There’s been a ton of debate since the E92 3 Series debuted as to which car is the better to actually own — the E92 BMW M3 or BMW 335is Coupe. Some BMW enthusiasts might laugh at such a question, as M3 is always best, right? Well, for tuners, not so much.
See, the E92 BMW M3 packs a naturally-aspirated V8 engine that, while glorious, isn’t the easiest engine to tune. While the BMW 335is packed a twin-turbocharged 3.0 liter inline-six engine. While it makes a lot less power than the M3, 320 hp vs 414 hp, it has incredibly tune-ability. So you can easily give it an ECU tune, bigger turbos, new intercooler and some other bits and bobs and make 600 hp or more.
Which is why this specific owner decided to build a 2011 BMW 335is. Not only does it have a great engine for tuning but it also brings a dual-clutch automatic, making it great for track driving or just really fast canyon driving.
So this specific car gets bigger turbos, custom plumbing for them, an ECU tune, a new intake and new suspension. Its total power output is somewhere around 500 hp to the rear wheels, which is a lot. So that makes this car really fast and it sounds very loud.
It’s certainly a much more exciting car than the standard E92 3 Series and more powerful than any iteration of the E92 M3. However, even this really fast, really exciting 3 Series isn’t as exciting as the E92 M3. There’s nothing like the sound of the free-breathing 4.0 liter V8 from an E92 M3. I’m sure this tuned 335is is significantly faster but gimme the N/A V8 all day.
Although, I completely understand why some enthusiasts would want the more tune-able, higher-potential BMW 335is. Plus, the base car is quite a bit cheaper, too.
