You know why the 2.5L seems slow?

[fuselier]

Driving home from the dealer after picking up the Bavarian Princess from service, I was fresh of my commute home in a 330i loaner.

Now, don't get me wrong, 55 horses are 55 horses. The 330i is both faster and quicker than my 323i.

However, a couple of immediate observations, upon switching back into the 323i:

1. My "old" steering most definitely is both heavier and less twitchy than the steering in the 2002 330i. Not a whole lot better than the 330i in either regard, but better. In both areas.

2. You know what's weird? It's not that the 323i is actually SO VERY much slower (although it is slower). You know what the most noticeable difference is? The accelerator pedal in my 323i is MUCH harder to press! Seriously. The 330i had a very light and silky pedal that, when combined with the power from the engine, makes it feel like it's nothing more than thought waves making it go.

My 323i takes a deliberate push on the pedal to move the pedal. My accelerator is perfectly smooth and alll it's never been notchy or "sticky", but the spring is very heavy. So, when you have somewhat less power, and it takes a more deliberate press to make it happen, the car conveys a sensation of sluggishness. Even though the reality is different.

Now I understand why my wife, when she first drove my car, said it was "less zippy" than her old Volvo wagon (which, on top of its other shortcomings, had 10 fewer horses). The Volvo had the same effortless pedal as the 330i: just tap it and you moved. My car would crush it in any situation, but all the legwork made it feel like the car itself was laboring.

Weird.

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

I envy you your throttle.
Nick

[JST]

Yeah, that's a good point. The 323/328 had a more linear throttle response than the later all-electronic throttles, but they did have (IMHO) excessively heavy return springs. Once you get used to it, you don't really notice it, but one of the things I noticed about the 323Ci every time I drove it after coming from something else was that it felt kind of...sluggish. Like it had lots of inertia, in a way. I think this is entirely down to the heavy steering and heavy throttle linkage. One of the reasons that the M3 feels "lighter" than the 323 (despite weighing about 400 lbs more) is that the throttle and steering effort are both reduced.

[Mystikal]

Yup, that's exactly what I like about my car. Since I actually learned to drive stick on it, the easy to control gas pedal was great to have. I remember in my mom's Maxima SE it was difficult to move off smoothly for a newbie because of it's hyper-active throttle.

[The HACK]

Originally posted by fuselier
...
2. You know what's weird? It's not that the 323i is actually SO VERY much slower (although it is slower). You know what the most noticeable difference is? The accelerator pedal in my 323i is MUCH harder to press! Seriously. The 330i had a very light and silky pedal that, when combined with the power from the engine, makes it feel like it's nothing more than thought waves making it go.

My 323i takes a deliberate push on the pedal to move the pedal. My accelerator is perfectly smooth and alll it's never been notchy or "sticky", but the spring is very heavy. So, when you have somewhat less power, and it takes a more deliberate press to make it happen, the car conveys a sensation of sluggishness. Even though the reality is different.


The 323i has a mechanical linkage to an electronic throttle, hence the mechanical linkage's cables and springs control the hardness of the pedal. The 330i's all have electronic throttles connected directly to the pedal, thus no cables and springs to add to the resistence of the pedal except for the spring back spring in the pedal itself.

The 323i actually has the better pedal response in my mind.

[epc]

I agree with Fuselier's assessment. I got a 323i auto once for loaner. Between the heavy steering and the stiff gas pedal, I got exhausted just from pulling out the dealer lot:cry:

[JPinTO]

The upside is that the linear throttle response and the rev-happy 2.5 make for more fun driving experience than the 3.0. The only thing that is missing on the 2.5 is that "growl" that the 3.0 has. An intake&exhaust should take care of that.

Try the Shark Injector upgrade... it's well worth the money for some added umph to the 2.5.

[bmw325]

while I liked the steering, I actually prefer the lighter pedal effort in my DBW 325i--it makes the car feel more responsive. I also think my DBW throttle is linear, easy to control and responsive--even compared w/ the 323's. My only complaint is the sometimes sticky pedal -- which BMW is devoting thousands of engineering hours to fix as we speak. :)

[AF]

Originally posted by JPinTO
The upside is that the linear throttle response and the rev-happy 2.5 make for more fun driving experience than the 3.0.

I usually agree with a lot of the things you say EXCEPT for this one.

A more fun driving experience ? ?

I personally find them mutually fun :p

Actually I like the Drive by wire responsiveness better than the mechanical linkage.

I had a 323 loaner and then the dealer switched me to a 525i loaner. Even though the 5 sereis was heavier with basically the same engine, it actually felt faster and more responsive than the 323. For some reason the 323's steering and accelerator make the car feel like it has sluggish reactions.

[HW]

yeah, my 323ci throttle feels stiff and i can't easily romp on it. its response coming back up when you let go of it is really slow too. anyone notice the slow return?