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deveous9 wrote:Someone please educate me on what the difference is between a 325e and 325i BMW.
325e = fuel miser edition. Boring engine, not as much power, doesn't really rev, and a long final drive.
325i = Ultimate driving machine edition. Revvier, more power, less gas mileage, tighter final drive.
That's a VERY simplified version.
Long story short, 325e is the anti-performance edition.
the 325e was a 2.7L inline six with very small intake runners/ports, a weak cam, and extremely low redline. It has quite a bit of low end torque, but very little horsepower.
the 325i has a 2.5L inline six with a much better flowing top end and more aggressive camshaft specs. It will rev to 7000 with an aftermarket chip and make good power up to about 6500.
I found a couple of 325i BMW's near my area and I will check them out today.
How did it go?
I've owned all three:
I won the NASA TTF National Championship in a MX6 in '06
Great engine in a POS chassis. All these cars are now 15ish years old. Mine was fairly low miles, but the chassis never felt especially stout. I recall a mix of metric & standard sized fasteners. Make sense because it was a ford probe, assembled at a ford plant in MI (same plant that build the 626 today). Quality and longevity seemed marginal, IMO. Aftermarket support is poor (except for appearance and rice), suspension is only ok mac strut, brakes were too small for the road course (it would eat a set of Carbotech XP10's every weekend), and the power steering sucks for autox. On tight, local level courses it can't keep up. This was an issue when they were new, google it and read up. It is very hard to drive a car in a tight slalom with the PS only working 1/2 the time. A different sized PS pulley could solve this issue, but I do not know the details.
Mine had AC and PW, no sunroof and weighed about 2820 with low fuel including my 200lbs weight. I was able to make to make the 2800lbs TTF minimum weight easily by just removing the passenger seat. Not much if any lighter than an e30. Mazda does pay nice contingency if you run in a series that pays out. I am a big fan of Mazda products and their motorsports marketing would encourage me to buy Mazda's for race or street cars. I would honestly take the MX6 off your list, it's more ford probe than a Mazda. Despite the posts from a couple fanbois early in this thread, the mx6 would be the slowest and least suited to track duty in stock form.
e30 - everyone knows the pluses and minuses to the e30. Good ones are getting harder to find and prices are going up for those good ones. Better power to weight than the MX6, and better suited to track life.
2 dr Impreza's - I drove a 2.5RS about 10 yrs ago at a HPDE and was humbly surprised. Most AWD cars I had driven at that point (early audi's), felt like bigger, heavier fwds. The Scooby drove and felt much better than the specs implied.
Fast fwd to today, I just bought a beater, autotragic, 2.2 base Impreza coupe because it was priced way below kbb. It drives pretty good, feels well balanced for a front weight bias car, is WAY too much fun in the snow, and is quicker than you think it should be with 145hp (base 2.2L boxer 4). My B18 CRX should make about 140hp at the crank and weighs less than 2klbs, but this awd, auto Impreza feels just as quick around town. Torque is your friend. The interior styling is outdated and the quality of materials is poor. Similar to domestics of that era.
Good clean 2.5RS' do demand a premium, but I would buy one in a heartbeat if the right car and deal present themselves.
I'm also a big fan of e36, but cheap/good are getting tougher to find. There are lots of great cars out there for <$6k, good luck and have fun!
ARRRRRGGGGGGG....
Sorry, pet peave: The MX6 is NOT more Ford Probe than Mazda. The MX6 is all Mazda design. Mazda motor, chassis, and transmission. The Probe is a borrowed design from Mazda. Ford didn't design anything on the car other than the body, and for the Probe only.
But the rest, carry on. I haven't driven a 2g MX6 around a track, so i can't really comment about the rest.
This is probably too little too late, but I had a '93 Mazda Mx3 GS v6 with a curved neck KLZE swap in it. It's based on the BG chassis, which was used all the way to 02 with the Escort ZX2, lots of aftermarket for that chassis, just look up Horsepowerfreaks.com or Corksport.com. I ran 13.9s on street tires and tracked it lots. It was super fast, very tossable, has a very short wheel base, it was probably the best all around car I've ever owned. The only reason I mention it is because you are looking at the Mx6s, and the Mx3s are a better chassis IMO, and they come with a v6 from the factory. Its a small v6 so I'd recommend swapping, but the swap couldn't be cheaper or easier. Just my .02.
Carry on!
93celicaGT2 wrote:ARRRRRGGGGGGG....
Sorry, pet peave: The MX6 is NOT more Ford Probe than Mazda. The MX6 is all Mazda design. Mazda motor, chassis, and transmission. The Probe is a borrowed design from Mazda. Ford didn't design anything on the car other than the body, and for the Probe only.
But the rest, carry on. I haven't driven a 2g MX6 around a track, so i can't really comment about the rest.
Except for that anemic NA 4 cyl that they put in the base model.
But you're right. It's basically an all-Mazda design that was assembled at both Ford and Mazda plants. I don't recall any SAE fasteners on any of the V6 cars.
boxedfox wrote:93celicaGT2 wrote:ARRRRRGGGGGGG....
Sorry, pet peave: The MX6 is NOT more Ford Probe than Mazda. The MX6 is all Mazda design. Mazda motor, chassis, and transmission. The Probe is a borrowed design from Mazda. Ford didn't design anything on the car other than the body, and for the Probe only.
But the rest, carry on. I haven't driven a 2g MX6 around a track, so i can't really comment about the rest.
Except for that anemic NA 4 cyl that they put in the base model.
But you're right. It's basically an all-Mazda design that was assembled at both Ford and Mazda plants. I don't recall any SAE fasteners on any of the V6 cars.
Nope. That's an FS-DE. Mazda F-series motor. 
And even that motor does just fine with a turbo strapped to it.
Teqnyck wrote:This is probably too little too late, but I had a '93 Mazda Mx3 GS v6 with a curved neck KLZE swap in it. It's based on the BG chassis, which was used all the way to 02 with the Escort ZX2, lots of aftermarket for that chassis, just look up Horsepowerfreaks.com or Corksport.com. I ran 13.9s on street tires and tracked it lots. It was super fast, very tossable, has a very short wheel base, it was probably the best all around car I've ever owned. The only reason I mention it is because you are looking at the Mx6s, and the Mx3s are a better chassis IMO, and they come with a v6 from the factory. Its a small v6 so I'd recommend swapping, but the swap couldn't be cheaper or easier. Just my .02.
Carry on!
Ah yes... this is why you voted KLZE on my poll thread on club protege.
This man speaks the truth.
Now go back and tell me for sure if i need to swap the interior harness with the KL swap in the deathscort.
It's just such an awesome motor. Now don't get me wrong, if I had a first gen Mx6 or Probe, FE3 would be the way to go, but to do it in a BG, you'll have to make your own mounts, which turns me off to the whole thing.
To the OP, if you've been totally turned off to the Mx6 (which you shouldn't be, it's an awesome car), then the next logical option would be the E30. Never worked on one, but I am assuming the aftermarket is expensive, simply because it's a Bimmer. Somebody let me know if I'm wrong.
If I ever decide to look at a MX6, I'm going to email 93celicaGT2.
Teqnyck wrote:It's just such an awesome motor. Now don't get me wrong, if I had a first gen Mx6 or Probe, FE3 would be the way to go, but to do it in a BG, you'll have to make your own mounts, which turns me off to the whole thing.
To the OP, if you've been totally turned off to the Mx6 (which you shouldn't be, it's an awesome car), then the next logical option would be the E30. Never worked on one, but I am assuming the aftermarket is expensive, simply because it's a Bimmer. Somebody let me know if I'm wrong.
The aftermarket isn't really that bad... The fact that there's a huge amount of support helps things out a lot. 
fornetti14 wrote:If I ever decide to look at a MX6, I'm going to email 93celicaGT2.
Don't give me all the credit... Loudes13 makes some good points as well, it's up to you to see how much those problems bug you on a test drive.
But for whatever reason... cheap FWD speed is my "thing." Just how things happened i guess.
For the record, i don't condone doing this on the street.... But as far as i know, this is a bolt ons MX6 with some weight reduction. 2nd and 3rd gear pull.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQBmIuD8wjs
That thing is straight up hauling some serious butt.
i couldnt tell that it was an mx-6...
Vigo wrote:i couldnt tell that it was an mx-6...
Yeah, it's pretty terrible quality, but it's a 2nd gen MX6 V6. There's a build thread on mx6.com about it, owner is "weaksauce."
I had a 96' Probe GT for a while and I'd agree with the rest of the guys here, great engine, fairly good chassis. The transmission was geared well and I bet it did 0-60 faster than the focus svt I'm running around in now. Back seat room was way too small but the mx6 shape may have an advantage there. Fuel economy was 27-30mpg most of the time. Loved the sound.
Sold it to get rwd again.
I'd say go for the E30, although I like all three of those. There certainly is a huge base of performance parts and enthusiasts for the E30. I bought mine because the series I chose dictated it. But the car has certainly grown on me. It's been down for some heavy modifications and repairs the past few months. I should have it up and running in a week or so. I can't wait to treat it to some new tires, a new battery and a new windshield. Aftermarket and maintenance isn't expensive at all. Maybe the fact that it's a Bimmer scares some potential buyers off.
For what it's worth, I bought mine two years ago for a little under 2k. The Southeast has a good reputation for finding old cars in good condition, second to the Southwest. Anything that needed replacing was going to get torn out anyway (interior, wheels, brakes, springs and shocks/struts). Everything that didn't need replacing was there and in decent condition (mechanicals mostly). It had about 135k miles on it and was on the second owner (original owner was an elderly lady that bought it new, then died in '05). The second owner was a neighbor and family friend of the lady. When I took it home, I found all the original paperwork, manuals, inspection cards and receipts dating back through the 90s.
