Ok so I have the above and its a great car. Very modern and very quick but it is ridiculously thirsty. Anyone have any suggestions on a car that s similar in price or cheaper thats just as quick, modern and has road presence like the m3 or is it a case of nothing compares?

How about a 335d? A remapped one is blisteringly quick

To demonstrate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN4-KA0VGzs

If you want big performance and fair but not horrendous fuel economy forget V8s or V10s. You could get a Monaro/VXR8 for a lot less money than an M3 to offset the cost but fuel economy will be just as bad.

335i can easily achieve M3 performance with much more bottom end torque with a map, downpipes and FMIC. Although, it doesn't have the same road presence. My old mapped 335i was mapped to 375bhp and I averaged 26mpg with mixed driving.

VX220 turbo offers big performance, reasonable economy and will turn heads if you don't need practicality?

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/vauxhall/vx220

Yes but apparently still not as quick as the m3 and certainly not as good looking.

Again another suggestion I looked into but put off by similar running costs and less build quality.
I looked at the 335i m sport for a long time and was my preference but like you said not as good looking and even though they can be made to be quick...not quite as quick as the m3 and certainly not as involving to drive. Vx220 is far too small.

Lexus ISF
C63AMG

You won't get m3 performance without suffering for fuel, as said a mapped diesel is probably your way forward, the 3.0 audi twin turbo has 313 ps and in a6 guise is only just over 5 seconds to 60 so an a4 with some stick on parts would give you a rs4 oil burner.
C63? That'll do 8 round town.

A modestly tuned 335i is quicker than an M3. A moderate/highly tuned 335i will wipe the floor with an M3. An M3 will handle better though.

You can get RB turbos for £2000 for the 335i if you want brutal performance. It will beat 99.9% of cars your likely to come up against on the road. Type "RB turbo 335i" into youtube.

RB turbo'd 335i vs Tuned E90 M3
RB turbo'd 335i Vs 2014 GTR

Lexus Im insure of.
c63 amg I would love but more expensive to purchase I think.

I need to see some facts and figures on this dan as the quickest tuned ones with downpipes amd jb4 were still slower ?

Lexus' are about the same price as the M3.
I can't see them being any cheaper to run due to the 5 litre V8.

Looked at birds website. 11 grand to make it an m3 beater. Can stick a supercharger on mine for that!

Researching rb turbos but not a case of just sticking two turbos on need all the other supporting mods plus lsd fitted to get that power and suspension etc etc so makes it extremely costly. Have found more power figures though and they are impressive. Will keep looking. ..

Are you saying an m3 is too pricey on fuel but spending 6k on mods isnt an issue?
Think you need to rethink whatvyou actually want from a car and start from. There.

I never once said it wasnt an issue? In fact I did say "so makes it extremely costly" so what the you on about?

Plus 335i m sport alot lot cheaper to purchase

Sorry fella, I didn't re read from the top and assumed I'd remembered your initial issue with the car, which I didnt!

I'll try again, any German performance car from merc, audi or BMW will have very similar running, purchase and repair costs. I'd guess the only difference is how often you are likley to need to spend. We all know that modifications make a car quicker but it will also make it more liable to break. So I'll ask my question again:

You want m3 performance with its assertive road presence but in a package easier on tye wallet, but it can't be any smaller?

To be honest I reckon you've ticket all your boxes with the car you have, a tuned 335 might be quicker but by tye time youve finished you'll have paid m3 money for something that isnt an m3. You coukd go rs or Amg but youll have the same expenses as with an m car.

A class Amg perhaps? Or maybe a focus rs 500. At least with a focus you'd not getvthe depreciation factor of the top end Germans.

I have an m3 thats rediculously thirsty - anyone think of a similar car that's cheaper.
I read that as I do a few miles and its costing a fortune in fuel, so id like the car but without its drinking habit.

You could keep it and run a lpg kit on it. Not sure what the long term effects would be but i ran lpg on my x5 for 10k and it was spot on

Not looked into the stats but would an E60 M5 do the trick, given you can run it on 400bhp when you're trying to be economical?*


*which in itself sounds hilarious when you read it out loud

5lt V10 at the end of the day plus it weighs alot too. Short answer is no that would definitely NOT do the trick!

I personally thick the OP is asking too much, short answer for the OP is no/not possible to keep all those boxes ticked.

Any more info/opinions on the lpg? Yep I thought as much guys there isnt any other real option but I thought I would ask in case I missed anything

The only car I can think of which ticks all of your boxes is a Tesla S. It's 416bhp 0-60 4.2 seconds and has a range of 312 miles. It's electric so zero Road tax too. The only problem is that it costs £60k+! It even has a 17" touch screen in the dash!

You can get the lesser model with 361bhp for less money.

http://www.teslamotors.com/en_GB/models

Dan thats a bit extreme though very cool. I was quite happy with the fuel consumption of a modified coupe so something similar would be fine
Say no worse than 25 average mpg...but there is nothing without heavy modding. Some modding is fine if its clear and straight forward to follow with plenty of specialists like it is on this forum.

You could buy an M135i like I did? I'm the first to admit they are not a good looking car and it doesn't have much presence, but you can add a few M Performance bits to them so they stand out. I average 27mpg and road tax is £200 a year. A remap, downpipes and a FMIC should see roughly 380-400bhp and 400+ lb/ff

Here's one with a few M Performance bits

http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n626/petay993/P1030667.jpg

http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/n626/petay993/P1030669.jpg

I dont like look of them but figures sound impressive...
...though I did find myself more interested in the pics of the lycra clad women, which says it all really

Maybe I will try and live with maybe chop and change with a few cars or other cars of similar budget when Im bored or fed up pf petrol stations and by that time the new m3 or m4 will be more attainable which if it was now would tick my boxes same pace, less fuel heavy.

E39 M5.
They'll do 30mpg at 70 on the motorway

Too old Tim.

Clutching at straws, but what about a

Jag XFR ?
Maserati QP
Audi RS 4/ 6....
Some kind of Porsche? Cayman even?