135is vs 235i vs m235i

[jaehshim]

I know budget wise it'll be a little different,
but if you were to choose one, what would you choose as a daily driver/often track car?

in terms of mechanical goes, how different are they from each other?

My so far has given me the following answers,
- better interior in the 2
- lighter steering feel in the 2
- power wise, pretty much the same
- handling/ driving experience wise pretty much the same

[angler]

BMW doesn't have a 235i

[Downeaster1]

Mechanically, they are pretty much identical except for the crap electric steering in the M235i. As stated above, there is no regular 235i. In my (bias) opinion, the 135is is better due to the better steering, more "BMW" feel, the performance exhaust, the 313 wheels, etc. Plus they only made 586 of the 135is'.

[ShocknAwe]

You're definitely not going to get many straight answers here and being a 1er forum, those straight answers you get will be biased. Probably.

That being said, even if both cars were available "New" at MSRP, I'd still buy the 135i. I've driven both and while I walked away from my initial 135i test drive totally in love and enthusiastic for the "new car hunt," I walked away from the M235i test drive happy with what I already had sitting in my driveway.

That being said, if interior quality is what you want, the 2er will fill that bill.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

You're definitely not going to get many straight answers here and being a 1er forum, those straight answers you get will be biased. Probably.

That being said, even if both cars were available "New" at MSRP, I'd still buy the 135i. I've driven both and while I walked away from my initial 135i test drive totally in love and enthusiastic for the "new car hunt," I walked away from the M235i test drive happy with what I already had sitting in my driveway.

That being said, if interior quality is what you want, the 2er will fill that bill.

Same here. Test drove the M235i twice and was perfectly happy with my 135i. It made me love the 1er even more. I agree that the interior quality of the M235i is better.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Test drive both and decide for yourself

[3002 tii]

Me personally, I'm not a fan of the 2 series in the looks department and I love the 1's compact size, short wheel base and its bulldog stance. But excluding price as factor, if you can get over the looks, I would say m235i:

- better handling
- similar power as 135is
- more spacious interior
- updated interior

Mechanically they are similar, the biggest difference will be chassis and suspension (m235i wins on both counts). However if you're looking to track regularly, neither will match your E9x M3. The S65 has gobs of power, no cooling issue and the M3 has much less understeer.

[GeeRam]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

I walked away from the M235i test drive happy with what I already had sitting in my driveway.

Same here.

M235 is a good car, but not if you've had an E82 135i IMHO.

Probably even less so coming from a E9* M3, especially from the point of view of steering feel.