UUronL

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.

tachyon

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.

LowOrbit

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

UUronL

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.

EBMCS03

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

UUronL

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

Bimmer32

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.

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. Nothing impressive . . .

colejl

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)

LowOrbit

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.

SolarFactory

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.