Well, after waiting 3.5 months, my 335is finally arrived! The only problem is that while I was waiting, my dealer received a new 2011 Melbourne Red M3, and it sent my world into a tailspin of doubt wondering which vehicle would be better to get. The dealer agreed to let me buy whichever vehicle I wanted, after giving them both a test drive. Well, I finally got the chance to do my test drives yesterday, and the decision became very easy for me.
I started with the test drive of the M3. First of all, they actually received TWO of these M3’s. One was the Melbourne Red M3 2-door Coupe, and the other was a Black M3 4-door sedan. The black one had the exact same options as the red one, including the competition package. I preferred the way the competition package wheels looked against the black color, and my wife wanted me to get the one with 4 doors, so I test drove the black M3 sedan instead of the red M3 coupe, because they were identical in every other way, and the black one was the one that we preferred. Here are pictures of the three cars that I had to choose from:
I had a pad of paper with a long list of things to take time and observe during my test drives:
1. How loud is the engine with the windows closed and the radio on? Does it interfere with the enjoyment of the stereo system while driving, or while at a low-idle rumbling at a stop light?
2. How comfortable is the ride with the EDC in the Comfort setting? Drive over bumps & RR tracks, etc.
3. How smooth is the acceleration & shift changes in the conservative S2 DCT mode? Are there any rough upshifts or downshifts, or improper gear selections?
4. Driving more aggressively in S5 mode with EDC in the Normal setting and the Sport button ON, test from dead stop as well as 30 & 45 MPH roll starts, and see if the DCT gear shift selections provide smooth power delivery, etc. Test out accelerating out of corners at various acceleration levels to see if DCT gear shift selections provide smooth power delivery.
5. Test specifically for throttle response times (what I would term as “turbo lag”, even though the M3 isn’t a turbo).
6. Test the acceleration levels (how hard does it pull?). Is it consistent, sustained delivery of power from 0 to 90 MPH?
7. Test for body roll in curvy roads in Normal EDC mode as well as Sport EDC mode.
8. Test some hard braking (not too hard, as the brakes are still brand new).
9. Get on the Interstate Highway and listen for road noise (wind whistles, tire noise).
10. Compare the stereo systems in each car. This is important because the 335is was ordered with Premium Sound, and both M3’s only had the standard sound system.
11. Compare both cars aesthetically from the outside. Which car simply looks better?
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Black M3 4-door sedan test drive results:
The salesman started the car for me, just to get the A/C running a little while before we entered the car, because it was so hot outside. When it first started up, it was very loud and intimidating sounding (what a BEAST). Thoughts were running through my head about fuel consumption. However, after about 3 minutes of us standing around talking, all of the sudden the car’s idle changed, and the car engine ran a lot smoother and quieter. I guess it was warming up before. That was a relief to hear. We hopped in and closed the windows and made the typical radio adjustments that I like (3/4 bass and 7/8 treble), and found a couple of rock stations with a strong signal. There was no noise level interference at all from the engine as far as enjoying the radio, at idle, or during any of the driving tests. Cabin noise is not an issue at all in the M3. However, I did notice that the “standard” M3 radio in this car sounded kind of shallow, lacking the bass “punch” that I like when listening to the rock music that I enjoy, so I was kind of disappointed with that.
We started out our test drive in the comfort setting of EDC, and in S2 mode with the DCT (I don’t like the S1 mode, as it seems to want to start off in 2nd gear instead of 1st, and this is like trying to swim in syrup and I can tell the car just hates it). The suspension was very comfortable going over bumps and RR tracks, and the car shifted very smoothly, just like a regular automatic. No improper gear selections were ever detected during this part of the test drive.
Next was the aggressive driving test. I switched it to Normal EDC mode, and put the DCT into S5, and turned the Sport button on for quicker throttle response times. I have to tell you, I was quite disappointed. There was about a 1 to 1.5 second delay in the throttle response, and the car was seemingly undecided about what gear it wanted to select. At least three times, it downshifted TWICE in quick succession in response to a single press of the accelerator pedal, which launches the car into a jerky response that just ends up in delayed delivery of power. It just seemed to want to stay above 4500 RPM, which was making the whole experience kind of rough and very “touchy/jerky” to throttle input. I even tried backing down to S4 mode and even tried both settings of the sport button, but that didn’t seem to significantly change things.
After this disappointment, I did not continue on with the remainder of the driving tests for this car, and returned back to the dealership to drive the 335is.
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After returning to the dealership, I found out that they were not finished with their PDI (Pre-Delivery Inspection) and prep on the 335is, so the dealer invited me to go ahead and drive the Melbourne Red M3 Coupe. I told him that the two M3’s were identical in every way except for the number of doors, so there really should not be any performance or driving difference, but we decided to go ahead and test drive it anyway, since we had nothing else to do for the next 45 minutes. I remember looking at the specifications for these two cars, and I was quite surprised to find out that the 4-door coupe was only 22 more pounds and ONLY 1.8 INCHES LONGER!? The only real difference I saw was a slight (maybe 2 percent) shift of the front/rear weight distribution toward the front: 52.2/47.8%.
Melbourne Red 2-door coupe test drive results:
Again, the cabin was very pleasingly quiet, with no engine or road noise interfering with the enjoyment of the stereo system. What puzzled me was that this M3 Coupe’s stereo sounded much more rich with tons more bass response, with the bass & treble adjusted the exact same (there is no EQ on these M3’s with the standard stereo systems). Only several hours later after pondering this difference did I come up with the probably reason for the difference: The coupe has much larger (longer) doors that provide a nice internal sound chamber for the bass to reflect internally. The smaller (shorter) doors of the sedan are more rigid, and have less internal sound chamber space.
The first driving test with EDC set to comfort, and the DCT set to S2 was comfortable with no problems, just the same results as the black M3.
The REAL SURPRISE came with the aggressive driving test in S5 mode with the EDC in Normal mode with the sport button on. The real M3 beast came alive, and the power delivery was incredibly smooth. No unnecessary double-down shifts occurred, and the car just seemed to leap off the starting line with absolutely NO lag at all in throttle response. I was blown away, period. This thing PULLS like there is a bottomless pit of power available! I was accelerating from dead stops, and accelerating from rolling 30 & 45 MPH points, and the DCT just seemed to be making all the right shifts, anticipating my every desire. Accelerating out of corners was especially thrilling, as the g-forces shoved me into my seat in several directions at once, but the M3 stuck the pavement like glue, and I hadn’t even tried the Sport mode for the EDC yet! I monitored very carefully the reaction times of the car to my throttle input, and every single time it had an instant response for me, with no perceivable lag at all!
I drove the car down a winding road that goes around a lake shore, and there was seemingly no body roll at all, and the car just needed to be pointed, and it effortlessly went exactly where I wanted it to, holding the line tightly.
Braking was firm, smooth, and even. On the Interstate highway, there were no wind leaks or whistles, no tire tread noise, and I didn’t hear any loose part rattles over bumps, etc. This car is just a flawless piece of engineering.
Now I was left really wondering what in the world was wrong with the black M3 sedan? I examined closely all the settings on both cars, and I had them both configured exactly the same. I think I was told once by my BMW SA that these cars “remember” your driving habits, and they custom tailor the driving experience based on your driving habits. All I could figure is that maybe some jerk took it out for a test drive and put it into S6 launch mode and drove the hell out of it for a while, and it was “remembering” that. The other possibility is that there is some “setup” that needs to be done on these cars at the factory after they are assembled, and this setup was not done properly for that particular car.
I returned to the dealership with a grin on my face.
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Lemans Blue 335is Coupe Test Drive:
The 335is came straight from the shop where they had just completed the PDI. The salesman pulled up and left it running with the A/C on. We stood there for several minutes as we did the walk-around and took pictures. I opened the hood to take a look at the engine. I got the surprise of my life. I was blown away… literally… by a ton of very hot air. The engine was expelling EXTREMELY HOT air on the left and right sides in the front. I guess these were the additional oil cooler and air cooler. We had not even driven it yet, and I couldn’t imagine that the PDI inspection required the technician to push this car’s engine very hard, so this worried me quite a bit. So I made a note of this, closed the hood, and it’s time to test drive this thing.
First of all, I loved the sound of the exhaust. There is a certain point in the power-band that this thing just starts growling, and it’s kind of cool to listen to.
The cabin noise level was no problem, as the engine stayed quiet for most comfort driving. I was able to enjoy the premium stereo system (which sounded AWESOME, btw!) without any issues.
There is no EDC in the 335is, and no custom DCT settings, so I’ve only got this single “Sport” button staring at me. So I started my first driving test with the sport button off, and took it easy for some comfort driving. The car shifted smoothly with the DCT, and didn’t have any problem with power delivery.
Time to put this thing to the real test. I turned on the Sport button, and started some acceleration tests. Right away, I was disappointed to find that there was a “turbo lag” in throttle response. It behaved somewhat like the black M3, in that there was about 1 to 1.5 second delay between the time I pressed the accelerator, and the time it started moving the car. I really didn’t expect this at all, because I thought that was the whole point of keeping the N54 engine with the twin turbos in the 335is! In fact, I used to own a 2008 335i, and I would venture to state that my old 335i didn’t have as much lag as this one does. This car didn’t have an i-Drive screen, so there was no searching through vehicle settings menus that I could do to try and troubleshoot this issue. The only thing I could imagine was that there was some kind of internal computer setting that said that unless the car has at least 100 miles on it, don’t let the driver push the car too hard (i.e. – computer enforced break-in period). However, once the turbos decidided to wake up, the ride was exhilarating and this car pulls very hard, and was fun to drive. I tried the acceleration tests both from a dead stop, and from rolling starts at 30 & 45 MPH with the same results (initial lag, but very impressive acceleration after that).
Going around the lake shore 2 lane road, there was a bit of body roll evident, as I had to kind of take it easy on some curves. It just didn’t have the sports tuned suspension of the M3 (of course).
On the Interstate highway, the 335is rode comfortably, and didn’t have any wind noise or whistles, or any tire noise.
The braking seemed a little bit spongy, and didn’t seem to be able to bring the car as quickly to a stop as the M3, but I didn’t want to push it too hard because the car was brand new and I didn’t want to cut any grooves into the rotors.
Aesthetically comparing the two cars (the red M3 and the blue 335is), I have to say that the Melbourne Red M3 just stole my heart. Once I get the windows tinted, it is even going to look better! They did not allow me to purchase the nice 19-inch style 225M wheels for the 335is, because of some issue with cracking rims, so the stock rims for the 335is are what you see, and I don’t know about you, but the gun-metal “dark” look just isn’t doing this car justice. The Lemans Blue color is wonderful, though.
I also noticed that the window sticker for the 335is says that it only gets 24 MPG highway, which is much less than the 27/28 MPG that I was expecting to see. This changed the equation for me as far as the difference between the M3 and the 335is on fuel economy, as I thought there was a much wider gap between the two (the window sticker for the M3 is 20 MPG).
Well, as you’ve probably guessed by now, the Melbourne Red M3 is now safely in my garage, and the Lemans Blue 335is is sitting down at the dealership looking to be sold to anyone interested.
Please don’t walk away from this review as saying that there is anything at all wrong with the 335is. I had to spend an additional $14,000 to get the M3, so I PAID DEARLY for the performance gain. It is just that after driving an M3 with almost 100 more HP, the 335is was just in a different class, and didn’t stand a chance. Luckily, I had the additional $14,000 available, so I was able to set aside the money differences, and let the performance and aesthetics be my sole basis for my decision. The obvious reply for you to make would be to say “well, if money weren’t an issue, we would all have chosen the M3 over the 335is!”, and you would be right. However, I did not take spending this extra 14 grand lightly, and had an open mind, and was really hoping that the 335is would have provided a fun, responsive drive with acceleration performance almost on par with the M3. It just didn’t work out that way for me and the cars that I test drove yesterday.
As I experienced first-hand the wide variation in performance between the red M3 and the black M3, I would say that it is equally possible that these variations exist in the 335is as well, and the very next 335is that I come across won’t have the bad turbo lag, and therefore the 335is could have possibly been chosen over the M3 if it didn’t have the turbo lag.
M3 FTW!