Wow thanks for the great replys. What attracted me to the STI is the fact that I have been in love with Japanese turbo cars since i was a teenager. However, until this year, US was getting the shaft. The supra and the RX7 were gone with the wind. When i bought the BMW, I did not want to buy a used car, and nothing else was really availabe(only s2000). The reason why the 350z, s2000, etc are out of the question for me, is because I would be making a switch from NA to NA, absolutely not worth it. I always wanted to own a turbo car. The fact that the STI has a 6spd, water to air intercooler, and an adjustable differential, makes the performance nut in me drool. The fact that the performance upgrades will be limited by imagination is also a BIG plus.

I also always loved BMW's with a passion, styling, handling, etc. The e36 M3 is one of my all time favorite cars. That is what attracted me to BMW's in the first place. However I am young, and I have never owned a "real" performance car, let alone a japanese turbo car. One thing you have to understand about BMW's is this: the money invested to HP gained ratio, short of going forced induction(which is still VERY expensive) is ridiculously low. 500 for a good intake....to make 300hp NA it would take like 6 grand plus god knows how much for labor. Also, whatever you do and wherever you go, you pay the "BMW tax" for everything, if you know what I mean.

The stigma i was talking about is generally this "bmw owner=snobby, spoiled *****". I am afraid that when I look for my first real job(i am an economics major with a focus on finance, this is my last quarter in school), driving a hooked up BMW can only work to my disadvantage.

By mods to make the STI more of a daily driver.....I was thinking, new wheels tires, MP3 player with minor stereo upgrades, racing seats, maybe aftermarket shifter, etc....I would say for a car, my budget is my cars current value(30g) + another 5k tops. This would include me taking the 10k hit from depreciation on trade in. The real pain would be to return my car to stock and then sell all my upgrades, so to be honest, right now I am leaning towards keeping my car....But i have had dreams about driving the STI lol.

 

The financial advice already given is very good. Your BMW is very nice and paid for. I can't see why you'd lose all that money etc. to get into an STI just because of the image thing. The regular WRX and the STI both have a bit of a flashy street racer image amongst some of the public, so I can't see that it would be that much better to pull up to a job interview in one! Seriously though, just do as an earlier poster said and park a little further away.

I have to agree with others that as I read your post I get the impression you're not that hot on an STI anyway. Fair enough, it is a very single minded type of machine that does not have loads of creature comforts. I have always felt that if a person really wants an STI or WRX, they just KNOW it in their bones. The car really has to appeal to what you like in cars to be worthwhile. When my wife discovered that the least expensive BMW models could be had for a little less than a regular WRX here, she though I was completely insane to pick the WRX!