[Cos270]

I've crossed the one year mark with my M235 so I thought I'd start a little thread detailing my experience so far.

A little backstory on the car and how I came upon it: Found the car listed in the CCA classifieds with mileage that I thought was certainly a typo considering the asking price. To top it off, the spec was exactly what I would have ordered new from the factory (sans LSD): Estoril Blue over Terra, 6spd, slick top, M-performance exhaust. A few emails back and forth with the seller, and I had a one way ticket purchased to Portland, Maine to go see the car. The seller was so cordial and polite, and a diehard BMW fan. He just purchased a M240 performance edition and his wife had told him he couldn't own two of the same car. He was the second owner of the 235, and it lived a pampered life as his summer car - he only put 5k miles on it in the 2 years he owned it. Apart from needing new rubber, the car came back with a clean bill of health after a PPI. After exchanging cash for keys, the car was mine.

I had a nice thousand mile drive back to Michigan to get to know the car. The car performed flawlessly and I had to pinch myself several times, not really believing I actually owned the car I had wanted since it was announced and had lusted for after seeing one outside of a lecture hall during a college summer class. I didn't push the car too much, being wary of the worn tires and stock charge pipe. But it was a huge step up in power from anything I had owned before.

Once I made it back to Michigan, I went to the nearest dealer for an oil change and brake fluid and coolant flush. I ended up limping the tires along till winter, before I swapped them for Blizzaks. The car handled the snow like a champ (Eco-mode is fantastic in the snow for controlling throttle response). Over the winter I preemptively replaced the charge pipe with one from FTP - the stock unit seemed totally fine, for what it's worth, at 39k miles.

When spring time rolled around, I sprung for fresh Michelin rubber and Apex Arc-8 wheels. A square setup of 17x8.5 with 245x40 PS4S's all around. I thought now was the perfect time for my first little road trip to really see what the car was made of. On Easter weekend, I decided to drive up to the north west side of the state to see the Sleeping Bear Dunes and check out Traverse city. Unfortunately, I was a little early as there was still flurries with some brutally cold wind, but the roads were clear and a few evenings after dinner I was able to put the hammer down and enjoy some curves on M22 along the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan.

Several trips down to Indianapolis for work and to visit family, along with another trip up to Traverse City with the local BMW CCA club and the car never skipped a beat. In July, I had planned to visit some friends in Atlanta and spend a week working remotely from an AirBnB. Flights had just started getting expense again and rental car prices were still through the roof, so even with the high gas prices, it was cheaper to drive. Another opportunity to get better acquainted with the 2. The trip was wonderful, and the car ate up the miles. Devouring the fantastic twisties on the north side of Georgia, and gleefully exploring detours from the interstate at the Georgia Tennessee boarder.

Fast forward to today and the car sits at 52,400 miles. Having bought the car last August with 33,300 that's a little over 19k miles - almost 4X what the pervious owner drove during his tenure. The car has been nothing but reliable. No check engine lights, and apart from the charge pipe and coolant overflow pipe (which I consider maintenance items on these cars), the only other parts I've had to replace is the battery, which I just replaced preemptively before this coming winter, even though it showed no signs of needing it. Looking to the future, I plan on addressing a few more known weak points when it's most convenient: replacing the idler pulley and tensioner while replacing the belt, adding a crank seal guard and replacing the plastic "mickey mouse" flange with an aluminum one when it comes time for the oil filter housing gasket, and possibly an intercooler upgrade if the tuning bug catches me.

All-in-all, the car has been a pure delight to own and drive. I have seen a few people comment that our cars are not really sport cars and fall more into the GT category. I tend to agree, though I think it straddles those categories a bit without living squarely in either. The handling is not quite sharp or focused enough compared to other sports cars, but the suspension is not nearly as supple or absorbing as a GT. For years, I've thought that these cars were really the successors to the E46 ZHP (albeit with performance comparable to that generation's M3) and after owning one, I think that comparison sticks. I'd like to see how it handles on track at some point, but oil starvation issues do give me pause. Perhaps I'll invest in an S55 sump conversion later down the road.

I don't plan on selling anytime soon. For what I paid for it, there is nothing comparable that I could buy to replace it, especially in today's market. Manual RWD cars with 300+ HP for under 40k are an ever-shrinking category. The only thing that could get me out of it right now is a Porsche, which I do hope to get into one day, but that's not in the cards for at least a few more years.

A few pictures from the journey so far:

[Cos270]

Thought I would add a few Blackstone oil sample analyses for good measure. The earlier one was using BMW TwinPower OW30 which meets LL01-FE, and the latest one was using TwinPower 5W30, which meets LL01. Oil was run fall through winter and spring through summer respectively.

[Mike F.]

For what I paid for it, there is nothing comparable that I could buy to replace it, especially in today's market. Manual RWD cars with 300+ HP for under 40k are an ever-shrinking category. The only thing that could get me out of it right now is a Porsche, which I do hope to get into one day, but that's not in the cards for at least a few more years.

My feelings, exactly!

[leftoverture]

Nice write up. Great to see you out there enjoying your car by actually driving it!

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by leftoverture

Nice write up.

Yes, indeed it is.

[JMcLellan]

I love to see your story with your car and the fact that you actually drive it everywhere. Good for you. Cheers to many more years!

[MaKSiNG]

Great write up.
Enjoyable read. Thank you!

Makes me want one even more now

[RichardC300]

Great story! I've had my 2015 M235i 6MT for about 15 months and 13k miles. Really amazing car. I keep looking for a next car, but like you, nothing under 40k really appeals to me, so I've just done a few small mods, including the same Apex wheels!

[Miata13]

Have had our '19 230i xDrive Track Package for a little over three years with total of 26k miles. A trip to O'Fest in 2019 in Greenville and several BMW CCA Driver's Schools, some auto-x events as well as local BMW CCA events have been highlights in our trouble-free experience with this car. My only quibble is the lack of camber adjustability which causes excessive front tire wear on the MPSS tires...not going for the adjustable camber plate solution for my use case. Now fitted with 17" BMW wheels and Conti TS830 RF winters for that white stuff now falling from the sky

[Cos270]

Originally Posted by Miata13

Have had our '19 230i xDrive Track Package for a little over three years with total of 26k miles. A trip to O'Fest in 2019 in Greenville and several BMW CCA Driver's Schools, some auto-x events as well as local BMW CCA events have been highlights in our trouble-free experience with this car. My only quibble is the lack of camber adjustability which causes excessive front tire wear on the MPSS tires...not going for the adjustable camber plate solution for my use case. Now fitted with 17" BMW wheels and Conti TS830 RF winters for that white stuff now falling from the sky

Yeah, I have heard that they eat front tires because of the lack of camber adjustment. Planning on swapping out the FLCAs for the M2 units at some point to try and mitigate the premature wear. I will probably downgrade to a cheaper tire once these PS4S wear out; my limits are well below what the tires are capable of, especially on the street. Glad yours has been treating you well!

[Cos270]

Originally Posted by leftoverture

Nice write up. Great to see you out there enjoying your car by actually driving it!

Originally Posted by dradernh

Yes, indeed it is.

Originally Posted by JMcLellan

I love to see your story with your car and the fact that you actually drive it everywhere. Good for you. Cheers to many more years!

Originally Posted by MaKSiNG

Great write up.
Enjoyable read. Thank you!

Makes me want one even more now

Originally Posted by RichardC300

Great story! I've had my 2015 M235i 6MT for about 15 months and 13k miles. Really amazing car. I keep looking for a next car, but like you, nothing under 40k really appeals to me, so I've just done a few small mods, including the same Apex wheels!

Thanks to all for the kind comments! Will try and keep this thread updated from time to time. This forum has been a wealth of knowledge.