[jwr0721]

Which is better?

[///MCFC]

It's coming true!

[bimmerfile]

[jbenington86]

[Sportstick]

Both, neither, and we don't do "better" analyses around here. You decide for you.

If you want to take the courtroom approach and "withdraw and rephrase", you might get some answers to "which do you like more and why?"

[jwr0721]

Oh wow. I wasn't trying to instigate. And by "which is better" I meant - which do you prefer.

What sparked this was looking at the CarMax website and seeing a few 1M's and one M235.

I have an M235i but love the 1M too.

[jwr0721]

Originally Posted by Sportstick

Both, neither, and we don't do "better" analyses around here. You decide for you.

If you want to take the courtroom approach and "withdraw and rephrase", you might get some answers to "which do you like more and why?"

Also - I don't think there are rules. Anyone can post on this board whatever they want to post. If you don't want to take part, then don't.

I think, unlike many of you - I'm not threatened by someone else's opinion about my car or my choices. I drive my car because I want to drive it.

And because I'm not threatened by someone else's opinion - I happen to be interested in what other people think.

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by jwr0721

Also - I don't think there are rules. Anyone can post on this board whatever they want to post. If you don't want to take part, then don't.

I think, unlike many of you - I'm not threatened by someone else's opinion about my car or my choices. I drive my car because I want to drive it.

And because I'm not threatened by someone else's opinion - I happen to be interested in what other people think.

No there aren't "rules" on this issue, but you've already got a sense of the community. We had another recent thread (which I think we're glad seems to be over) where due to poor writing or simple arrogance, some thought they could declare one car objectively "better" than another. No one was "threatened" but it was annoyingly poor thinking, if not just bad communication, and it was pointed out repeatedly. We are all here to share opinions and information. The problem was some folks trying to cloak their personal subjective opinions as facts. It got ugly with name-calling and profanity. So, no, you're right, there isn't a "rule", but there is certainly a path of less resistance and more acceptance. "Better" is still a sore point as a communication style. Sorry for the pounce.

[jwr0721]

I just want to be clear - I love BMW's - all of them, even the ones I think are stupid - like the GT's and the i3. I've loved BMW's since I was 5 years old and my step dad brought home this beautiful 320.

[Sportstick]

Originally Posted by jwr0721

I just want to be clear - I love BMW's - all of them, even the ones I think are stupid - like the GT's and the i3. I've loved BMW's since I was 5 years old and my step dad brought home this beautiful 320.

Your step dad and I have something in common, although my hair was longer. Here was my first 1977 320i which I wrote about for the Roundel waaaaay back when.



Here's to keeping loving them!

[jwr0721]

Beautiful!

I want to get an old 320 and restore it to like-new condition.

Actually, on second thought - I'd rather buy one in like-new condition (I'm not mechanical at ALL lol).

[nike001]

Better in terms of what?

If you're looking for a garage queen to not drive, take out every few weekends, go to car shows, & keep for an extended period of time - 1M
If you're looking for a DD that is also a fantastic hoon-mobile - 235i

It's mostly about what you plan on doing with it, and how long you plan on having it. Even though the 235i is said to be 'faster' than a 1M, it's a completely different environment you're in between the two (IMO)

[mvallido]

Originally Posted by nike001

Better in terms of what?

If you're looking for a garage queen to not drive, take out every few weekends, go to car shows, & keep for an extended period of time - 1M
If you're looking for a DD that is also a fantastic hoon-mobile - 235i

It's mostly about what you plan on doing with it, and how long you plan on having it. Even though the 235i is said to be 'faster' than a 1M, it's a completely different environment you're in between the two (IMO)

Agreed.

[dan99]

Depends on what you want out of a car.

[IEDEI]

if you want a true driver's car...get a 1M. If you want a luxury/sporty coupe get a 235.

FYI the 1M is a way better DD than the 135is I had before....and I consider the 235 to be more comparable to the 135is if anything. plenty of us DD our 1Ms.... and they are ridiculously fun to drive.....

[midwest 340xi 6sp]

[DFW_M]

Originally Posted by jwr0721

Which is better?

One is an M car the other is an M-wannabe and a marketing concept for those that have not tried a true M. No comparison between an M car and a non-M car.

[midwest 340xi 6sp]

Originally Posted by dr335is

One is an M car the other is an M-wannabe and a marketing concept for those that have not tried a true M. No comparison between an M car and a non-M car.

I don't view the M235i as an "M wanna be" at all...As someone who's owned both previous generation M3's, I knew exactly what I was getting with this car - and what I wasn't.

Its a great blend of handling, feistiness, snort and refinement all in one package..

If I wanted an M3/M4 I would have/could have sprung for that They're damn nice cars and the crown jewel of BMW Imo. But they've gotten too big and overly complex for my tastes.

I'm so glad there is a vehicle for enthusiasts who no longer find joy in any 3 or 4 series and the Z's were never a consideration.

[pikcachu]

just wonder in what universe a 1M is better "daily driver" than a 135....

[nachob]

OP, it all depends on what you look for in a car.

If you value excitement and feeling fully alive every second, then the 1M is better. If you prefer to feel comfy and cozy and get a little thrill here and there, the M235i is better.

If you are the type of guy that goes out for milk late in the evening and heads off on impulse on some long drive through some barren windy road...the 1M is better. If you prefer to spend 20 minutes in the car playing with buttons and gadgets on the iDrive screen and tinkering with bluetooth then M235i is better.

If you like making love at midnight on the dunes on the cape, the 1M is your car. If you turn the lights off at home and leave your socks on the M235i is better.

If you think a hot looking girl that works out 5 days a week and is smoking hot, all-natural with little makeup is special, then 1M is better for you. If it truly doesn't matter to you if the girl got that great figure by getting liposuction, butt and breast implants as long as she looks as as good or better than the natural girl, then the M235i is better for you.

If you you think self-parking cars, folding mirrors and self opening rear doors and trunks are must-have features in any car, then M235i is better. If you are the type of guy that will all of sudden change your path just to change the course of destiny, then 1M is better.

If you prefer to buy a 5 gallon jug of ice cream at Costco, then go to Baskin Robbins because Costco ice cream is a much better value and saves gas, then M235i is better.

If you have ask, which is better, then the M235i is probably better for you.

I hope that helps!

The 1M is a driver's car...you drive it...period. It's the hot chick that works out. It might not look on the surface as hot as the lipo-implanted girl but it's all real. It makes big sounds that some complain that it can "drone" but they are REAL mechanical sounds not sound studio enhanced and optimized.

It weighs close to 200-300 lbs less depending on options and again, it might not look as good but you feel it.

It has a full bonafide ///M 100% Full-lock differential that not even the $3000 add-on 30% LIMITED slip diffential can replicate.

It has 335HP and 332 lb/ft of torque and 369 lb/feet in overboost during high load low RPM situations like flooring it on the highway in 6th gear. Wrapped in a 3296 lb car. Now keep in mind that this is 3296 lbs including enormous full ///M 14" brakes with floating cross drilled rotors not smaller solid rotors like M235i as well as including the ///M full-lock diff. The M235i is a portly 3505 lbs in manual and 3553 with automatic which will only go up when adding the heavier limited slip unit if you decide to do that.

The 1M is manual only...and there is no comfort button. It only comes with one fixed suspension setting....MANLY. It's not compromised by softer springs required to make a suspension being able to support a "COMFORT" mode.

When it starts cold in the morning, people within 1 block of your house will know it. It's not a good spy car. Young children will fight for a turn to hit the START button in the morning on the way to school so they could wake the beast. Young kids will giggle in the morning when you start it up and tell you that daddy's car is scary but cool. You will not get that in the M235i. The only way the M235i will be scary is if you are doing something stupid and dangerous....the 1M is scary just starting it up in the morning. It's so amazing on cold start, that you will find yourself going to the parking garage at lunch break and firing up to make the whole parking structure quiver.


So this is what I mean that so many don't get about the 1M. They look at figures and they don't paint the correct picture. The M235i is a very cool, very quick car that if you are tired at night can fall asleep at the wheel. If you fall asleep behind the wheel of the 1M, there is something seriously wrong with you. It doesn't attack your senses but it pokes at your comfort zone all the time where you feel that you are on top of a crazy, powerful horse that is following your commands because it wants to. The M235i is basically just as fast and posts the similar numbers but not in a way that your knees will knock when you get out of it.

To get a 1M requires some surrendering of all out cushiness for excitement even standing still. If you like Marvel Comics and movies. The 1M is Natasha Romanova (Scarlet Johansen) the M235i is Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow) both are super attractive albeit one is more dangerous. This is the closest analogy I can make. I hope it helps out.

If too confusing, just get an M235i, it is a great car and great value. If you are starting to get midlife impulses like you feel your life is a rut and scaling Mt. Everest is what you need to feel whole again, then hunt down a 1M.

[midwest 340xi 6sp]

Originally Posted by nachob

OP, it all depends on what you look for in a car.

If you value excitement and feeling fully alive every second, then the 1M is better. If you prefer to feel comfy and cozy and get a little thrill here and there, the M235i is better.

If you are the type of guy that goes out for milk late in the evening and heads off on impulse on some long drive through some barren windy road...the 1M is better. If you prefer to spend 20 minutes in the car playing with buttons and gadgets on the iDrive screen and tinkering with bluetooth then M235i is better.

If you like making love at midnight on the dunes on the cape, the 1M is your car. If you turn the lights off at home and leave your socks on the M235i is better.

If you think a hot looking girl that works out 5 days a week and is smoking hot, all-natural with little makeup is special, then 1M is better for you. If it truly doesn't matter to you if the girl got that great figure by getting liposuction, butt and breast implants as long as she looks as as good or better than the natural girl, then the M235i is better for you.

If you you think self-parking cars, folding mirrors and self opening rear doors and trunks are must-have features in any car, then M235i is better. If you are the type of guy that will all of sudden change your path just to change the course of destiny, then 1M is better.

If you prefer to buy a 5 gallon jug of ice cream at Costco, then go to Baskin Robbins because Costco ice cream is a much better value and saves gas, then M235i is better.

If you have ask, which is better, then the M235i is probably better for you.

I hope that helps!

The 1M is a driver's car...you drive it...period. It's the hot chick that works out. It might not look on the surface as hot as the lipo-implanted girl but it's all real. It makes big sounds that some complain that it can "drone" but they are REAL mechanical sounds not sound studio enhanced and optimized.

It weighs close to 200-300 lbs less depending on options and again, it might not look as good but you feel it.

It has a full bonafide ///M Full-lock differential that not even the $3500 add-on 20% LIMITED slip diffential can replicate.

It has 335HP and 332 lb/ft of torque and 369 lb/feet in overboost during high load low RPM situations like flooring it on the highway in 6th gear. Wrapped in a 3296 lb car. Now keep in mind that this is 3296 lbs including enormous full ///M 14" brakes with floating cross drilled rotors not smaller solid rotors like M235i as well as including the ///M full-lock diff. The M235i is a portly 3505 lbs in manual and 3553 with automatic which will only go up when adding the heavier limited slip unit if you decide to do that.

The 1M is manual only...and there is no comfort button. It only comes with one fixed suspension setting....MANLY. It's not compromised by softer springs required to make a suspension being able to support a "COMFORT" mode.

When it starts cold in the morning, people within 1 block of your house will know it. It's not a good spy car. Young children will fight for a turn to hit the START button in the morning on the way to school so they could wake the beast. Young kids will giggle in the morning when you start it up and tell you that daddy's car is scary but cool. You will not get that in the M235i. The only way the M235i will be scary is if you are doing something stupid and dangerous....the 1M is scary just starting it up in the morning. It's so amazing on cold start, that you will find yourself going to the parking garage at lunch break and firing up to make the whole parking structure quiver.


So this is what I mean that so many don't get about the 1M. They look at figures and they don't paint the correct picture. The M235i is a very cool, very quick car that if you are tired at night can fall asleep at the wheel. If you fall asleep behind the wheel of the 1M, there is something seriously wrong with you. It doesn't attack your senses but it pokes at your comfort zone all the time where you feel that you are on top of a crazy, powerful horse that is following your commands because it wants to. The M235i is basically just as fast and posts the similar numbers but not in a way that your knees will knock when you get out of it.

To get a 1M requires some surrendering of all out cushiness for excitement even standing still. If you like Marvel Comics and movies. The 1M is Natasha Romanova (Scarlet Johansen) the M235i is Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow) both are super attractive albeit one is more dangerous. This is the closest analogy I can make. I hope it helps out.

If too confusing, just get an M235i, it is a great car and great value. If you are starting to get midlife impulses like you feel your life is a rut and scaling Mt. Everest is what you need to feel whole again, then hunt down a 1M.

Driven em both, had a chance to buy both and I own the M235..IMO your portrait of the M235 vs 1m is nicely poetic and somewhat jaded all at the same time.

1m is absolutely a passion car, but so is the M235. Not going to get into which one is better. Two different missions for two different cars that each fulfill well.

Glad you love your 1m - enjoy the heck out of it! Its definitely a special little beast.

And I'm having the time of my life in the M235.

[jwr0721]

Originally Posted by nachob

OP, it all depends on what you look for in a car.

If you value excitement and feeling fully alive every second, then the 1M is better. If you prefer to feel comfy and cozy and get a little thrill here and there, the M235i is better.

If you are the type of guy that goes out for milk late in the evening and heads off on impulse on some long drive through some barren windy road...the 1M is better. If you prefer to spend 20 minutes in the car playing with buttons and gadgets on the iDrive screen and tinkering with bluetooth then M235i is better.

If you like making love at midnight on the dunes on the cape, the 1M is your car. If you turn the lights off at home and leave your socks on the M235i is better.

If you think a hot looking girl that works out 5 days a week and is smoking hot, all-natural with little makeup is special, then 1M is better for you. If it truly doesn't matter to you if the girl got that great figure by getting liposuction, butt and breast implants as long as she looks as as good or better than the natural girl, then the M235i is better for you.

If you you think self-parking cars, folding mirrors and self opening rear doors and trunks are must-have features in any car, then M235i is better. If you are the type of guy that will all of sudden change your path just to change the course of destiny, then 1M is better.

If you prefer to buy a 5 gallon jug of ice cream at Costco, then go to Baskin Robbins because Costco ice cream is a much better value and saves gas, then M235i is better.

If you have ask, which is better, then the M235i is probably better for you.

I hope that helps!

The 1M is a driver's car...you drive it...period. It's the hot chick that works out. It might not look on the surface as hot as the lipo-implanted girl but it's all real. It makes big sounds that some complain that it can "drone" but they are REAL mechanical sounds not sound studio enhanced and optimized.

It weighs close to 200-300 lbs less depending on options and again, it might not look as good but you feel it.

It has a full bonafide ///M Full-lock differential that not even the $3500 add-on 20% LIMITED slip diffential can replicate.

It has 335HP and 332 lb/ft of torque and 369 lb/feet in overboost during high load low RPM situations like flooring it on the highway in 6th gear. Wrapped in a 3296 lb car. Now keep in mind that this is 3296 lbs including enormous full ///M 14" brakes with floating cross drilled rotors not smaller solid rotors like M235i as well as including the ///M full-lock diff. The M235i is a portly 3505 lbs in manual and 3553 with automatic which will only go up when adding the heavier limited slip unit if you decide to do that.

The 1M is manual only...and there is no comfort button. It only comes with one fixed suspension setting....MANLY. It's not compromised by softer springs required to make a suspension being able to support a "COMFORT" mode.

When it starts cold in the morning, people within 1 block of your house will know it. It's not a good spy car. Young children will fight for a turn to hit the START button in the morning on the way to school so they could wake the beast. Young kids will giggle in the morning when you start it up and tell you that daddy's car is scary but cool. You will not get that in the M235i. The only way the M235i will be scary is if you are doing something stupid and dangerous....the 1M is scary just starting it up in the morning. It's so amazing on cold start, that you will find yourself going to the parking garage at lunch break and firing up to make the whole parking structure quiver.


So this is what I mean that so many don't get about the 1M. They look at figures and they don't paint the correct picture. The M235i is a very cool, very quick car that if you are tired at night can fall asleep at the wheel. If you fall asleep behind the wheel of the 1M, there is something seriously wrong with you. It doesn't attack your senses but it pokes at your comfort zone all the time where you feel that you are on top of a crazy, powerful horse that is following your commands because it wants to. The M235i is basically just as fast and posts the similar numbers but not in a way that your knees will knock when you get out of it.

To get a 1M requires some surrendering of all out cushiness for excitement even standing still. If you like Marvel Comics and movies. The 1M is Natasha Romanova (Scarlet Johansen) the M235i is Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow) both are super attractive albeit one is more dangerous. This is the closest analogy I can make. I hope it helps out.

If too confusing, just get an M235i, it is a great car and great value. If you are starting to get midlife impulses like you feel your life is a rut and scaling Mt. Everest is what you need to feel whole again, then hunt down a 1M.

This. Post. Is. Everything.

The day after I bought my M235 I went back to the dealership to pick some crap up that I left in my trade-in. While I was there I saw a 1M on the used lot and I have kicked myself at least once a week since wishing I'd seen that before I bought the M235.

I love my M235 ... But I will always hate that I didn't get that 1M.

I look at the CarMax site and see those 1M and daydream about driving to wherever those cars are and making a horrible financial decision to trade my 5 month old M235 for a 4 year old 1M.

Love your post.