice in a car, too i might add.

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