oliver 37
08-14-2009, 01:25 PM
Hi all,
As my 2007 Z4 M Coupe lease drew to a close, I began to look at a number of other cars, driving a Honda Insight, a few different Toyota Priuses (Prii?), the AWD Acura TL, Audi S5, and most importantly, several 335d sedans.
I was actually not planning on leasing another BMW (for no good reason; just hadn't thought of it / none of the models reached out and grabbed me), but my M Coupe salesman called a month or two ago just to check in and, well, to all those in sales, warm calls obviously work.
I test drove a diesel because I like to be different, and I had remembered reading somewhere "BMW diesel + fast" and thought it would be fun to check out. Plus, the 3-series is a great German car, is safe, has some nice features blah blah blah...all the things your normally read in car mags. I did not anticipate saying "holy f*ck" under my breath while driving it, however. I didn't realize it at the time, but the seed had been planted.
One month later, after having 4 different 335ds sold out from under me before I could commit, I finally found a surprisingly gorgeous Blue Water over Saddle Brown, sans the Sports Package. Let me just get it out there that the four features (larger and nicer wheels, lower and more composed suspension, nicer seats, and thicker steering wheel with paddles) are all features that I want and that I'm jealous of those of you who have it. Beggars can't be choosers though, and it just didn't look promising for me to acquire such a car anytime in the next 3 months.
So now she's mine, and I couldn't be happier (except for the Sports Package thing). I actually can't think of any way that a gasoline engine is better than this engine, for street use. It redefines what we can expect from our cars ("hand of God" power at any RPM, very good gas mileage, low noise) and doesn't seem to suffer in any way. Sure, 265hp is not very much, but it doesn't seem to matter: this car pulls as hard as my M Coupe in all but the most ideal gear + rpm scenarios. And I thought the M Coupe was quite strong at all rpms.
The biggest surprise, however, was the rest of the car. You guys have probably all known this for years, but the 3-series is a damn fine piece of work. It's quiet, comfy, has a rigid body structure, and all of the controls seem to exceed expectations. Speaking of exceeding expectations, the new iDrive is quite a gem. It's relatively snappy in its responses, looks great, and I can get to where I need to go quickly. The programmable (and touch-sensitive) softkeys under the radio are also nice. Hands-free phone use sounds great, I am told. This car has the standard stereo package, but it sounds very good up until about 8/10ths volume.
It's taken me a little while to get used to the floaty suspension (did I mention I wanted the Sports Package?), but coming out of a nearly-zero-suspension-travel M Coupe will do that to you.
BTW, I have handed over the key to four different people now, all car enthusiasts, and each one of them has either giggled like a small child or stated, simply, "WOW" after experiencing the massive pull this engine generates just off of idle. That's what makes it so unique: it's not the fastest car on the road, but it generates so much thrust at absolutely bizarre levels of noise and rpm that -- I'll say it again -- it redefines what we should expect from our cars.
Anyway, thanks for reading; I will post pics soon!
As my 2007 Z4 M Coupe lease drew to a close, I began to look at a number of other cars, driving a Honda Insight, a few different Toyota Priuses (Prii?), the AWD Acura TL, Audi S5, and most importantly, several 335d sedans.
I was actually not planning on leasing another BMW (for no good reason; just hadn't thought of it / none of the models reached out and grabbed me), but my M Coupe salesman called a month or two ago just to check in and, well, to all those in sales, warm calls obviously work.
I test drove a diesel because I like to be different, and I had remembered reading somewhere "BMW diesel + fast" and thought it would be fun to check out. Plus, the 3-series is a great German car, is safe, has some nice features blah blah blah...all the things your normally read in car mags. I did not anticipate saying "holy f*ck" under my breath while driving it, however. I didn't realize it at the time, but the seed had been planted.
One month later, after having 4 different 335ds sold out from under me before I could commit, I finally found a surprisingly gorgeous Blue Water over Saddle Brown, sans the Sports Package. Let me just get it out there that the four features (larger and nicer wheels, lower and more composed suspension, nicer seats, and thicker steering wheel with paddles) are all features that I want and that I'm jealous of those of you who have it. Beggars can't be choosers though, and it just didn't look promising for me to acquire such a car anytime in the next 3 months.
So now she's mine, and I couldn't be happier (except for the Sports Package thing). I actually can't think of any way that a gasoline engine is better than this engine, for street use. It redefines what we can expect from our cars ("hand of God" power at any RPM, very good gas mileage, low noise) and doesn't seem to suffer in any way. Sure, 265hp is not very much, but it doesn't seem to matter: this car pulls as hard as my M Coupe in all but the most ideal gear + rpm scenarios. And I thought the M Coupe was quite strong at all rpms.
The biggest surprise, however, was the rest of the car. You guys have probably all known this for years, but the 3-series is a damn fine piece of work. It's quiet, comfy, has a rigid body structure, and all of the controls seem to exceed expectations. Speaking of exceeding expectations, the new iDrive is quite a gem. It's relatively snappy in its responses, looks great, and I can get to where I need to go quickly. The programmable (and touch-sensitive) softkeys under the radio are also nice. Hands-free phone use sounds great, I am told. This car has the standard stereo package, but it sounds very good up until about 8/10ths volume.
It's taken me a little while to get used to the floaty suspension (did I mention I wanted the Sports Package?), but coming out of a nearly-zero-suspension-travel M Coupe will do that to you.
BTW, I have handed over the key to four different people now, all car enthusiasts, and each one of them has either giggled like a small child or stated, simply, "WOW" after experiencing the massive pull this engine generates just off of idle. That's what makes it so unique: it's not the fastest car on the road, but it generates so much thrust at absolutely bizarre levels of noise and rpm that -- I'll say it again -- it redefines what we should expect from our cars.
Anyway, thanks for reading; I will post pics soon!