I just drove a 2011 335i sedan loaner around this afternoon. It has nice, but I am sure glad I own an M3. The take-off felt fast, but... my impressions were:
- The exhaust and engine noise are not even in the same league as the m3. The sound of the m3 is intoxicating. The sounds of the 335i were so-so. I could take it or leave it.
- It was an automatic, and the paddle shifting made me feel like I didn't know how to drive. I am sure the DCT in the 335is is much better, but the 335i would be a manual or nothing for me.
- Steering wheel in the m3 is much more to my liking too. The 335i steering wheel felt little and brittle.
- Driving the 335i like I wanted, only gave me 18mpg, so nothing great over my avg 14mpg on the m3.
- Turbo lag is boring now compared to NA.
- After 5500 you can really feel the drop in power. On the m3, > 5500RPM is heaven!
I've been on BMW CCA drives where there was a 335i sedan modded/tuned and I couldn't keep up with it in the straight line. Not even close, but big whoop. I can buy a 2003 STI and mod/tune to do that for $20k.