The general trend is that BMW is losing it. I like BMWs and have been a BMWCCA member for 6 years, but the trend is worrisome. Drinking their coolaid is not worth it.
BMW will probably make more money by appealing to the masses. The ultimate driving machine it is not.
The general trend is that BMW is losing it. I like BMWs and have been a BMWCCA member for 6 years, but the trend is worrisome. Drinking their coolaid is not worth it.
BMW will probably make more money by appealing to the masses. The ultimate driving machine it is not.
I think those of us who want pure driving experience will eventually have to migrate to M. Porsche is fine, but I need a daily driver, and the Panamera is too expensive for me.
The new IS350 F Sport has to be substantially more fun to drive than the F30 335i for me to accept the C&D report. I am not holding my breath it will happen, but then I am reminded my test drive of the ATS 3.6L, when it turned out noticeably more fun to drive than the F30, all other factors quickly became insignificant.
Sitting in a side-by-side-by-side comparison with a Mercedes C350 sedan, the rear-wheel drive IS 350 F Sport and a BMW 335i, the IS slots squarely in the middle.
Lexus outpaced the rather un-dynamic C-Class around the track with ease. Cornering is firm and steering stiff, although it isn***8217;t rambunctious like the 3 Series.
It doesn***8217;t compete with cars like the BMW 335i from a performance perspective, but the Lexus is still plenty fun to drive, has some dramatic road presence and is significantly more luxurious.
LOVE IT
F Sport package looks incredible
G force Artificial Intelligence works well
Eight-speed transmission from IS F available
LFA inspired gauges too cool
LEAVE IT
Same old engines Less athletic than a 3 Series
No cooled seats on F Sport
No stick shift
Even Car and Driver when they first drove it (and didn't have an agenda of sending a message to BMW), said it was not as fun as the previous gen. Ouch.
Driven back-to-back with the current IS, the 2014 proved to be the more stable of the two. It***8217;s likely that overall grip has increased, but some of the IS***8217;s playfulness and character have been sacrificed to the holy trinity of NVH. It***8217;s a small difference and one that likely can be chalked up to the heavier GS-based architecture***8212;the IS is up to 176 pounds heavier.
It was just a few months ago that C&D raved about the 335i as part of their Lightning Lap. Go figure. I remember the test driver saying it was everything you could hope for in a sports sedan. So much of this depends on individual preferences. The recent edition of Bimmer has an article on the 328 sport. Mike Miller likes it better than the E90 but another writer had a very negative review of the car excepting that it didn't have the "masochistic" ride of the E90. People have different expectations and experiences when it comes to driving cars. Hard to take these reviews as objective truth.
The problem is, those same manufactures also try to feed the notion that the best 0-60 time, or the highest HP, wins. They risk having people come to the driving events, realizing the best 0-60 time hardly means anything, when you are restricted by speed limits.
As a relatively recent (2010) BMW convert who has thoroughly enjoyed his 2011 MY editions of a 335IS convertible and a standard setup X5, I am saddened by what they have done with the F30. The oldest BMW I've ever driven is a 2007 E90, which means I missed out on all that good stuff that people rave about, and there seems to be very little chance that sort of thing will ever return.
I recently had an F30 Luxury as a loaner. Ordinarily, I love driving loaner cars even if they are lower-end (a Mazda 5 mini-mini-van comes to mind - shockingly fun for what it was), as it means trying something new for a short while and putting miles on not my car. But after a few days of this F30, I was calling my SA and bugging him to give me my car back!
The steering is not just numb, there's something else about it that feels fake to the point of distraction. Body roll is, well, very un-BMW like ( I also had a Sport F30 as a loaner, ok but not great). Suspension feels unconfident, as do the brakes (which I suspect the tires contribute to, as I think CD alluded to).
I see BMW and Lexus like two lines on the fun-to-drive graph, one rising, one falling, and depending on who you ask, the lines have converged or are about to. What direction they will take now, who knows. I don't like Lexus (actually its Toyota I despise) but find myself considering the IS as my next car, 2 or 3 years in the future.
I hope the upcoming G37 replacement kicks both their butts. The first-year G35 I owned for 9 years was a sweet ride but then they too lost the plot.
I remember when I test drove my first BMW back in 1979, a 320i coupe with MT. We had a 1976 Olds Cutlas and a 1975 MGB at the time. The MGB handled very well but felt way underpowered and the Cutlas drove like a boat. I took the BMW on narrow winding back roads and it solidly handled everything in it's path incredibly well by comparison to anything I had driven. It was a thrill and I was instantly in love with that car.
I had the same type of excitement when I first drove a 2009 M3 with DCT. I got out of the car and said to the salesman that this is what a BMW should feel like. Engaging the M Drive turned the car into a beast that gave me a smile from ear to ear.
I nearly felt the same when test driving my 335is. My senses were alive with the handling ability combined with the addictive sound of the exhaust.
I drove my neighbor's new sport F30 with MT about 3 weeks ago. I walked away thinking it was a nice car but that was it. It didn't feel tight, it didn't have the acceleration as compared to my 335is, and it didn't tickle my senses with any decent exhaust note. The most fun that I had with the car was shifting gears, but even so, I found the shifter to have too long of a throw.
Maybe I'm a dinosaur in my thinking, but as a driving enthusiast (as many here no doubt are), I want to be excited when driving a car, especially a new one that I am contemplating buying. If I want a comfy and roomy ride, I'll jump into my Tahoe and take a drive. But, most of the time, I want to have my senses tickled when I'm driving, and I'm sorry to say that the F30 just didn't do it for me.
Here's hoping the F series coupe or M3/4 will be more BMW.
Your opinions are very well respected here and rightfully so. For that reason, i am curious to ask you a question.
In your opinion, how would you compare the handling of you non-sport e60 to the f30 you test drove?
I had the e60 for 2 years, and driving base f30, can't help but think that e60 would outhandle it.
Ignore the photos accompanying the article as they are clearly not the car tested. The MSRPs of the C/D test car and the Autoweek test car are the same and the C/D photos seem to agree with the options that Autoweek lists at the end of their piece. Looking at that options list, I can't help but conclude that this particular test car is lightly and bizarrely optioned (auto high beams but zero other tech options?) and is missing DHP, which everyone here seems to agree makes the car.
Not trying to be a BMW apologist or make excuses, just noting that this particular test car doesn't represent the best of what the F30 can be.
My F30 335 M Sport order went in a few weeks ago, to replace my '11 335d which I absolutely love. Every time I get in the d I wonder if getting rid of it is the right move (2 years on and the torque is still intoxicating), but the F30 is just that much bigger than the E90 to make it a more practical car, especially in the backseat with my daughter's car seat.
So I'm going to be a bit contrarian here. I have only had notable seat time in an e30, e36, and e46 and some minor time spent driving 330i and 335i e90's....
I look at these cars as daily drivers first and foremost. I found the e36 loud and cramped and cheap interior - but very very connected to the road. The e46 was probably the best executed - smooth yet communicative. Stylish in it's time and aging well now. Still somewhat cramped but pretty well done.
I found the e90 naturally aspirated cars to be neither as superbly communicative (due to it's weight gain/smoothness perhaps) nor suitably spacious/luxurious to be a pleasant daily driver. The 335i fixed that by adding a hardcore dose of rip-snorting engine.
But for me, the f30 finally brings a 3-series into a preferred daily driver domain for me. It's spacious enough to actually do executive sedan duty without embarassment. It's much better executed in terms of pleasant to drive in the cabin and layout.
It's fairly close to the e90 in terms of removal from the road, exacerbated also by the steering. But while the e90 did not excel at either at either a backroad bomber (compared to, say, an e36) nor an everyday driver, I feel the f30 DOES excel at being an everyday driver while not giving up much as a backroad bomber compared to the f30.
Simultaneously, if you want a much worse daily driver but a much better backroad bomber....you've now got the 1-series, which you didn't have during the e36/e46 phase.
Just my take. There's alot of little things about the f30 that doesn't quite work for me, but I think it's really embodied the development of the 3-series over the years and the advent of the 1-series.
That being said, I am waiting for the m3 to come out to make a decision
There's alot of little things about the f30 that doesn't quite work for me, but I think it's really embodied the development of the 3-series over the years and the advent of the 1-series.
When is the F-Type going to be available? I think Jag has the same hurdle to overcome like Range Rover, their past reliability records were a big drag.
Strange comparisson... The 335 has the best engine/trans/fuelconsuption/0-60 and looses in the "flexibility" question...?
It wins in almost all the "objective" tests but looses in the "subjective" tests... Come on, "Fun to drive" less than the other slower ones!!!?
I read the article today and notice the specs for trunk space are off and the points are awarded as such. Just the adjustment there would have points dispersed differently.
That's good news. I guess my '12 335i Xdrive with Dinan Stage 2 download, Dinan Stage 2 suspension and Dinan exhausr system, Enkei Race PF01 wheels with Bridgestone 255/35-18 Pole Positions
will do 0-60 in about 4.3 and it rides and handles just great and sounds great with ther Dinan exhaust system.
I guess I was going off published data from BMW. They are conservative. But still, a 335i is FAAST!!!
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