I had one, a B7 with 40k on it when I bought it – was nicked a year later with 52k on it.
I paid 28k for mine, which was about the right sort of money at the time (4 years ago). They’re pretty quick as you’d expect but they’re not in the same league as an M5 or RS6. They sound mental, especially if you delete the cat but that can lead to issues with the engine management if you’re not careful.
They get coked up (not like that) which means you have to have the head removed for a de-coke. If you don’t do it, it seriously chokes the power and it runs like poop. Can’t remember how much it is, but it isn’t cheap and it WILL happen.
On a run I’d get around 24mpg – at Spa it was nearer 8. Day to day driving is around 19-20mpg but I’ve got a bit of a heavy right foot.
Tyres – I ran Pirelli’s on mine which were around £1500 for a set. Even with quite a bit of track work they lasted well and my mate ran Falkens on his that were just as good and about £400 less
Be very careful what one you buy. Spec is crucial, especially if you want to sell it at some point. Whatever you buy, make sure it’s had front discs recently as they’re a fortune and also make sure it has Sat Nav fitted. Seriously, they’re almost un-sellable if they don’t have it, even thought its rubbish to use. Also be aware that they never make 420bhp as quoted, ever. At best it’ll be 380bhp unless you do some mods.
Oh and if it has the big seats (why would you not) then anyone sitting in the back will have to be vertically challenged as they rob all the rear leg room.
Its a highly strung V8 engine that revs like mad. So expect high running costs (you need to put decent oil in it for a start, and no uni-part brake pads!) . For track work it was mint, round the Nurbergring and Spa it was the perfect car for a talentless goon like me. However if I wasn’t taking it on track, I wouldn’t bother. There’s no where on the road that you can exploit the handling and straightline speed isn’t amazing – you can buy quicker cars for a lot less money and lower running costs. My 335d with a map wasn’t far off it in a straight-line for example.
Eventually it was stolen whilst parked at my mums whilst I was in the Alps. My mum lives miles away from anywhere in deepest darkest Suffolk. The police think that the crims followed me back from London, then kept an eye on the house until my mum went out. At which point they broke in and stole the keys – it was then used for robbing ATM’s out of somewhere north of Norwich.
If you want one, you want one and nothing anyway says will change that. However if you’re not doing track work, I’d recommend something else as they’re not a lot of fun just pootling around and doing that will cause the above ‘coke’ issue (similar to DPF failures).
