I just spoke with a friend of mine who is ordering a 335i coupe. He was the first to drive one at a local dealer - the car only had 11 miles on it and had just been prepped for customer test drives.


335i, standard shift, sport package, space gray.


He is a long-time BMW owner, and he really loved the car. Said that the response was perfect - not a hint of lag, and tons of power. Ultra fast. He has driven the E92 in 255hp 3.0L form, and he said it was like that, but with tons more power. He said you can't hear the turbo, and that there is no behavior that would lead you to believe you were driving a turbocharged car - that the power delivery was very linear.


He said that he respected the car and mostly kept it under 4K miles for break-in. He did however dip into the throttle a bit and took it to 6500 a few times to see what the power curve was like. He said it never stopped pulling and was super stong and linear.


Bodes very very well for the engine and for the car in general.

Yup, looks like a winner for BMW. All the car mags have raved about it. I'm anxious to see one in person, and from all the photos it looks very sharp ... one of the best modern BMW designs yet.

Since I don't fit in a 335, I am anxiously awaiting the 535i - does anyone know the release date in the U.S.?

No, although speculation is perhaps March/April 07 as a USA 08 (will still be an 07 in the rest of the world). I think we would have heard about it by now if it was going to make it in a Sept. 06 build.

HEY that sounds awefully familiar... now my 545 will be 3 years old soon. :thumbsdown:

Heh - I know what you mean - I have a March 05 build "2006". Hehehe.

Honestly, I don't see the big hype on the 335i. There s no real technology improvement - just produces power differently. BMW could have just slap an m3 engine in it and rebadged it as a 335i or something and that would be done for the day. :unsure:

As for as design, the butt is way too long for a coupe. Shorten the trunk and the wheelbase alittle more and than it can be a real coupe. Right, it looks like a 2 door small sedan. :wacko: Nothing impressive . . .

I disagree... The new engine features a whole host of new technology from BMW that improves driveability, flexibility, emissions and consumption! Whilst the M3 engine is a rev-happy monster the new engine is far more useful from day-to-day! The comparison I read was that the M3 was quicker, but marginally, and the 335i was actually as quick, if not quicker, for most 'normal' driving... (Whilst returning better mpg and emitting less)

I have to agree with colejl.

The 335Ci is much better for day-to-day driving vs. the M3 given its flat torque curve. I have not driven one but the reviews have been quite favorable and a 4.9 sec 0-60 is pretty impressive.

Plus, as others have mentioned, you can chip it for $1,000 and produce more bhp than the M3.

That being said, if buying (vs. leasing) I would wait one year to confirm its reliability given BMW's limited recent experience building turbo petrol engines.

I don't know if you have seen it in person or not but IMHO the rear is not too long in person. In pictures it can look unproportional but when I saw it in person, it all works.

I agree. It is a better day to day driver than the M3. It is something everyone should go test drive. I am convinced it will take my 545i.

Yes, I've seen it in person, in four different colors at the dealership. I didn't test drive it (may I should have) while I had my runflats and door sills replaced. I still think the 4 door looks better than the 2 dr. Like I said before, BMW created a coupe out of a small 4 door car. Just my opinion.

What makes a turbo'ed car easier to mod and cheaper? Just put in a bigger turbo and/or the ECU is easily manipulated? I'm really curious.

What is the difficulty with high rev M engine on daily drive. Please explain. Thanks.

1 or 2 mpg less. Less emission? To get M3 performance, those turbos will emit the same if not more pollution. Driveability and flexibility? So you saying the M3 is harder to drive then a turbo'ed engine? If the M3 was mated with an enhanced steptronic or improved SMG/ZMG, would it be easier to drive on a daily basis? If so, than it's a transmission mating issue.

I'm still not convince how this turbo'ed engine is better than the M3 engine. :nono:

I'm not saying it is. BOTH are great but for different reasons... :cool:

I am not sure of the details - I think UUronL knows alot about it - but Mitsubishis and Subarus seem to get huge bhp gains from tweaking.

From my experience as a previous owner of a Audi A6 2.7T, MTM made chips that raised bhp from 250bhp to 300-330bhp

Regarding the M3, you really need to rev it to get use of all the horsepower and the torque curve is not as flat as the 335's so you need to work the rev band to get the performance. I drove an early Honda S2000 years ago and it really did not move until it hit 5,000rpm due to its peaky power band - not real fun in daily traffic.

However, if you love to rev, an M3 may be more to your liking.

BMW website has M3 for man. trans. at 24 mpg. OK, 335i can do 28 mpg. 4 mpg difference. 0-60 in 5.x and m3 is 4.8. M3 is a clear winner after the 1/4 mile (CD data). So you drive the m3 alittle slower and your mpg narrows down to 2 mpg difference and have the same performance as the 335i.

As for emission, I'm no expert on this cat. I just know that when a SC malfunctions, it usually fails emmission test. Turbo'ed, well, I just don't know. Somebody enlighten me, please. :help:

Ah, torque, everybody loves the "push" feeling, even my 1.66 year old daughter in her stroller. :D To be honest, sometimes I'm annoyed by the 545i inability to "smooth" start when I release the brake and step on the accelerate before the car really starts rolling (steptronic). :think: I do like the torque at 40+ mph and up, but it really doesn't matter if the engine is turning at 1500 or 4500 rpm. If it "pushes," it pushes.

So in the end, there may be a "marginal" improvement of the i6 turbo'ed over the m3 engine. But I'd rather have a dated design m3 engine slap on the 335i rather than a turbo'ed. At least the m3 has aged gracefully.

For a turbo'ed i6, it's no surprise or different than a SC i6.

Actually i have to agree with Bimmer32 here.
I don't know what's all the fuss about the new direct injection petrol engine, be it turboed. It's after all a pure marketing result. A 3000cc 6 cyl can do alot more than 300bhp and 400nm! Be it even underrated.

And people we tend to forget that the new M3 is just around the corner. It's actually improper to compare the 335i to the E46 M3 cuz the m3 has been around for...what 6 years or so?! Probably almost nobody is going to buy a new e46 m3 now when the E90 m3 is just half a year away.

And to compare the 335i with the new E90 m3 is not going to happen since bmw will take care of that.

Speaking of engines alone the 335i simply pales if you ask me, next to the M3 engine. Why? Simply because it's turboed. That's the main argument that will make some people happy because of the extra torque and the availability from low rpms but it's the same argument that will make others remain cold. I don't care too much about consumption when choosing between the 2...hell it's not a diesel so why bother?! Also emissions? Please you're not gonna choose your car based on that will you?
So in the end it depends on what you want. The m3 sure will outperform at almost any chapter the new 335i. Wana talk about tuning? Because the m3 is still na after all :D But that would ruin the whole philosophy of an M. So is it screamer engine with unmatched response awarded many years in a row as the best engine or turboed 3000cc engine with only 35-45 hp more than the na 3000cc engine but with more torque?
Personally i'm going with the screamer engine.

PS: Squeezing 360bhp in the end from a NA 3200cc L6engine is just astonishing. Who cares about the torque when you have peak hp at high rpms?! Big torque and screamer engines were never a match. That's why i said those are very different points of view.

It's a fair comparison but it shows how much things have progressed... We're coming a 'standard' model with a M of yesteryear :wow: (Like the 545i/550i was compared, performance wise, to the previous M5)

Well I think the next 5 years is going to shake things up emissions wise. Whilst most people don't currently choose cars based on emissions I think they'll have to or more likely governments will make that choice for you! Certain cars are going to be taxed hard, well at least in the UK! All the M's will get hammered because of their uncompromised design... Perhaps that's a good thing, they'll be even more exclusive?

Here the annual car 'tax' is based on emissions and it's rumoured to get progressively worse! 'Top' band cars (Read all M's) could go to almost UKP2,000! (Vote winner that one eh?)

I'll take a 535i :D

Ok, but view it this way - both great options are available! You're free to pick your preference! :thumbsup:

ahem... 3247cc :doh:

And i personally really really like the 335i.. in fact i think i would prefer it to the e92 (and e46) m3s...

-more accessible performance
-cheaper insurance *sigh*
-better fuel economy
-much more fun to drive around town
-more manegable to drive at the limit(at least i hope so.. testdrive beckons)

and last but not least i would hate to get another ///M because it is such a litte bastard of a car... it requires so much nannying, you have to make sure the engine is fully warmed up (and that takes 25minutes!), you always worry about the gearbox, all this breaking in procedures... i must admit i really got tired of it

and this is coming from someone who had an ///m3 for his daily driver... i do understand you though.. i drive diesels 90% of the time now, and sometimes i really long for something that goes above 5000rpm

Haha you got me! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Yeah...good and solid point you're making there.

Maybe i'm a nut but just because there is a lack of lsd makes me feel....not sitting in the top range model (an M). I wish i had your problems though.... :D :thumbsup:

:thumbsup:
i know kleemann offers LSD for all mercedes models.. surely there is a bmw tuner that can offer to install an LSD in recent models :confused:

Yeah, Koala Motorsport http://www.koalamotorsport.com/. I was looking into replacing my diff a while back with their LSD. Price was $3K just for the part.

Koala Motorsport
9988 Kinsman Rd
Novelty OH 44072