Hello from an Ohio BRZ owner looking for an E88

[Ohio Enthusiast]

Hi all, I've had my 2018 BRZ for 4 years now in Ohio. I daily it (mainly taking the kids around for school and activities), run backroads (mainly in northern Kentucky) and track it (Mid Ohio being the home track, and also ran Nelson Ledges, NCM and PIRC). I'm starting to get into karting so the need for a track car has diminished.

Lately I've been having more and more of an itch to upgrade, and with the warm weather I'm thinking of a convertible. I'd still need 4 seats, and manual/RWD/fun are a must. After testing a Mustang and a Camaro and being super disappointed, I stumbled on the E88 in both 128i and 135i variants as strong candidates.

I'm trying to get a test drive on a 135i offered in my area, and in the meanwhile reading up all I can on these great little cars.

[Ohio Enthusiast]

I couldn't find an E88 to test drive, but I did test drive a pre-LCI E93 335i and a post-LCI E93 335is, both automatic, so I hope it is representative enough of both chassis. I really liked the 335i with the ZF 6 speed. I was very disappointed with the 335is DCT - it was great when it guessed what I was going to do, but when it was wrong it was very slow and annoying. Some example scenarios are slowing down to a red light that then turns green where the DCT is very slow to downshift to get some power, or when accelerating briskly and letting off the gas the DCT will stay in the lower gear, resulting in strong engine braking. The ZF 6 speed was much smoother in these situations (most likely thanks to the torque converter) and wasn't noticeably slower on shifts. The biggest difference is that the ZF 6 is consistent and predictable, while the DCT left me guessing if it'll be in the right gear or not.
Since I'm looking for a newer model year, and LCI 135i all come with a DCT, I'm shifting my search to LCI 335i.

[GoRomeo]

Originally Posted by Ohio Enthusiast

I couldn't find an E88 to test drive, but I did test drive a pre-LCI E93 335i and a post-LCI E93 335is, both automatic, so I hope it is representative enough of both chassis. I really liked the 335i with the ZF 6 speed. I was very disappointed with the 335is DCT - it was great when it guessed what I was going to do, but when it was wrong it was very slow and annoying. Some example scenarios are slowing down to a red light that then turns green where the DCT is very slow to downshift to get some power, or when accelerating briskly and letting off the gas the DCT will stay in the lower gear, resulting in strong engine braking. The ZF 6 speed was much smoother in these situations (most likely thanks to the torque converter) and wasn't noticeably slower on shifts. The biggest difference is that the ZF 6 is consistent and predictable, while the DCT left me guessing if it'll be in the right gear or not.
Since I'm looking for a newer model year, and LCI 135i all come with a DCT, I'm shifting my search to LCI 335i.

I would sell you mine buy only if you can give me 20K for it Of course you wont. 🤣

[tracer bullet]

Originally Posted by Ohio Enthusiast

LCI 135i all come with a DCT

Hmm, so you're thinking all later 135i's came with only an automatic, not a 6-speed? That's definitely not true (the car part that is, I may have misunderstood what you're saying).

[Ohio Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by tracer bullet

Hmm, so you're thinking all later 135i's came with only an automatic, not a 6-speed?

Not at all, but I see that I forgot to update that I shifted from looking for a manual to replace the BRZ to looking for an automatic to add to the BRZ.