Why I bought a 428 vs a 435? First off who am I, Nobody. I am no one anyone should have their ideas changed because of my opinions since I believe that people should do what's right for themselves regardless what anyone else thinks or says. Each one of us are lucky enough to buy one of these fine machines to our individual tastes. And lets be grateful for that individuality, since otherwise we will all be driving the same car making finding ours in a parking difficult. Each car we own is best to its owner.
What are the things that make a car best to me. Engineering, handling, Fuel efficiency, power, looks, long operational life, having fun on the road.
I am normally a cheap bastard, well maybe not, more I like to get the best value for my money. when I started Looking at BMWs it was a result of looking for a sport wagon that would tow a 3,000lb tent trailer. The only 2 cars that would do it were Volvo and BMW. to shorten that story I got my wife a used Volvo to tow the trailer allowing me to go for a BMW sedan. Well the 328 did not float my boat since every one has one on the valley I live in.
I saw the Gran Coupe and I could hear Linda Ronstadt in my head. Then came setting it up. My initial plan was to make it a bare bones dialed for pure performance car, since I had limited funds. Then I had plenty of bad influence friends who said you only live once and buy all the toys. After thinking about it I decided that what the hell get some toys.
I had watched and read all the reviews on the 4 series cars. and one common theism kept communing up regardless if they were test tracking it of street driving it was the 6 cylinders have under steer. First off under steer is not a bad thing. This makes the car its most stable condition for loss of control than over steer for 90% of the driving public. Most cars are specifically engineered with under steer for public safety.
a small percentage of us high performance drivers prefer equal of over steer. This is a more dangerous condition in the wrong hands because you can end up in an uncontrollable spin. Either trained or highly experienced drivers know how to use this condition to their advantage with out ending up off a cliff. If you are inclined you can take performance driving classes to learn.
One key thing to remember, what ever your cars handling characteristics are they can always be changed by a quality suspension tuner. Yes the under steering 6 cylinder cars can be equally or over steered tuned. If I can get my 73 AMX with its 90/10 weight distribution (yes I am spinning a yarn) to evenly drift through a turn, than any BMW can get there too.
So it came to the engine selection. It was tough, I have always been a Bigger better motor guy and the 2 mpg difference between the 4 and 6 was certainly was not a show stopper for the toy equipped performance car to my liking, I had a hard time going the extra $4500. To push my self past the financial wall I dug more into both engines for my comparisons to justify the 6 cylinder.
Funny thing happened on the way to the six cylinder, I grew more appreciation for the 4 cylinder even though they are the same architecture with 2 more cylinders.
For me I liked the reduced turbo lag for the 4, and all reviewers, even the initial skeptics, said that the 4 cylinder makes the car fun. Except my favorite review from cape town South Africa that said no the six is the way to go. Than a friend told ma about how I can tune up the horsepower aftermarket for $1500.
Since I live in a canyon play ground, a well balanced 300hp 4 cylinder canyon scooter with all my comforts wrapped in a beautiful package is the cats meow. For me.
It will be delivered by the beginning of March. Plan to keep it as long as the AMX.
Remember, What works for me, does not work for every one. Each one of us bought the car we love. And for that, each one of us should go to our cars with the following MP3 song, find a wonderful road to drive. and play the music!!! :thumbup:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaEM4JYFPfw