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      05-03-2013, 11:17 AM   #33
Jamesons Viggen
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Drives: '98 M Roadster stg 2+ S/C
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How do you mean the E90 is STILL winning comparos.

Again, check my edit as you are very wrong that the F30 is not winning comparos.

Your Honda Accord statement is silly. Have you driven a '13 Accord Sport? I have. Great car. For it's class and for FWD. It's inherent design makes it very different from any RWD 3 series in terms of steering and handling.

The 335 though, I agree with you. It had power over the competition and it had the handling. The problem is, magazines are noting the handling is not improved over the 328, but in fact worse. Add that to the fact that the 328 has closed much of the power gap and the 335's competition has gotten better, and well it means the 328 might be doing a better job of selling the F30 than the 335. Examples:

"As for the BMW, well, since we first drove the new 335i, no one on staff has been particularly smitten. The consensus is that the 328i is a better-driving car."

"Part of the problem is that, while the 328i's suspension feels properly tuned, the 335i's feels as if BMW just dropped in a heavier, more powerful engine and didn't bother recalibrating anything"

"3rd Place: BMW 335i Sport
Expensive, though the underrated engine does give you loads of power. Damping rates too soft for a car with so much grunt."

-MotorTrend 2/13

Notes: They mentioned how the 328 dominated the 8 car test:

"When we did that eight-car comparison the 328i won, I remember getting out of the other cars, climbing into the BMW, and thinking, 'This is it. This is how you do it.' I had the same feeling today driving the Cadillac ATS."



The writers go a bit overboard in the declaration again on the Motor Trend blog:

"The 328i is a better car than its sibling, the more powerful, more expensive 2012 BMW 335i."

"The engine is just one more part that makes the 328i feel like the better product. Put another way, the three editors on staff that spent considerable time in each, all preferred the slower, cheaper 328i."

-Motor Trend Written by: Jonny Lieberman on March 7 2012 12:00 PM

Honestly, MotorTrend sounds a bit more neutral with this blurb from their first test of the 335:

"The 335i seems portly -- the scales show 3586 pounds and a front/rear distribution of 51/49 percent -- but that weight actually matches that of the last 335i coupe we tested. Versus the four-cylinder 328i, it carries 100 extra pounds. Where do you think that weight comes from? A hundred points if you guessed the front axle. The added weight is noticeable after back-to-back drives with the 328i, but equally noticeable is the extra forward thrust the 335i so readily supplies. A slightly heavier nose or more power? Decisions, decisions."

-MotorTrend By Carlos Lago | February 28, 2012

Regarding your pricing...

I am a bit odd man out, I got my MSport for $37,xxx. I honestly love it at that price, but as the price goes up, say $45-55k, I am not smitten any longer. I find that true of the competition too though. I agree with you, mainly when you get to a $60k+ 335, I would rather have an M3. The only reason I did not buy an M3 is the sedan is gone and I cannot justify 20mpg out of my DD when my 500hp toy still manages 20mpg. The F80 M3 will likely be worth it for me to be my next DD in 2-3 years.

Also, your idea of x amount of dollars for 240hp. It's not, it's more like 270hp-dyno proven day in and day out. You have a 13.9-14.2 second car, trapping dead near 100mph. Basically you now have E36 M3 numbers from 12 years ago out of the base model 3. That is progress.

Quote:
Originally Posted by paradoxical3 View Post
I'm not hung up on the fact that the e90 is still sold. I'm hung up on the fact that it's the same exact car that it was six years ago and it's STILL winning comparo's, while the F30 can't even win one at the beginning of it's lifespan. When the e90 335 came out, no competitor was within 50hp or even in the same performance league. Right now, the F30 is actually underpowered a bit.

I don't own a e90 and have been driving a F30 328 for nearly two months now as a loaner. I drove a base one for a month and my current one is a sports model with paddle shifters (not m sport). I hate it.

You realize that the base price with NO OPTIONS besides leather for a 328 m sport is 43,625? If you've ever driven a non M-sport 328 you will quickly understand that quite literally a honda accord has superior steering feel and handling.

So in order to get a car that handles "almost" as good as the last gen $30,000 328, you now have to spend $43,625 - and that's before options. To get a decently specced out 328 m sport, you're paying 50-60k for a car with 240 horsepower. That's just atrocious. You realize that you can get a base M3 for that, let alone a brand new loaded last gen 335.
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