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      02-13-2012, 03:16 AM   #1
GrumpyBimmerFan
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Test drive of F30 328 and 335 on the autobahn

So my local dealer had a test drive session of the new 328 and 335. As soon as I got there, first thing I asked for was a manual 335! The lady smiled, handed me the keys and told me I have 30 minutes Gladly about 10 minutes away from there is unrestricted autobahn, so I headed straight for it....
Ok, so let me start off with good things! The good things is the overall design, I love how the new 3 series looks! Interior is great! The 335 came quite loaded in options, the seats were comfy and there was a sport package on it(some other packages too, but I don't recall which ones). The interior matches the exterior quite nicely (my car was some shade of red), so the red accents were all over, I really liked that. All the materials inside felt top notch! Everything is very pleasing to the eye. Next to the transmission there is a very nice to touch switch for different driving modes... I believe there are like 4of them: Eco, Comfy, Sport, and Sport +. Under the tach there is the economy needle that tells you how economically you drive, and in the Eco mode it actually changes the gas pedal reaction, and that little display tells you how to drive to save gas, how much more mileage you are getting by driving so, and so on... neat tool. All the other modes are self explanatory, except the Sport +, which also switches the traction control off and into some M mode diff. The neat thing about switching between the modes is that the Nav display shows what exactly each mode does (actually displays a colorful car, with the changes highlighted in red). I'm not sure of what other differences there are with the outgoing model, since my M3 is 08 and uses the old system. Another point about the dash board, I really like that the gas tank gauge and temp gauge was moved to the sides, and there is once again the fuel consumption gauge (I love that thing on my dd E36).

Now to the main points: The driving.... man oh man, I don't know who ever said that 335 is comparable to the M3... no it is not! It's like night and day! So I get on the autobahn, and start going and I'm sorry, but the shifter is not nearly as good as in the M3. It's like comparing a scalpel, with an axe. In spirited driving I found myself looking for shifter gates. As far as acceleration, well, it's hard to describe... It's pretty good in mid range (not by any means better than m3), but it dies after about 5500rpm. Up to about 100mph, it's pretty quick, but it loses steam pretty fast after 130mph. Now to the suspension, car is unstable after 120mph, it gets thrown around (relative to the M3).... Oh, one point I forgot to mention is that the part of autobahn that i was on is twisty, but I'm quite familiar with it because that's where i used to run my M3 a lot on. So, back to the point, I was very hesitant to go fast through the turns. On the same turns M3 is much more confident. Also, braking, the car wobbles a bit, the rear feels a bit unstable. Well, after the drive on the autobahn, I got off an exit, and decided to go for a drive (at slower speeds) on the country road. Well, at slower speeds it handles very good! Once again, this is compared to M3, compared to my buddy's audi, this car is worlds better!



Now the 328i. This is the car I was more interested than the 335, cause i was pretty curious of that new engine. The 328 that i had didn't have that many options (at lest the seats weren't as comfortable, and there was no sport package on it). It was also an automatic. Now as far as power, yes, the difference between the 335 and 328 is there. Here's how I saw it, 335 was a bit slower on pick up, but once it was going it felt stronger. 328 was very reactive on pick up, and quite linear on accel.. I wasn't expecting much out of the 328, but was quite surprised (in the case of 335 I was expecting a lot, and wasn't impressed with performance aspect). Transmission is really good, and is an 8 speed. The car was equipped with lane departure feature and with some type of closing in feature. The lane departure feature monitors the road, and displays it on the dashboard on top, it's just kind of two lines. If you wear off the lanes the wheel will gently vibrate (think of Play Station steering wheel). The closing in feature is pretty basic, and not really useful. What it does is detects the car in front of you, and if you get really close to it (I mean, pretty much get on the cars bumper) it will flash the red lights on the dash, and on the HUD. Problem is that it will only do it when you literally on someone’s ass, and not as in you are closing in too fast. The parking feature was pretty cool, I guess it had like cameras all around, and showed the full car image on the screen with all the obstructions around.


So all in all, I am really liking the new design. I was thinking of trading my 08 M3 for the new 335 (considering that the new m3 won't be in for another 1.5years), but I gladly will say "No Thank You". The bottom line, even the new 335 is not match for the M3, nowhere close... even if you add more power to it, it still won't be the same as the drivetrain is just so much different.

p.s. My M3 is E90 with HFC, Xpipe, ESS tune, and fully loaded.

Last edited by GrumpyBimmerFan; 05-22-2012 at 02:01 PM.. Reason: vid removed
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      02-13-2012, 09:11 AM   #2
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No pics? I've only seen the 328, I haven't seen the 335 yet.
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      02-13-2012, 09:12 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Terraforce1 View Post
No pics? I've only seen the 328, I haven't seen the 335 yet.
posting the 335 in 5 minutes

Here you go...




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      02-13-2012, 10:25 AM   #4
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here is a vid of 335 run

Last edited by GrumpyBimmerFan; 05-22-2012 at 02:02 PM..
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      02-13-2012, 11:10 AM   #5
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Nice review, thanks for that.
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      02-13-2012, 11:37 AM   #6
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i'm confused, where is there an autobahn in NYC?
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      02-13-2012, 11:58 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boi222 View Post
i'm confused, where is there an autobahn in NYC?
I would take a guess and say he's in the Military stationed in Germany, it does show the temperature in Celsius in the video. However I'd love to know of such an "autobahn" if it does exist in NYC
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      02-13-2012, 12:12 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M3776 View Post
I would take a guess and say he's in the Military stationed in Germany, it does show the temperature in Celsius in the video. However I'd love to know of such an "autobahn" if it does exist in NYC
ahh...work place has a filter to prevent the videos.. but i should have thought about the military thing..lol
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      02-13-2012, 12:58 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M3776 View Post
I would take a guess and say he's in the Military stationed in Germany, it does show the temperature in Celsius in the video. However I'd love to know of such an "autobahn" if it does exist in NYC
I guess any freeway in the US is an "Autobahn"-at least until you get caught?
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      02-13-2012, 03:09 PM   #10
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Good write up however I wouldn't want to be buying that car since you clearly ignored any break-in procedure
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      02-13-2012, 03:56 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BMWNTHZST View Post
Good write up however I wouldn't want to be buying that car since you clearly ignored any break-in procedure
But apparently somebody already did . Is it just me or that car is just expensive? 57k? Yikes... My M was barely over that out the door.

P.S. Do want to know about NYC autobahn...
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      02-13-2012, 10:36 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyIvan View Post
But apparently somebody already did . Is it just me or that car is just expensive? 57k? Yikes... My M was barely over that out the door.

P.S. Do want to know about NYC autobahn...
Your 2011 E90 M3 was just barely 57k OTD? you sir got a great deal. My 2010 cost me way more than that.
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      02-15-2012, 02:31 AM   #13
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glad someone found it useful.

Yes, I am stationed in Germany, and I'm originally from NYC. If anyone wants to verify, look at my other vids, or other posts. Also, I tried to catch a bit of autobahn (specifically exit sign, "Aushfart", but U can't really tell on the vid). The car was US spec, as it is sold to americans.

As far as the break in concerns... I feel you. The thing with that car is, 1st: It's a demo model, and it wouldn't be on sale until summer, so there will be plenty of rough test drives on it (they will be rotating those cars thru many dealers across europe); 2nd: when these demo cars do sell, they will be discounted and sold as demo cars, so someone buying it should know what they are getting into; 3rd: engine brake in is arguable. I think for high performance cars it is necessary, just cause the eninge specs are very "tight". On regular cars I don't think engine break in is that important, or is necessary. 10-15 years ago, with older engine technology, it was important, but nowdays cars are built better and go thru engine break in at the factory (I might be wrong, but i know many car manufacturers put engine to work for certain amount of hours to insure proper ops/break in).
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      02-15-2012, 05:36 AM   #14
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Problem is: If a car was not runned in correctly, the breakes will not brake as normal, the tires can behave strange which results in difficult driving. All factors you mentioned on your report, so for me the report is not usefull, because I can personally not see what of your findings cames from the car and what came from not running it in...
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      02-15-2012, 09:39 AM   #15
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I'm sorry, that is incorrect, i'm not sure where you get your info. Brakes are broken in prior to purchase, and it takes 20 min to do. Tires, same thing, tires get broken in after first 50 miles as soon as the top layer gets a bit off. I wasn't on racetrack taking some crazy turns where the car needed lots of grip. The car wobbled under braking, and was unstable at high speeds. Is it better than some toyota at those speeds, I bet... Is it better at 130mph than my buddy's new A4 (2.0), I think they are on par, plus I didn't go 150 in the audi. And the whole thing is that most people will never travel at those speeds back in the states... Here in Germany, Yes, I have done multiple trips in my m3 where i was cruising between 130-160mph. I was just not impressed with 335's handling, that's all i'm trying to say.. I have seen lots of post about how 335 is close to M3, and I'm just saying, no it's not, not even close.
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      02-15-2012, 09:48 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kotik View Post
Brakes are broken in prior to purchase, and it takes 20 min to do. Tires, same thing, tires get broken in after first 50 miles as soon as the top layer gets a bit off.
LOL.

Ok, we should keep it that way, do not want to discuss this with you.
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      02-15-2012, 10:36 PM   #17
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I was less concerned with the break in of the demo car and more with OP driving at such high speeds holding a camera/phone and trying to record.
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      02-16-2012, 04:07 PM   #18
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Thanks for the review. Did the 328i feel significantly nimbler than the 335i?
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      02-17-2012, 03:41 AM   #19
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Yes the 328 did feel nimbler. Can you feel the power difference, sure, but it's not that significant. Transmission on the 328 was great, it was an 8 speed. There was still some slack (it's not m3's automatic), but for a regular car it's great.

Last edited by GrumpyBimmerFan; 05-22-2012 at 01:48 PM..
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      02-23-2012, 04:13 AM   #20
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Nice, thanks for putting it up for us.
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      03-02-2012, 04:54 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nick3753
I was less concerned with the break in of the demo car and more with OP driving at such high speeds holding a camera/phone and trying to record.
Lol. I thought the same thing. Great review. Im moving to Germany now just for that amazing highway! Freedom!!!
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