I know this is a vag forum so please dont get annoyed..
Which car will you choose to buy & mod
My 1st choice is
2010-11 GolfR dsg 5dr & mod it to stg2+(full tbe,intake,hpfp,ic)
2nd choice is
2009-11 Bmw 335d auto & mod it (dpf delete,performance exhaust,ic,remap)
Decisions,decisions
I've had two, a 56 plate SE and an 07 plate MSport
Between the two I've done 150,000 ish and in 3.5 years
50,000 in the SE and 100,000 miles in the MSport
The SE left my possession with 65,000 on it and other than servicing and tyres cost me nothing
The MSport I've just traded in for my 09 plate a6 avant (highly spec'd) 3.0 TDi Quattro - as I've said, I've just traded it at about 120,000 miles
In that time all I've had to do is :
N/S/F shocker (pothole damage)
O/S/R shocker
Both rear bumps tops
Oil feed pipe for the small turbo
Boost pipe seals in main turbo pipe
In the time I've owned it I added eibach springs and M3 alignment (without the camber) - I removed the EGR at 95,000 along with the swirl flaps. Both of these made positive improvements to the drive and performance of the car
Both BMWs have ran my DTUK CRD-T tuning box - the SE made 324bhp and 500lbs ft and the MSport made 345bhp and 510lbs ft (felt slightly stringer after the EGR and swirl flap delete)
Although the 35d engine is a safe engine with regard the swirl flaps I'm not a fan of the idea - thus I removed them.
I averaged around 32mpg combined and mid 40's on a run on average
Around town though it kills is, but hats to be expected from a larger engined car
The gear change in normal D is nice and smooth running the latest firmware, in perfect in S if you know how to drive a rwd reasonable powered car - the paddle shift certainly isn't a dsg type shift, far from it lol, but you have the option to maul ally shift if you wish.
Over all, the 335d is a very quick, capable point to point car - once you learn how to drive it you will make for a very hard car to pass - the likes of M3's E92 shape and RS4's will struggle to pass in a straight line !
Not driven the Gold R hard, so cannot compare fairly, but you'd have to tune it allot more that you would with the 35d and you don't get anything like the econ when driven in the same manor
You wouldn't want too mod a 335d they are real sleepers mate. They go throu turbosforfun thou, also rear tyres lol. Great cars thou dares say it. A friend of mine has one and he had it mapped, a week later he removed it, due to it been to wild. 
Sorry but you're wrong, they don't go through turbos, both turbos on the 35d engine are robust. The only weak point are the pressure converters (similar to the n75 vale on vag) - the more award one to replace (sits closest to the bulkhead) can stick and fail causing powerless until higher rims when the bigger turbo come on song.
It's a simple replace to fix thing, fiddley and allot of engine plastics to remove but straight forward - the new replacement part is modified so you should only have to do it once at most
335d uses the 26hp ZF gearbox which is super string and reliable, tbh you don't want a quick gearbox on a desel anyway.
As a great all-rounder the 335d is hard to beat! (I've owned one and woud have another anyday) not at all boring if you can drive a RWD properly.
They use the 26hp box until 2009, then they put the 28hp in them - the 28's have a halved shift time, faster lockup and better econ
An I completely agree, once people learn how to drive them properly yes, they're rewarding and fun
