WA VW Noob, BMW Owner

[brettgherardi]

Hey guys, my name is Brett.
Been lurking around here for a while without an account and finally decided to sign up, so hey!

Anyway, a bit about myself;
17y/o currently going through my final year of schooling. Looking at going to Curtin University to do either Architecture (if my grades are good enough to be accepted) or Graphic Design/Commerce double-major.
Got my first car when I was 16, a black 1994 BMW 318is (manual obviously). Went halves with my parents and have to pay the rest back to them over time which in my opinion, is a pretty good deal!
Found the car on CarSales for $9k, and after some magic haggling by my dad we walked away with it for $7k.
Drove it on the entirety of my L's and now 3 months later still driving it on my P's. It's a great little car despite having to replace the rear wheel bearing on the left-hand side (which was still the stock bearing from 18 years ago).

My dad was trying to sell his BMW X5 and we were both looking at cars for him as he wants an E30 M3 for his toy-car and something else that both he and I can play with, but also use as a some-what daily driver. We both stumbled across the wonders of the VW and I can tell you one thing, I'm hooked. Not sure about him though
Our current train of thought is to look at getting one of the '200' MkIV R32's (saw a nice one on Gumtree via a link a member posted in here, I think it was balkanac?) and if not, a newer GTi. Any suggestions or extra information would be great!

So yeah, that's a bit about me, can't wait to meet some more of you guys even though I'm still a youngins in school. I really do enjoy driving (been for a couple of solo-cruises and did some GoPro Timelapsing just for fun) and TRY to keep my car looking as schmick as I can whenever I get a chance. Just gave it a quick 15minute wash-over and took a couple of pictures with my GoPro, which can be seen here if you're interested

Brett.

[JedR32]

G'day Mate,
Good to see some young blood popping around haha
Nice choice in cars as well, the 318is looks great!

And as for a daily drive to have some fun with, the R32 is amazing!... If I might say so myself
Has enough low down torque to get round town, small and easy to park, comfy, super nippy from A to B as well as a good cruiser, AWD grip is excellent for those not so sunny days (even though mine is currently not working ). So if you do have a look at R32's make sure the Haldex is working when you inspect it hahaha
But most of all the best R32 feature is the soundtrack

Good luck with your endeavours mate!

[brettgherardi]

G'day Mate,
Good to see some young blood popping around haha
Nice choice in cars as well, the 318is looks great!

And as for a daily drive to have some fun with, the R32 is amazing!... If I might say so myself
Has enough low down torque to get round town, small and easy to park, comfy, super nippy from A to B as well as a good cruiser, AWD grip is excellent for those not so sunny days (even though mine is currently not working ). So if you do have a look at R32's make sure the Haldex is working when you inspect it hahaha
But most of all the best R32 feature is the soundtrack

Good luck with your endeavours mate!

Cheers
And yeah, from what I've heard from watching a few YouTube videos, the sound is a-ma-zing!
I'm sure it sounds even beastlier in person
I'll keep in mind to check the Haldex haha

[JedR32]

Cheers
And yeah, from what I've heard from watching a few YouTube videos, the sound is a-ma-zing!
I'm sure it sounds even beastlier in person
I'll keep in mind to check the Haldex haha

I never tire of the sound!
Although it does make you want to press the loud button a lot. So it's always good to be mindful of where you are and what your speed is hahahaha

[brettgherardi]

I never tire of the sound!
Although it does make you want to press the loud button a lot. So it's always good to be mindful of where you are and what your speed is hahahaha

I can imagine

[balkanac]

hi mate, R32s are great cars but i'd def get an e30 m3 or an e36 m3 over it any day. I have driven them all a lot and on the track, and i can tell you that r32 is a fun car but m3s are serious performers, great drivers cars. Maybe drive both before setting on one

Good luck with the search

[brettgherardi]

hi mate, R32s are great cars but i'd def get an e30 m3 or an e36 m3 over it any day. I have driven them all a lot and on the track, and i can tell you that r32 is a fun car but m3s are serious performers, great drivers cars. Maybe drive both before setting on one

Good luck with the search

Oh ok sweet. If I get the chance to drive an M3 I definitely will then. Finding one that ticks all of the boxes however will be a challenge
I was considering looking for imports from Japan etc, but I'm not 100% keen purchasing a car via pictures.
Search-mode, engage!

[balkanac]

E30 m3 from japan would be worth it, but good ones are about $25-30k landed, which is still good compared to prices here. A good one here will set you back $40k+
I'd rather get an e36. Looks more modern, waaay more power, handles great, good one is about 25-30k (3.2L)

[brettgherardi]

Ah ok sweet.
Yeah personally I prefer the e36's over the e30's too because they look more modern, not saying that the e30's are ugly though because they are still extremely nice looking cars
If I find a real nice M3 I might go down that path. Only reason is aesthetically it's pretty much the same as what I have at the moment, I know that's not what matters but a bit of change is nice if you know what I mean
We'll see, I'll keep looking. If I can't find a nice M3 by the time my dad sells his car then I'll probably just go the R32, only time will tell.
Cheers for all the info btw balkanac!

[gareth_oau]

welcome Brett.

another option for you to consider would be the Audi S3, as per my signature - same setup as the R32, but with a 1.8L turbo instead (similar to the GTI), so can be tuned a lot more.

Mines currently upped from 154 to around 210kW

[brettgherardi]

welcome Brett.

another option for you to consider would be the Audi S3, as per my signature - same setup as the R32, but with a 1.8L turbo instead (similar to the GTI), so can be tuned a lot more.

Mines currently upped from 154 to around 210kW

So many options!
R32, GTi, M3, S3...
I don't really think that I'll be racing whatever I get a whole bunch, maybe on occasion.

[geoff_gti]

Hi Brett, hang around here for long enough and you'll definitely get bitten by the mod bug Good luck with your search

[brettgherardi]

Well, this R32 just came up on CarSales, made a thread in the "Whats on eBay/Gumtree/etc" section.
Perhaps a good place to start in terms of R32? It's pretty much stock so if I do catch the 'mod-bug' I can mod at my own will
Freight to Perth from NSW would be like $2k?

[gareth_oau]

I bought mine in Brisbane and it was $1600 for freight, so NSW would be less, but that was 4 yrs ago

[brettgherardi]

I bought mine in Brisbane and it was $1600 for freight, so NSW would be less, but that was 4 yrs ago

Hmm ok, that sounds alright.
If I were to consider getting a car from over east without physically seeing it I presume you'd just ask for a bunch of photos and condition info (scratches, dents etc) and go by that?
I was thinking of looking at #088 in Riverton, but I assume that the engine number on the replaced engine would be different to the one on the plate on the chassis? Or maybe I'm completely wrong...