[Digitalfiend]

More 2008 tuning:
PDXTuning Tuned 2008 STI - Proven Power Bragging - NASIOC

Stock: 250-255whp/260wtq.
UTEC tune: 273whp/326wtq.
UTEC tune + Legacy downpipe: 282whp/343wtq.

Not bad. Can't wait to see what these things are capable of once people start decoding the new ECU and AVCS.

[inpuressa]

How long does a BMW last before it breaks down? Granted it's a 1 series...
Do you enjoy it for 3 years and then throw it away? Hope that BMW fixed their gremlins with the electical system(not so much mechnical).

EDIT: I went and researched on the 135i. Seems like a good car. I don't think it will be a good track car unless you do some significant work to it though. The fact that it has an open rear diff doesn't help. Honestly, I don't see why the 135i has any advantage over the STi other than "look at me, I have a BMW".

[SilverSurfer]

The 135i will be a cool car. I think that special edition would be really fun and cool, but sounds overpriced for what was listed as the add-on features.

I think the interior in the 135i BMW will most likely be better than the STi. Though the new STi interior is much more on par with what a good interior should look like imho and the gap won't be large. The 135i most likely will ride/cruise better and more comfortably on the highway. BMWs are luxury performance cars so I expect that.

STi wins in the practical department and it's not even close.

Bang for buck modding and real world track use go to the STi as far as I'm concerned. I keep hearing in this thread all about how 335i are making 400whp with a catback and tune. Maybe on an inflated dyno. STis do pretty good on an inflated dyno too. I'm very doubtful the 135i and 335i will make power this easy in the real world. Show me a 335i with tune/exhaust that's in mid or low 12s. I could care less about the dyno. Haven't heard much about the 335i or 135i on a road course yet either. Until I see real world track proof I'm not impressed. Sorry.

The STi will be much cheaper to modify and track than a BMW (you can get a custom Enginuity ECU tune for $150-$250; exhaust and suspension mods will be cheaper on the STi too plus there is just alot more available for the STi). I haven't seen too many performance modifications for BMWs that are cheap.

BMW 135i will be a great car and if I wasn't going to modify my car and more importantly didn't have kids I would serioiusly consider it. Just I think STi is better bang for buck performance car and alot more practical.

[Mi_Black_Pearl]

^ +1!...completely agree

[MGizzle]

My friend that I race with (he races a BMW) is ordering a 135i and we have been debating back and forth what is better for him, 08STi or the 135i. Bottom line is, the 135i will not be close to the track times the STi will be putting down. The brembo brakes on the 135i were ONLY installed because the regular BIMMER brakes couldn't fit the wheel offset. They don't have any performance improvement over the sliding calipers on the 335i. At the same time, the brakes last 3-4 laps before fading out and the fluid boiling. Read the Bimmer magazine that came out this month.

At the same time, the 335i has been plagued with blown engines and overheating issues in the inital release. They added an oil cooler but it didnt' help much....so if you want to track your car once a month or so you bettter watch out. Good luck with runing more power on it too if heating issues are already present.

Having said that, for the same money than the 08 STi (we are going to place the deposit on his Bimmer in a week or so) he got a very luxurios car (red leather, black exterior, HD radio, I-Pod stuff, M steering wheel) with 300hp and the most solid ride of any car out there. Go drive in any 3 series bimmer and compare it to your STi. Night and day in comfort without the loss of control. ALSO the maintanance plan is RIDICULOUS!!! My 05 STi would've cost me over $7000 in two years (60k miles on it) for the services that dealers recommend. 2k lower doing the subaru manual recommended stuff. He just drops his keys off, gets another nice car and picks his car up until he hits 50k on it. That is at least a $3-4k savings. Nice if you ask me. I am sick and tired of getting ripped off by Subaru dealers for silly services. $200 for a freakin' "induction cleaning" that uses $10 worth of parts?!??!!? No tx, I will go buy a box of Q tips and some induction cleaner for $5.

Anyhow, the BIMMER is really nice considering that the STi is about $38k with the "needed" options (BBS rims). If they priced the STi the same as they did the previous year this discussion would not be taking place. For the $32k I payed for my 05 you couldn't even touch it at those times...but with the prices now...hmmmmmm not sure what is going to happen.

I can't wait until he gets his bimmer so I can see what it does on the track.

[0utlier]

I think it's been mentioned before in this thread, and it is somewhat stating the obvious, but the STI being a hatchback is a deal-MAKER for me and I'm sure for others as well. My main hobby is playing in a band so I have to haul my gear around. A coupe/sedan just doesn't cut it for this purpose. I also have a severe handling and speed itch that must be scratched too.

If I didn't have a hobby that required me to tote big pieces of equipment then I'm not so sure I'd be looking at the STI to be honest. Once you get around $40K, what's a few more thousand dollars? There are a lot of reasonably quick, near luxury automobiles in that price range. If you don't mind a year or two old used car then the field opens so much that it's extremely hard to justify a ~$40K STI.

The utility of a speedy, good handling, 4 door hatchback does it for me though. I get to go fast, and drag my gear around.

[CharcoalSTI]

STI better bang for buck and the 135 topps out fully loaded at high 40000 which is insane

[YeloFva]

The BMW gets my vote, even though the interior space is pretty cramped. I sat inside one at the Frankfurt Auto show. The inside reminds me of an Acura RSX-type S.

[dr.sti]

When i priced out the 135 as i would want it it cost a whopping 46k+ and that is just crazy! I guess i don't understand why anyone would spend that much on the 1er when they could get the 3 loaded up 3k more.No thank you to the bimmer. I willl wait a few months for the price to drop and trade in my 05sti for the 08 version.

[Rootus]

Originally Posted by 0utlier

I think it's been mentioned before in this thread, and it is somewhat stating the obvious, but the STI being a hatchback is a deal-MAKER for me and I'm sure for others as well.

Subaru is about to find out whether there are more MAKER's than BREAKER's .

[zarl]

Originally Posted by 0utlier

...the STI being a hatchback is a deal-MAKER for me and I'm sure for others as well. My main hobby is playing in a band so I have to haul my gear around. A coupe/sedan just doesn't cut it for this purpose. I also have a severe handling and speed itch that must be scratched too.

Same situation here. Need to haul guitar amps and gear and the occasional trip to Home Depot to pick up big stuff. At $33,655 (invoice), this is an ideal balance of practicality and performance.

If I didn't need the cargo room, the 135i is a good value. When it becomes available through the European Delivery program (not part of dealer allocation), a base 135i with just the sports package will be around $32,500 (MSRP + dest - ED discount ~14% + $1500 for dealer) plus a roundtrip ticket to Munich. Not bad for what you get.

[jhonnybgood]

Both cars arrive in march (in mexico) today I saw the exibition sti at the subaru dealership. Similar price tags and similar hp tq figures. Has anybody driven the 135i (maybe in europe) and the 08 sti?
I´m very doubtfull on which to buy. Any comments, forget about the 2dr 4dr dilema. Will the sti be an allaround better performer? Faster at the track? Better handling? Anybody think the price tag is way to close between bmw and subaru? I´ve never owned a subaru this is why I´m so doubtfull about it and we are not talking peanuts $$$wise.

[04__STi]

I been thinking of 135i myself because i'm not a fan of hatchbacks.

Some people already have 135i.
BMW 1 Series Coupe Forum / 1 Series Convertible Forum (M1 / tii / 135i / 128i / Coupe / Cabrio / Hatchback) (BMW E82 E88 128i 130i 135i) - Powered by vBulletin
Here is another bmw 1 series forum

Since EVO X is 3517lb it's betweeen these 2 and hatchbacks look cheap and boyish IMO so i'm heavily leaning towards 135i!!

[slippy]

Besides performance numbers, there are other things you need to consider.

The most important is that with the 135i, you are buying a BMW. BMW parts and maintenance is expensive. And from what I've heard (from a M3 owner), BMW's are difficult to wrench on. The only BMW's that appeal to me really are the old E30 and E36 M3's, and they are the only ones I would consider buying (if I had the money).

Plus there are the 135i's seats. I'm sure the only options are leatherette or leather. For spirited driving or track driving, leather material seats are terrible.

The aftermarket for the 135i I guarentee will not be as extensive or as the market for the STi. Aftermarket parts for the 135i will also not be as relatively cheap.

Just some things to consider.

[Pre]

I like the 1. You really need to determine if you need AWD or not. AWD wins the decision for me. I'm in my 30's and still can't see driving a Bimmer yet. I like them well enough but their reliability long term just can't hang with the Japanese IMO. Between these 2 cars, if it's a weekend/fun machine I'd do the Bimmer, daily driver the Sti no question.