RSTurbo50

Im looking to spend upto a maximum of £6000 on a 98/99 plate UK spec Impreza turbo.

I dont know whether to buy the scoob or an E36 M3.....

I know the M3 is 286bhp and the scooby is around the 220bhp mark?

How reliable is the scooby and how quick are they? Any tips on what to look for when buying one? I have been a passenger in one and from a standing start the acceleration was awesome!!!

Opinions wanted!

Stu

Dazza01

Uk scoobs are 208 std i believe, imports 260 or slightly more.

Is that all the M3 is

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

<MY99 208
MY99, MY2000, 215bhp

Ns04

RSTurbo50

The 3.0 Litre M3 is 286bhp the M3 Evo is 321bhp.

So the M3 is a much quicker car then?

Stu

Anger

iTrader: (4)

Ive got a My99 with just decat and i keep up with my mate easy in his Treg M3 at speeds up to the speed limit
Older M3 arent cheap to service and if anything goes wrong the parts are expensive

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

According to the web :

E36 M3 with 286bhp - 0-60 5.6s top speed 155mph

UK Impreza ( standard ) 0-60 5.6s top speed 143mph

So on the road they are going to be pretty much equal.

tay05

I've got an MY93 WRX Japanese import (238bhp standard) and with a decat and induction kit its making 274bhp. Scoobs are easy to tune and much more fun and reliable than an M3. Cheaper too, my mate payed £600 for a basic service on his '98 M3. Scoobs r the way forward!

deuchars

Not mid range

EddScott

Not meaning to cast a shadow over BMW, but there BHP figures are apparently on the optimistic side.

From what I've been told the quoted 321 for the M3 tends not to be 321 in the real world.

Still more than a UK turbo at 215 for 99 onwards.

Personally Imprezas do it for me much more than M3s (E30 M3 aside )

Drive both and then make a choice.

Attu

Can you buy a decent M3 for 6K ?

Stephen Pope

To answer the posters questions:

Very reliable although costly to run (fuel/ insurance/ servicing/ depreciation etc)

Piston slap can be common on that age of car. MAybee best to get a specialist inspection - make sure it has FSSH etc

The BMW is an entirely different kettle of fish really - totally different type of car - depends what you want. I guess you had/ have a r5 gt turbo (rocket!!!) Therefore, the scooby would be easier to drive/ adjust to than the BMW in terms of handling.

Personally, I would go for the scooby, my old one was an MY98 UK Turbo - excellent car and in many ways an easier car to live with than my 330 bhp newage...........

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

I'd imagine an E36 M3 3.0L would waste a UK Impreza turbo quite nicely.

I had a 3.0L M3 when a friend had a modified 95 WRX (260ps model with an ecu module and exhaust, so circa 280bhp) We agreed the m3 would be quicker than a standard 260ps wrx.

We found the performance was virtually identical from 0-150 during a lengthy 'testing' process with the 2 against eachother. What was suprising was the M3's ability in the lower gears, we both expected the Impreza to be faster up to 100mph then the M3 to reel it in. This wasn't the case though, but likewise we expected the M3 to walk it over 100mph.

Based on that the UK powered Impreza would have been noticeably slower IMO.

Only other experience I've had with the 2 marques together was me driving a 95 WRX wagon (240ps) and M3 3.2 evo next to me, both accelerated together and he went past me and pulled away like my handbrake was on.

STI Craig

the m3 aint as reliable as people think,

they are known for having problems with the bottom ends

like the scoob lol

RB5 69

iTrader: (1)

Main thing to consider here I think!!

anthscooby01

My old MY01 WRX 215 bhp left an M3 from standing start off roundabout then past 60ish it went past me easily. For about £1000 though u could prob get Uk spec car up to 280-300bhp and M3 would be beaten hands down up to 100mph ish when I suspect its greater cc would come into play

anthscooby01

Exactly!!

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Never had a problem with M3's the last e36 Evo drive i passed looked highly bemused that his german built sports car was beaten by a white MY03 scoob (standard except the STi panel filter )
Dont you just love sleepers

Tony

tyresqueal

My mate had an M3 evo on a P plate for a while and it was a seriously quick car in the dry. However, when it gets damp (and it gets damp a lot in the uk) the car was pants next to my classic wrx. I would strongly advise that unless you have previous experience of rear wheel drive you should steer (pardon the pun) well clear of the bm. Head to head on a twisty road the cars were pretty even, but show the m3 a straight and it pulled away - now if i'd had an sti I think I'd have been the one pulling away.

On the flip side, if you can be sensible and you want a classier overall car, the bmw is the one to go for. I can now hear torrents of abuse flying at me, but cummon guys and gals the interior trim in the m3 is way better than any scoob.

Another problem with the bmw is that the brakes are as bad, if not worse, than impreza ones - beware the brake fade!

I guess another thing to consider is tuning - it's much easier (and cheaper) to improve the power of an impreza than an m car and believe me, once you get used to it you'll want more!!!!!!!

EddScott

Don't M3s have this VANOS issue?

Something about the variable valve timing needing a rebuild at so many miles. Might be something to make sure has been done or certainly a bargaining tool if it hasn't.

Like I said, drive each car and drive a few so you know what to expect and how it "should" feel and then make an informed decision.

S3TH

iTrader: (2)

I looked at a 98 M3 EVO before i bought my 2nd scoob. The thing that swung for me was that i considered the impreza to be more suited to where i live , nearest motorway nearly 2 hours away, lots of b-roads etc. An impreza will be much better at putting the power down, i wouldnt trust 300+bhp through rear wheels on the roads round here especially when damp.

RSTurbo50

Cheers lads

When I was younger I owned various Escort RS Turbos and the adrenalin rush from the turbo is a bug which you cannot lose.

For the past 3 years I have owned BMW's....mainly E30 325i SPORTS so I know all about RWD.

Im stuck about which car to choose. I love my BMW's but have always wanted to own an Impreza. Whats the servicing, parts costs like? Am I better sticking to lower mileage examples i.e. under 80K miles?

Stu

ScoobyDoo555

Both of my Scoobs (MY95 & MY99) ended up with about 95K on the clock.
Serviced regularly and looked after (ie not thraped!), they're as reliable as a new car.

The bigger services are the 30K, 45K, 60K & 90K. Expect to pay up to £600 for the 90K - cambelt.
Normal services are around £150 - £250.

Of course, on an older car, don't bother with Subaru servicing. Out of warrantee, I ditched them. It had no effect on my resale value or reliablity.

Now got a proper "sleeper" - Audi S4 Avant (2.7 V6 biturbo certainly suprises alot of wannabes!! )

Dan

DIPSY

The only problem i had with the my2000 uk turbo i had was the 3 maf that broke

GaryCat

A '99 turbo with decat and ecutek should be able to put out about 270bhp and it is about 200kg lighter than the M3. I'd got for the scoob with an upgrade.

RS Grant

If you buy one and start to modify it... then please do supporting mods to make sure that the engine stays in one piece. A re-map, uprated fuel pump etc...

I bought a MY99 2-3years ago with a full de-cat exhaust and induction kit and went through 2 bottom ends... If it wasnt for the Warranty, then I'd have been into about 8k of debt on just engine work.

To fit a full de-cat exhaust (removing both CATS) you will, IMO, need a Re-Map of the ECU to accompany this.. that will allow you to give it full beans knowing that its been set-up for the mods.. got enough fuel, etc. On the 99-00 models you can get an EcuTek Re-Flash of your standard ECU by loads of tuners around the UK, it tends to work out a lot cheaper than a replacement ECU like a Power FC.

Go for a 99-00 UK Classic instead of a MY98, the newer cars benefit from a slightly more powerful engine, the 'Piston Slap' issues of the MY97-98's were fixed (as far as I know), for a crystal front end facelift with revised bumpers & colour coding and IMO the biggest and best change was that they got 4-Pot front brakes instead of the awful hope and pray 2-pots on the older models.

By the by, do you live up near Cheshire.. I'm sure I was thinking about buying an XR2i 16v from you YEARS ago on the RSOC!!


Cheers,
Grant