V987S

Hi guys!

Having recently moved on from an Evo 9RS, I am looking for something a little nicer to drive on the weekends.

Brief background: Have had a manual 987 Boxster S and many STis before the 9RS. Current daily driver is an automatic BRZ.

Test drove a w204 coupe pp C63 a few years back and fell in love with the soundtrack, but wanted a manual car at the time so had to look elsewhere.

Now however the V8 soundtrack is too beguiling and the interior quality of these mercs are miles ahead of the Evo.

If I look for cars with updated head bolts m156, should I still consider a newish cla45?

Space is not a priority and I actually quite like the coupe form, but I wonder if the m156 e63 is a better built car.

Any advice is much appreciated!

Thanks

Jasonoff

Don't do it...

RandyMarsh

In my limited experience..

If you're going to do limited modifications, cant do your own work like brakes, fluids, etc, and/or will be using it more for cruising around rather than racing around or tracking it, id go with the E63. more luxurious but heavier and boat-like.

C63 if you plan to heavily modify, want to track it (not recommended by many for the price of a regularly tracking it), or will be using it for street racing and/or driving the **** out of it, id go with a coupe, PP or not.

PP is obviously desireable, especially if going FI, but most of the builds even with blowers have internals hold up fairly well. You would probably need a trans upgrade before anything will fail internally.

edit: couple > coupe

CarHopper

If you're getting an m156 get a c63 and if the e63 was a serious thought then get the c63 sedan.

cla45 is (no disrespect to mercedes and cla owners) cheap garbage or at least a terrible value. You're better off in an Evo or Sti than that thing (I used to have an Sti but 2 failed motors and I left that nonsense behind). I drove one just for fun while I had a c63 and the only reason I ripped on it a little was so I could get back to my c63 quicker. It's not a good car.

If you are considering the e63 then look at 2012+ with the m157. I think the 12-14 c63 and e63 are all pretty close in price right now for the most part if you're comparing cars with similar stats.

c63_alex

I went from a heavily modified evo 9 to a C63 coupe p31. Definitely miss the evo sometimes but the c63 is a different beast. Regular maintenance and you should be good to go, just look for one 2011+ to avoid the headbolt issue

Thrilla

Nice to see other Evo owners here.

I had an Evo 9 MR. Cheap and easy horsepower coupled with the raw nature of the Evo makes me miss it at times. Unfortunately, all the creaks, rattles, and low rent materials can be irritating.

I wish I had kept mine along with the C63. If not, the C63 will be a great replacement and a bit grown up.

hachiroku

from the sound of it...your past vehicles and your vibe from the first post, it sounds like you are a BMW E90 M3 owner through and through. M156 vehicles aren't surgical knives, they are luxury sport vehicles that have loads of torque in comparison to its direct competition. if you've ever owned a performance V8 the M156/M159 is one of the best there ever was. there is a reason why the AMG GT3 which is based off the AMG GT chassis utilizes the M159 engine. It performs and is very reliable even in terms of race duty. they estimate a standard race engine will at the earliest require 3 rebuilds before the M159 in the GT3 will need one rebuild.

roadkillrob

You do sound like more of an M3 guy, especially a newer turbo one, if you are used to tuning a turbo car, these really don't have much potential to add power, that being said it is a 500hp car with a tune so it comes with most of the power already. The C63 is a modern 69 camaro, it is much more of a drag strip stoplight car, if you want a track car you are better off in an M3, but for daily driving, cruising and just stupid fun power, steering with the rear wheels and power and tire smoke hard to beat. The sound they make is the big selling feature, V8 M3's sounded wimpy in comparison and turbo M3's sound like crap without 3k in exhaust and still are not great.

So just depends on what you want, I have a 335i tuned and lots of bolt ons and love the car, but the C63 just makes me grin between the sound and the stupid amount of grunt it has.

Edition1c63

I've owned 40 different cars in the last 10 years.(yes I have a problem). I've owned many different cars. However, the car I have owned the most is a 2011+ w204 c63. I've owned 3 of them and come back to them every time. I'm a bigger a guy and tend to own larger sedans but I do feel extremely comfortable in the c63. I have a mustang for my high horsepower builds.

INS1GNIA

If you are looking for sportiness and a wild beast, get the C63. If you are looking for more of a refined, luxurious sleeper, get the E63. I think you would be missing out though on the quirkiness of the C63 if you went right to a E63.