E90 loaner... I really miss my F30

Originally Posted by bmw_or_audi

These were the same reactions I had when I started reading F30 reviews and comments, but my sarcasm was mostly directed at the engine. Rags and boards were relentless about the sewing-machine sounding four-banger in the A4, they were outraged about paying $30+K for a turbo four-banger, and on and on. But now that BMW has joined the bandwagon, turbo fours are great, their mileage is great, their light weight makes the car more agile, and on and on. It's hilarious.

Don't you worry, BMW B38 will soon give N20 a run for their money.

Originally Posted by bmw_or_audi

These were the same reactions I had when I started reading F30 reviews and comments, but my sarcasm was mostly directed at the engine. Rags and boards were relentless about the sewing-machine sounding four-banger in the A4, they were outraged about paying $30+K for a turbo four-banger, and on and on. But now that BMW has joined the bandwagon, turbo fours are great, their mileage is great, their light weight makes the car more agile, and on and on. It's hilarious.

Wake up and smell the future. Small displacement, high efficiency is here to stay.

Originally Posted by justinnum1

Wake up and smell the future. Small displacement, high efficiency is here to stay.

Thank you Justine. You just proven my point.

Originally Posted by bayoucity

Thank you Justine. You just proven my point.

Originally Posted by captainaudio

BMW has surpased Lexus in sales so I am not really sure how many BMW drivers have gone to Lexus.

Enough. Remember, there was not even Lexus to speak of not long ago. I am sure some of their customers who came from non-luxury brands would have never gone the route of German luxury cars, but there is no denying that the took away customers from German manufacturers.

Originally Posted by bmw_or_audi

These were the same reactions I had when I started reading F30 reviews and comments, but my sarcasm was mostly directed at the engine. Rags and boards were relentless about the sewing-machine sounding four-banger in the A4, they were outraged about paying $30+K for a turbo four-banger, and on and on. But now that BMW has joined the bandwagon, turbo fours are great, their mileage is great, their light weight makes the car more agile, and on and on. It's hilarious.

It's not hilarious; it's called "survival".

1984 the first CD players started to hit the market. Really expensive stuff, very niche at the time. Stereo Review magazine's most respected writer, think his name was Ken Pohlmann, comes out with an article whose premise was that "because it's all digital, all CD players sound exactly the same so pick any one you want and don't worry about it", then went on to talk about the virtues of vinyl.

By 1985, Stereo Review magainze and it's most respected writer were doing CD player comparo after comparo about the Sony this and the JVC that and the Technics this and the Pioneer that, and the horsepower wars of 8x oversampling and the color of the laser and the refraction angle of the mirrors and all that other stuff and it went on and on for 20 years.

If the Car & Driver's and Motor Trend's of the world stick to their elitist 6 cylinder views there's a whole lot of enthusiasts and generalists that are going to stop buying their pulp. Technology is evolutionary; reporting on it is usually prefaced with a cold bucket of reality.

BJ

Originally Posted by justinnum1

Awww my bad Justin.

Originally Posted by bmw_or_audi

You have to sit back and ask yourself why you thought these things.

My guess is because of the uninformed mindless brain-washing by the auto press.

Truth is, it was the E90 discussion forum. We come here to seek the truth, get the pure answer without the advertising money and without the agendas in the way.

Read thread after thread about how the F30 was going to be too big, too wide, too soft, too plush, not to mention the blasphemy of the 4 cylinder engine. This car was going to be too disconnected from its heritage and too expensive for its powerplant. I was going to hate it, have to go look at Mercedes Benz.

Then I took an F30 test drive and I swear it took all of 30 seconds pulling out of the BMW driveway into 60 MPH traffic flow to realize that this was the lightest, tightest, most effortless engine/transmission combo I'd ever experienced. And that was before I appreciated how comfortable the ride was and how rocket-like Sport mode was. And then I stopped smiling just long enough to notice the interior design and the head-up display and the iDrive enhancements and that was that. Took all of 5 minutes.

I'm at the 8 week marker now, only have one issue with the car and it's only when I feel like driving like a maniac (very rarely) so I can let that go, get a thicker set of sway bars for my Luxury line someday.

My first impressions tend to be the best, they've helped me throughout my life and my career. The day I got the car I said this was the greatest 3 Series ever made and will shatter the sales records of those that came before it. I think I was right.

BJ

Originally Posted by bmw_or_audi

These were the same reactions I had when I started reading F30 reviews and comments, but my sarcasm was mostly directed at the engine. Rags and boards were relentless about the sewing-machine sounding four-banger in the A4, they were outraged about paying $30+K for a turbo four-banger, and on and on. But now that BMW has joined the bandwagon, turbo fours are great, their mileage is great, their light weight makes the car more agile, and on and on. It's hilarious.

Mercedes also jumped on the bandwagon. The "Big Three" German competitors are now all on the same power plant playing field. It's a real shame BMW did that to themselves. However, BMW does have the best turbo four banger, in spite of the diesel-esque sounding direct injection. What does it say about Audi that BMW beat them at their own game at their first at bat?

Originally Posted by captainaudio

BMW has surpased Lexus in sales so I am not really sure how many BMW drivers have gone to Lexus.

If Lexus made a car that I liked I would have no qualms about buying one and I don't care who called it a Rebadged Toyota.

CA

Qualms are re-badged concerns.

Originally Posted by boltjaM3s

Read thread after thread about how the F30 was going to be too big, too wide, too soft, too plush, not to mention the blasphemy of the 4 cylinder engine. This car was going to be too disconnected from its heritage and too expensive for its powerplant. I was going to hate it, have to go look at Mercedes Benz.

Then I took an F30 test drive and I swear it took all of 30 seconds pulling out of the BMW driveway into 60 MPH traffic flow to realize that this was the lightest, tightest, most effortless engine/transmission combo I'd ever experienced.

That means you are an open minded person who can think for himself despite overwhelming hysteria pushing him in other directions.

Originally Posted by tturedraider

Mercedes also jumped on the bandwagon. The "Big Three" German competitors are now all on the same power plant playing field. It's a real shame BMW did that to themselves. However, BMW does have the best turbo four banger, in spite of the diesel-esque sounding direct injection. What does it say about Audi that BMW beat them at their own game at their first at bat?

It is not that simple. You have to remember that the 2.0T was initially setup for a model below a naturally aspirated V6. So its power was to a great extent capped by the requirement to be slated a decent distance below the V6's.

Audi has had a 265Hp version of the same engine for a while now in the TTS.

It also has a 2.5L five-banger than produces 360Hp/343lb-ft (a mini-monster).

So it is not like Audi cannot put a more potent version in the A4.

You also have to realize that BMW had been turbo charging aircraft engines 50+ years ago and that it has made many turbo engines for cars since the seventies. Someone here pointed out to me that BMW was not new at this game, and after doing just a little bit of research, I realized how right he was and how wrong my own assumptions were about this.

Finally, cost, marketing, and different choices for balancing reliability with performance influence what engine these companies end up using. Either one could easily make engines that far surpass the ones currently fielded in their cars.

Originally Posted by bmw_or_audi

That means you are an open minded person who can think for himself despite overwhelming hysteria pushing him in other directions.

I for one am shocked that internet forums would foster overwhelming hysteria .

Originally Posted by -=Hot|Ice=-

Qualms are re-badged concerns.

Originally Posted by bmw_or_audi

That means you are an open minded person who can think for himself despite overwhelming hysteria pushing him in other directions.

You guys order Chinese food from the same restaurant last night?

BJ

Originally Posted by LegendsNeverDie

Reading some of the posts in the F30 discussion threads makes me laugh a little. I remember when the F30 wasn't released yet almost everyone was stating how much better the E90 was then the competition because of its steering, handling and balance. It didn't matter that it had "dated" interior because that was not why you bought BMW for. Most would call the A4 "soft" and posted negative comments about the turbo four. Funny how things have changed and now it is the BMW that is "soft" around the edges, comes with a four cylinder and gets terrible reviews about its steering feedback. Bottom line is that most members here would criticize the competition for exactly the same reasons the F30 is criticized by the magazines

That is so true, some of these fanboys in here use to criticized the competition for various attributes such as soft steering, 4 banger engine and soft suspension, but when BMW started to design those same attribute into their cars, all of a sudden, it’s a stroke of genius. Another good example is when these fanboys made fun of Audi because all their cars are starting to look alike, now BMW is doing the same thing.

Well, I joined the club with voip today. Dropped off my F30 for FEM replacement and I'm in a stripper E90 328i.

And when I say stripper, I mean stripper. No comfort access, no satrad, nothing. When I hit the gas to get on the interstate, I was shocked by the delay before it did anything.

Please, please, please let this repair take less than a week.

Originally Posted by captainaudio

I don't know what happened to Lexus but they definitely lost their way. My 92 SC300 coupe was one of the best cars I ever had. It was a really great GT car, very refined, excellent ergonomics, a great balance between comfort and performance and it felt like it was carved out of a solid block of steel. If they had continued to devlop that model I would have seriously considered another. As it turned out they had replaced it with the SC430 retractable hardtop convertible, which I had no interest in at all. We wound up getting the E93 as the New York car and a Jaguar XKR as the Florida car.

It will be interesting to see what Lexus comes up with over the next few years but I suspect there may be some interesting new Lexus models in the near future.

CA

As an ex-Lexus man myself, I agree with you. Lexus certainly have lost their way, and that new cooperate front end really push it over the edge for me. My first Lexus was a used LS430, that thing felt like a rock, it just takes a beating and keeps on ticking. The solidness of the LS430 was on par with my current F10. I had 3 more Lexus after that, each one was lower in quality compare to the last, ending with my 2008 GS350 which was a rattle trap. I would imagine all these quality problem in some way must have to do with Lexus's aggressive cost cutting strategy. Sometimes the affect of the cost cutting doesn’t manifest itself on the factory floor or during factory testing.

Originally Posted by LegendsNeverDie

Reading some of the posts in the F30 discussion threads makes me laugh a little. I remember when the F30 wasn't released yet almost everyone was stating how much better the E90 was then the competition because of its steering, handling and balance. It didn't matter that it had "dated" interior because that was not why you bought BMW for. Most would call the A4 "soft" and posted negative comments about the turbo four. Funny how things have changed and now it is the BMW that is "soft" around the edges, comes with a four cylinder and gets terrible reviews about its steering feedback. Bottom line is that most members here would criticize the competition for exactly the same reasons the F30 is criticized by the magazines

Originally Posted by The X Men

That is so true, some of these fanboys in here use to criticized the competition for various attributes such as soft steering, 4 banger engine and soft suspension, but when BMW started to design those same attribute into their cars, all of a sudden, it’s a stroke of genius. Another good example is when these fanboys made fun of Audi because all their cars are starting to look alike, now BMW is doing the same thing.

BJ

Originally Posted by shabadoo25

Well, I joined the club with voip today. Dropped off my F30 for FEM replacement and I'm in a stripper E90 328i.

And when I say stripper, I mean stripper. No comfort access, no satrad, nothing. When I hit the gas to get on the interstate, I was shocked by the delay before it did anything.

Please, please, please let this repair take less than a week.

It's criminal that BMW thinks this is appropriate for F30 drivers.

E90 people are used to being mistreated like this; it's an outrage what they put you and VoIP through. Hang in there. This nightmare will be over soon. Just don't let your neighbors see you in that out of style mess; they'll uninvite you to the Halloween block party, make your wife cry, not worth it.

BJ

Originally Posted by tturedraider

Mercedes also jumped on the bandwagon. The "Big Three" German competitors are now all on the same power plant playing field. It's a real shame BMW did that to themselves. However, BMW does have the best turbo four banger, in spite of the diesel-esque sounding direct injection. What does it say about Audi that BMW beat them at their own game at their first at bat?

How is the BMW four better than Audi?

Originally Posted by LegendsNeverDie

How is the BMW four better than Audi?

Power is even across the curve while the 2.0T falls flat on it's face in the mid to upper range.

Originally Posted by -=Hot|Ice=-

Power is even across the curve while the 2.0T falls flat on it's face in the mid to upper range.

Power isn't everything and despite being much heavier and down on HP the A4 2.0T post nearly identical numbers as the F30.

Originally Posted by LegendsNeverDie

How is the BMW four better than Audi?

The real question shall be " How are BMW & Audi 4 banger better than Hyundai's ?"

Genesis' 2.0 T is rated @ 274 hp. Pretty surreal & humbling huh?

Originally Posted by LegendsNeverDie

How is the BMW four better than Audi?

It's quite a bit more powerful. Based on dyno numbers it probably has closer to 275 hp at the crank.

Originally Posted by bayoucity

The real question shall be " How are BMW & Audi 4 banger better than Hyundai's ?"

Genesis' 2.0 T is rated @ 274 hp. Pretty surreal & humbling huh?

Not really. Google "N20 underrated"