Drove a 335d this weekend. sadly not impressed

[S14]

the car didn't wow me like i had hopped. I've read every mag article on the car with journalists nutting over the thing. I've been reading forums about peoples experience. I've driven other European diesels and loved them all.

I was jittery to try out the 335d finally. my wife drove it on the autobahn and was not impressed. I then took the wheel and drove it on the autobahn a bit and on some b roads, and the car just seamed bland.

It did not feel put together any better than our mk5 GTi, and definitely didn't seam worth the huge increase in debt from moving out of the GTi to the 335d.

Also with a rear facing car seat, it is really difficult to maneuver my 5 month old into his recaro car seat. The squared off door of the GTi works much better. I hadn't even noticed this as a problem until i smacked my sons head on the door sill even after i thought i did a good job of slithering him in the tight space.

anyways, as a diesel lover, i can't believe that i'm not super impressed with the car:(

what am i doing wrong?

[Beer Goggles]

Newsflash...it's a diesel. You ever watch Top Gear? They flat out ban diesels from being on their show. They are NOT exciting like a racecar. So why would you be "wowed" by a really good diesel sedan. And please don't kid when with a VW being better built. We own lots of them and after a year the "new" literally rubs off.

[Takashi]

the car didn't wow me like i had hopped. I've read every mag article on the car with journalists nutting over the thing. I've been reading forums about peoples experience. I've driven other European diesels and loved them all.
I was jittery to try out the 335d finally. my wife drove it on the autobahn and was not impressed. I then took the wheel and drove it on the autobahn a bit and on some b roads, and the car just seamed bland.
It did not feel put together any better than our mk5 GTi, and definitely didn't seam worth the huge increase in debt from moving out of the GTi to the 335d.


What can you expect from a disel? I echo Beer Goggles's comment so there is no need to repeat what he (or she) said.



Also with a rear facing car seat, it is really difficult to maneuver my 5 month old into his recaro car seat. The squared off door of the GTi works much better. I hadn't even noticed this as a problem until i smacked my sons head on the door sill even after i thought i did a good job of slithering him in the tight space.

anyways, as a diesel lover, i can't believe that i'm not super impressed with the car:(

what am i doing wrong?

If you smacked your son's head on the door it is entirely your wrong-doing. You are also not supposed to smack your son's head onto the door when maneuvering the car seat. Care needs to be taken when handling your son. If you were driving your beloved GTi and you hit the curb while parking, is it the car's fault or is it the driver's fault?

[S14]

Newsflash...it's a diesel. You ever watch Top Gear? They flat out ban diesels from being on their show. They are NOT exciting like a racecar. So why would you be "wowed" by a really good diesel sedan. And please don't kid when with a VW being better built. We own lots of them and after a year the "new" literally rubs off.

Funny you say that, I watch top gear regularly, do you? if you do, you would know that they had the scirocco TDi on the last episode of this season. both jeremy and james agreed that the fit and finish on the VW was excelent. Neither liked the diesel engine saying it didn't fit the cars exterior persona. Now you said the Flat out ban diesels, which is a difinitive statement, however on THE MOST RECENT EPISODE they do a very long and boring spot on a diesel. hmmm...

Without any digging, I can also think of 3 other instances they had diesels on the show and gave them high regards. sorry man, but that is a soft foundation your standing on.

And what did i expect from a diesel? well since i've owned 3 diesel vehicles, driven 8 others, read over a dozen raving news/magazine articles, i had a pretty good idea what to expect. I have been wowed by 4 other diesel sedans in the last 2 years, an audi A3 2.0tdi, a BMW 123d, a mercedes e220 and the new jetta TDi. I thought the BMW would be the best out of all of them, but like i said before, it was not that exciting.

I'm in month 13 of GTi ownership, so i guess my time is up for it's build quality. And i am no VW hipster queen. I was reluctant to own one after living with friends that begged for top ramen so they could pay for their MKIV's that were falling apart.




What can you expect from a disel? I echo Beer Goggles's comment so there is no need to repeat what he (or she) said.



If you smacked your son's head on the door it is entirely your wrong-doing. You are also not supposed to smack your son's head onto the door when maneuvering the car seat. Care needs to be taken when handling your son. If you were driving your beloved GTi and you hit the curb while parking, is it the car's fault or is it the driver's fault?

Thank you kind sir, but do you have children? with an infant/combi car seat, it is nearly impossible to strike a baby's head on anything if you are putting the car seat and the baby in the car seat base that is pre installed. If you had read my thread with an engaged mind, you would notice that i said i smacked his head while manuvering my 5 month old into his recaro car seat. The context of the sentence shows that the car seat is already in the car, and i was maneuvering him around the low C-pillar of the BMW and the High side head protection of the actual car seat.

I feel that you are sensing that i might be an unsafe parent since i bumped his head. Contrary to popular belief, children are pretty durable, and he was back to smiling and coo'ing a few seconds after giving me a frownie face. Just to show that i am in fact quite conscious about my child well being, you can see that i have chosen a seat manufacturer for him that makes some of the best racing seats in the world. If you have ever watched a racing event that included real cars and turning right, you might notice recaro plastered all over the cars. Recaro is serious about seat technology, not pretty color combo's and cup holders like say a Graco.

Back to the origional topic. I have a friend that just told me he bought one and absolutely loves it. I'm hopping that when his honeymoon with the car is over he will let me borrow it for a day to get a better feel for the car. I also think the car i drove was a non sports package car, which i've read makes a huge difference.

Now, here is some bashing on the BMW. I found the light switch to be cheap. the mirror adjusters to be out of reach, and not intriguing looking. the fake carbon fiber, leather stuff is just dumb. the non sport electric seats were not easy to adjust and not very comfy. Rear leg room is not that great (again compared to the GTi, which my 62 year old mother with a osteoarthritis just spent 9 hours in the back of the thing without a peep of complaining about leg room). Angel eyes are played out and need to go, the cup holder location is lame and probably breaks often from knee's accidentally banging into them. Finally my 1987 M3 gave me more information on the OBC than the iDrive system. Now that could totally be me not knowing how to work this still relatively confusing system (although better than the 01 745i i drove) but with all this crazy technology in cars today, i would think you could get some cool bioecofriendlygreensavethearthippie bars, graphs, numbers or what have you.

I guess not.

[Beer Goggles]

You must be easily impressed because I've been in plenty of Diesels and never has the word "impressed" or wowed every been a thought. The only thing I thought was...this thing has no soul. Impressive TQ, nothing more. Impressive is a big as American Truck chipped throwing down 500hp and black soot making the planet warmer....none of the cars you mention seem really inspiring.

[mryakan]

Now that could totally be me not knowing
Yous said it, that pretty much somes it up. Take some more time to get to know the car, you will be surprised how misguided you were in your 1st impressions :).

P.S. No way the GTI has more rear legroom than the e90, get out the measuring tape and prove it ;).

[cmoody]

Considering Top Gear...

http://www.topgear.com/uk/videos/oil-baron#/uk/video-search?Phrase=bmw%20535d

Faster than a Focus RS? :eyecrazy

[Chrisdridley]

Considering Top Gear...

http://www.topgear.com/uk/videos/oil-baron#/uk/video-search?Phrase=bmw%20535d

Faster than a Focus RS? :eyecrazy


And faster than a 350z and a Lotus Esprit

[Jhunter]

Buy a gas 335i.

[DnA Diesel]

Buy a gas 335i.

Ditto.

Seems like a 335d is not for you, then.

[cb4]

Funny you say that, I watch top gear regularly, do you? if you do, you would know that they had the scirocco TDi on the last episode of this season. both jeremy and james agreed that the fit and finish on the VW was excelent. Neither liked the diesel engine saying it didn't fit the cars exterior persona. Now you said the Flat out ban diesels, which is a difinitive statement, however on THE MOST RECENT EPISODE they do a very long and boring spot on a diesel. hmmm...


Top Gear certainly does not ban any form of auto. They have had Diesel, battery, hydrogen, you name it. But they do rip the Diesel engines. I have the same opinion as the hosts of Top Gear, people don;'t buy diesels for fun. They buy them because they are penny pinchers at the pump

I wanted to add. That last episode was so friggen funny. I was rolling on the floor during that VW advertisement segment.

[Beer Goggles]

They test the cars, but they are not on the track...or many of them. You can look up when the did the comparison of the 535 and 535D.

I'm not a D hater, I just think the engines lack an element of soul in the engine note that isn't there...maybe it will but I doubt it.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1083723633657404315
I don't think that it should have gone against a v8, but whatever.