what do you guys think? are they reasonable? are 5/6speeds hard to find? are they crap?
I was hoping that now they are like teenagers by now, that they would be much more affordable... the only thing i know about them is that they are basicly Japanese made BMW 330is
Color me totally not a fan. I always found them to be gas guzzlers and nothing all that special to drive.
They had good steering but 7.7 second 0-60 never really got the heart pumping. Manuals are extremely rare to find and the prices show it.
I personally think I would go with a nice 330 instead of one of those any day of the week.
Think 4 door NA MKIV Supra.
I've owned both a 5-speed IS300 (there was no 6-speed) and a 5-speed E46 3-series and the BMW was the better car, hands down. They only made manual IS300s for two years IIRC and in very small numbers, so they are quite hard to find and have totally bonkers pricing. The IS300 was certainly nice, no doubt about it, but got total crap gas mileage, the seats were mediocre, and I never really took a liking to the interior. This might sound crazy, but even ignoring the up-front cost, the BMW was cheaper to run, too. My IS needed a timing belt while I had it, ate tires, and averaged about 5MPG worse than the E46.
I really loved the IS300 exterior styling but I wouldn't have another unless it was some kind of crazy track car project or something. The E46 was just a cheaper, better driving car with a nicer interior.
I absolutely love mine, I have two, a sedan and sportcross (both manual transmissions), and they arr Fantastic cars, they are anvil reliable, comfortable, stylish, and dynamically very good (particularly with some subtle mods).
Poly rack and #2 control arm bushings from superpro are a must.
Lsd is a must, if the car you find doesn't have one they can be had in two ratios for $400ish.
Clutch damper delete kit from figs is a must, cheap too. ($25?)
2jzs are awesome, I dont need to tell anyone that.
Think of them as a 220hp e36 that doesn't break, ever. For me that's perfect.
Well not perfect, for me, (needs boost;) but a kickass platform to build from
You really need to search - there have been at least two threads about this same car. Anyhow, We had one from new and I really liked it, very solid and reliable. However, as said, for some reason they get really terrible mileage, around 20 mpg for all 215 hp. That was as bad as my Toyota V6 pickup truck, which was an aerodynamic door in comparison.
I never got 20mpg out of mine. (BTW...that's 215hp on premium fuel.) The 330i is a better car in every way except tolerance of the trailer park life. My 330i with a shorter final drive than stock averages 25mpg. I don't really care that much about fuel economy, but it's the principle.
Shopping IS300s, they're overpriced for what you get and almost universally salvage titled.
BUT: I bought one nearly new. It was smooth and reliable. Stupid fuel economy, even stupider oil filter location.
The other thing that's pretty good about is300s is weight, on the scales, a fully optioned manual is300 weighs 3095, thats with a spare and everything. The data that I'm seeing for an e46m3 says 3460, that's not an inconsiderable difference, I dont know what the difference is between an m and a 330 is but...... Can anyone confirm or deny the e46 weights (im sure someone on here has corner weights for a stock one, preferably not an M)?
The figures I'm looking at are real cars on scales, not bulle36m3 manufacturer claims or curb weights.
gotcha, i kinda figured they were rare... i know on GT6 i loved how it handled and was hoping the RL version would translate the same... basically my friend challenged me to find a car like the 350z, but better and more or as reliable also in the price of under 10k(more like 6k but whatevers) i found 1 IS300 on ebay and tbh it looked a lil jacked up and had salvaged/rebuilt title, but it was a manual car thanks for the info guys
M3 probably isn't the one to compare to. IS300 5-speed listed curb weight is 3255lbs. I scaled my IS300 auto at 3200-something, so I'd say that's fairly accurate. E46 330i ZHP 6MT is 3285lbs.
I would say the IS300 ripped off a lot of styling cues from the E46, but they came out so close together...who knows. I think the chassis debuted in 98 for both (Altezza in JDM land.)
I've always want one . . . They look great slightly lowered with some tasteful wheels . . .
My last search came up with three options:
A few years ago, the auto to manual swap was less than $350 for parts (transmission, flywheel, clutch, driveshaft not included) going through the Lexus parts counter.
Ive driven a couple 5spd ones and really like them, but you have to be able to get a good price on one for them to make any sense vs other cars.
Also, they feel faster than their specs make them look. They are a little soft on low rpm torque but pull good to the stock redline once you get above ~3k rpm.
Good steering, toyota quality, nice small package. There's a lot to like. You just have to get a good one for a good price. Yes, that is difficult, but so is finding a worthwhile older car and we don't automatically sh1tcan the idea of all older cars just because our local CL isn't constantly flooded with 10 good ones of each.
kb58 wrote: You really need to search - there have been at least two threads about this same car. Anyhow, We had one from new and I really liked it, very solid and reliable. However, as said, for some reason they get really terrible mileage, around 20 mpg for all 215 hp. That was as bad as my Toyota V6 pickup truck, which was an aerodynamic door in comparison.
This may be the first time, in all of my years here, that I have seen a sincere "you need to search" post.
Just found that odd. That is all.
Had a 03 Sport Design sedan I bought new, with the manual trans. I loved it as far as fun to drive. Great looking, with wonderful visibility out every window. Something you cant find in a modern car. They can be made faster. With a Xerd header,(dont think they are around anymore) full exhaust, and intake the engine woke up a lot. I'd guess at least a solid 20whp, no joke. In this form, mine was only slightly slower than my friends manual E36 M3 (with a intake and muffler). Someone will call BS on this, but its true. Yes, the M3 ran well, and had a proficient enough driver.
As others mentioned, the IS300 drank gas no matter what. always. Mine had the limited slip, which was quite good. I had Hotchkis springs, and sway bars on mine, those turned it into a very easy car to drive sideways. As for future modding with a turbo.... the W55 (stock manual trans) wont handle much power over stock, so expect to swap that with something stronger. Supra six speed is great, but expect a high entry price. Stock engine will handle around 400 whp with a thicker head gasket swap. Anything more, and its time to upgrade to GTE rods and pistons.
I highly suggest you get rid of the clutch dampener in the line going to the slave cylinder. It prevents a fast, hard engagement like a launch, instead causing lots of clutch slippage and heat. Once you get the flywheel hot and clutch slipping, its extremely easy to keep it slipping and destroy the friction disc. I've seen it more than a few times. Also the dual mass flywheel is stupid heavy. Suggest planning on a lightweight clutch/flywheel assembly to replace.
Does nothing better than the BMWs it tried it be better than. Not impressed
Personally I enjoyed mine a lot, but found the E46 to simply be a better car in all the ways that really mattered outside of oddity. I did love the styling though, lots of subtle touches worth studying and doesn't look quite like anything else on the road.
Now if Toyota had brought the RS200 version stateside with the explosive 3S-GE Beams engine and 6-speed, on the other hand...THAT is a car I would probably go nuts for.
They have a very strong cult following, but you can usually find a comparable E46 for cheaper, so why would you get the Toyota?
I bought a low mileage 2004 about 5 years ago. It was a great car that did nothing wrong. I did sell it to buy an e46 328i, but that's only because the Bimmer was super cheap (Challenge money) and I hate car payments. The gas mileage did suck, but was only about 2mpg less than the 328i gets.
I thought the IS300 was 90% of the Bimmer at 10X the reliability. As a master technician I actually thought it was boring having such a reliable car
I regret that now.
The Hoff wrote: I thought the IS300 was 90% of the Bimmer at 10X the reliability.
I would say that it's more like 80% of the E46 at 1.5x the reliability and 1.5x the cost. At least in my shopping experience.
So what about the next generation IS250? 6 speed manual was an option. Same crummy gas mileage? I like the looks, but was surprised by how small it is inside.
I'd guess at least a solid 20whp, no joke. In this form, mine was only slightly slower than my friends manual E36 M3 (with a intake and muffler). Someone will call BS on this, but its true.
I dunno man, 215chp + 20whp sounds pretty damn similar to 240chp to me. Doesn't seem like an outlandish claim to me..
Just to confuse things further I thought I'd offer up a surprising alternate the G35. They came with a 6 speed and 260hp along with an aftermarket following and were the lightest vehicle outside the sentra ser to get the vq35. My buddies trounced my IS300 without a second thought and had a better suspension out of the box. My two complaints on them are the nearly bench front seats and the looks...
Someone in a group I'm in is selling a very clean (although modified) 2004 5-speed IS300 with just 85k miles for $8700.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/xceedspeed/?fref=nf (you'll have to scroll down a few posts to find it, it's posted by Kevin Laureta, in the Detroit area.
sentra ser to get the vq35
I suppose you mean Altima SE-R. I have much love for the vq35. I do feel like the G35 is a size/weight class up from an IS300, though. Is300s are smaller than most people realize they are.
GTwannaB wrote: So what about the next generation IS250? 6 speed manual was an option. Same crummy gas mileage? I like the looks, but was surprised by how small it is inside.
250 is a turd. Super nice car but gutless. The 350 on the other hand is quite the sleeper.
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