BMW 335d Test drive this morning.

[330dcoupe]

Popped over to the local dealership to test drive the new (and i'll admit, i never knew it even existed until my bro asked me to go along with him and check it out) 335d SE.

It was in Titanium silver, with a Auto/paddle shift box and the salesman said the power output on it was 290bhp - so a little more power than the 535d.

I have to admit, the new coupe doesn't really light any fires within, looks wise - it's too plain and looks like an Audi from the rear end. This particular car was priced at £41k - with Black interior.

The new coupe feels very much like a smaller 5 series - very comfortable, superb seats and quite abit of leg room in the front and rear over my E46 - with nice little touches to make the rear passengers feel like passengers and not flipping prisoners (unlike the E46)

now here is the juicy bit - the drive - im no car journalist, so i probably wouldn't be able to describe it all that well, so bear with me. The new coupe has grow up allot in my opinion, from the E46 - it's road manners have almost me diluted from that little edgy-ness you get from the E46 to almost perfection...and for me, that’s a bad thing, because it's become almost too civilised for its own good.

The Engine is an absolute howler - unbelievable amount of pace and effortless acceleration - I couldn't believe how quick the thing moves. The Salesman, who i must add, was a customers dream, said the stats were something like 6.0seconds to 60 and limited to 155mph - it's feels and looks quicker! I was a little disappointed with the engine note though - was expecting to hear allot more of the car with it having two big exhaust pipes out the rear, like the 335ci.

all in all a superb car, and apparently Clarkson has been quoted as saying, pound for pound, there isn't a better car on the market this year - so that probably says it all - but as i sat in my own, i kinda felt what was missing from the new coupe - a little bit of edgy-ness.

I've seriously been considering getting shot of the d - because the miles have ponded on in the past 4 months and it's value will start to drop dramatically in the next 6 months - a Nissan 350z is a more serious option to the new 335d - simply because i can't afford it at the moment.

[330dcoupe]

erm...should this have gone in the 'reviews' section?

[danksy]

yep

[Alastair_A3]

Sat in a E91 coupe today and although its nice, its missing the essential M Sport kit. Once that comes out in Carbon Black or Le Mans blue it will look the dogs danglies

[Atomic]

[ QUOTE ]

all in all a superb car, and apparently Clarkson has been quoted as saying, pound for pound, there isn't a better car on the market this year - so that probably says it all - but as i sat in my own, i kinda felt what was missing from the new coupe - a little bit of edgy-ness.

imply because i can't afford it at the moment.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hard to believe considering his stance towards beemers and especially the 3 series. Anyone got a link or was it just sales banta?

[gizze]

I totally agree with you, I took the new 335i out, and it is a very capable car, but it is a little too refined and doesn't have that sense of adventure you get with say and E46 M3. It would become boring very quickly for me, as a car that you can raqck up 40k miles a year in it would be a great place to be, but ulimately I decided that a CSL for the weekends and a 120d auto for racking up the miles in was a better bet.

Hopefully the new M3 will put that rawness back into the new coupe, but you can tell that BMW have aimed the new coupe at someone who wants a refined but reposive car for everyday, and for that I don't think there is alot out there that will beat it for a very long time.

One thing I was surprised about was I got 23mpg on my test drive of the 335i, and I only got 26mpg from the 535d over 20k miles, so my money would be on the petrol in coupe form.

[330dcoupe]

Gizze,

It's a shame, in many ways - becuase for me, the E46 has it all - poise, balance, the handling to match most things and a brilliant range of engines - and to think, BMW might not do it again for the 3 series coupe - is a little hard to swallow.

The salesman said they made the coupe to attract a different type of custom this time around - and that's probably why i think it's not that appealing for the likes of you and myself.

[encee]

[ QUOTE ]

Gizze,

It's a shame, in many ways - becuase for me, the E46 has it all - poise, balance, the handling to match most things and a brilliant range of engines - and to think, BMW might not do it again for the 3 series coupe - is a little hard to swallow.

The salesman said they made the coupe to attract a different type of custom this time around - and that's probably why i think it's not that appealing for the likes of you and myself.

[/ QUOTE ]

gIzze: I`ve been off the forum for a few weeks, due to various reasons, and I completely missed your CSL !

When did it arrive, mate, and can you point me to the relevant thread/pics, etc ?

Last thing I knew, you had a 535d........

[gizze]

encee!! Hello mate, how's things??

I totally forgot about this thread, only just came back in here again.

We swapped Fionas Mini for a 120d m-sport and decdied to get something a bit more raw for the weekends, hence the CSL.

I will get some pics up asap, just been really busy.