Hi all,my first post here so please be gentle,i have owned an e46 318i for three years now,but its getting to the point where i am spending a lot of money on it what seems to be every other week now.As its only beemers and scoobys that turn my head i am considering one.My main question is-how do they compare with bmws(i am hoping someone reading this has owned a bmw) in terms of safety,servicing costs,comfort etc.Looking at an 04 ish 2.0 wrx 4wd,thanx in advance.

 

hi i had a e36 328 cab & now have a 1995 wrx, the subaru has cost me far more in the first 6 months than the bmw did in two years,
But the grin factor of driving the subaru has made up for it

 

If you drive it hard bmw will cost more, otherwise with the fuel prices, road taxes, congestion charges and motorway consumption subaru is significantly more expensive to run than an average bmw.

 

yes but the Scooby as bags of character ....unlike the Bmw (unless it is a M3 CSL )

 

I have just sold my e36 m3 evo which had bags of character!

Sideways machine!

I have owned the scooby a week and it has cost me £200 already!

The first thing you notice with a scooby is the build quality, or lack of! Compared to a bmw it is nothing, but as everyone says, the grin factor is there! even though mine has less power than my M3 i still enjoy driving it just as much, the only thing i miss is the luxury of my old bimmer!

 

lol im the complete opposite, i used to own a 106 gti, so i am in luxury when i get into my scoob

 

I've had a couple of beemers and I wouldn't say the build quality was amazingly great, the old ones had things fall off and the newer ones had electrical probs in fact the older one had electrical faults as well. Mechanically subarus are known for being solid, the interior may feel "cheap" but I think that's very different to build quality. .... luxury well the BMs winning hands down there but if you want that go buy yourself an old jag and waft around

 

BMW are pants IMHO.

I am on my 3rd now, this one being an X5 and as long as you have an electronics degree your ok. IF NOT you're screwed

Mine cost £17K and has cost me £2350 in repairs and it is nowhere near fixed !

 

Presumably you mean 'unless you have an electronics degree you're screwed'?

I do, and yet my 330D is still being worked on right now, for poor economy, a lumpy idle and an interesting variety of fault codes in the ECU. Sadly the electronics degree doesn't help unless you also have all the right diagnostic tools.

Sad to say, my 330D hasn't been all that reliable - though my MY00 Impreza needed a new engine at 62k miles for no good reason. (Might have been the oil pump, they reckon).

Compared to a 318i, I think you'll find the WRX blindingly quick, equally comfortable, but rather tinny and plasticky. If that's the trade-off you're looking for then you'll love it.

Best thing to do is to take a test drive - few people walk away unimpressed.

 

Indicators work on scoobies.

 

I agree but I can seem to find the "out of my way don't you know who t'f' I am" button .... perhaps a diagram is needed???

 

and they have a 'bright' switch

 

 

Point taken LOL

Post edited accordingly (red faced man walks into kitchen to cook tea for 6 yr old Son)

 

i had a 328 coupe for 2 years and it got boring and expensive towards the end of ownership. i know the scoobs running costs are slightly higher but as someone said above the grin factor is huge every time i get in my scoob

 

I'm saying this with a smile, but you really don't appreciate the ludicrousness of your post. BMW is costing too much money to run so you're considering an Impreza . I doubt there is a sub-£25k saloon on the market that costs more to run than an Impreza. Things in favour are build/reliability, good safety, reasonably practical (apart from the stupid boot hinges on the saloon) and unique looks. Things against are running costs, running costs and then running costs. I'd look elsewhere if I were you.

 

funny you should ask ref BMW - Subaru question. I have owned an 02 WRX for 3 yrs want to change and looked over here for 5 months for an STI with PPP Blobeye and low mileage svc history etc but couldn't find one.

Last week decided to try the luxury model of BMW a 735i - it had everything you could ask for plus a 3.6 V8 and 270bhp. Only problem was it was sooooo boring to drive.

Sat I fly to England to collect the Scoobie I've been looking for - can't wait