5.5l/100km ... :ahwow:

i disagree with you on the premium materials but only for the 2013 models and up. the a4 has now the beauford oak trim that you can find in the a6 and a7 and all the aluminum trimming make it look like a much more expensive car.

also, the S4 is still the single car under 80 grand (or so) to have real carbon fiber inside, whereis the M3, doesnt.

to be fair, and ive owned lots of bmws and still do and now i own a new audi as well - both have nice interiors, albeit the new BMW wood is properly terrible, and the new unpolished Ash and Oak in the A6/7 is truly incredible.

:fuuuuu:

da fuq, F10 has 4WS? Totally didn't know that, I thought it was a thing of the past.

was there for the 1120 time slot, was fun. i didn't find the tl all that bad, but i was left footing it round the longer bend.

I was at the event as well on Fri morning. A few comments:

- 335i was very powerful, but there is significant turbo lag. 328i is not as bad, but A4 was best in terms of throttle response of the turbo charged cars.
- all the 3 series certainly handled the best around the corners, especially the 335i M-sport model.
- TL actually felt pretty good. Exterior styling is not great, but handling was very nice.
- G37x felt the worst, with severe understeer and severe pitching and side to side motion. Probably would be a better test with G37Sx.

In the end, very well run event that is leaps and bounds better than the VW event last month.

That is kinda lame, BMW didn't have the balls to bring out a s4.....most people who consider buying a bimmer,also consider Audi

The 335i M-Sport costs more than a base S4, and the S4 is fully loaded except for NAV.

^ are you sure the S4 is fully loaded? is the torque vectoring diff standard? I thought their is a ton of options available on a S4.

^Huh? Does the F30 335i X-drive a torque vectoring system? I thought the only torque vectoring systems were found on: TL SH-AWD, S4 + Sport Diff + Saab 93 XWD

Either way, a base S4 + sport diff (torque vectoring AWD) is still cheaper than a 335XiM last time I checked. :)

I'm surprised that you found significant turbo lag on the F30. I have an e92 335i and there is no/very little turbo lag with the n54 engine and the n55 in the F30 makes torque at an even lower rpm. Maybe this has something to do with the electronic throttle?

you are not comparing apples to apples, Audi option lists are massive, so are BMWs...so if you compare pricing, base to base or fully loaded to fully loaded

Energy, I agree. My 135i has zero turbo lag. One of my favourite powerplants.

5.5L/100km is possible for a short stretch but overall I averaged 7.5L/100km with my old F30 over about 4000kms. 70/30 highway/city ratio.

My only gripe with the F30 was the steering feel. Too light. The 135i makes me realize what BMW steering is all about.

Kev

How is it not apples to apples?
S4 base model = $53000, 335i X Drive base model = $53800 MSRP

^ So $800 on a $53K car is way more expensive???????????

^I was trying to argue that the S4 slots above the 335Xi in performance, even though from a marketing standpoint, one can argue that the 'S' can go against the 'M' car, even though the price for a base model 335 i AWD is the same as the S4.

Either way, I think there's enough 335i vs S4 debate on Bimmerforums, so I don't want to derail this thread further. I only like wagon/hatchback body styles, so both cars do not appeal to me. (I will kill for a 335i or a S4 wagon though)

I still haven't warmed up to the nose/grille on the F30, though I might be able to make an exception with the wagon style (a car bra can hide the nose nicely..)
http://www.caradvice.com.au/wp-conte...956498699.jpeg

Fully loaded except for NAV my ass, you don't get keyless entry on the base S4 for one; tons of differences between the base and premium S4.

I have to echo that it was a fun and very well organized run. Obviously lots of BMW coolaid being passed around during the marketing session. I think this caused me to expect the BMW to be head and shoulders above the competition, and IMO I didn't find that the case at all. The 335 had more raw power than the 328 on the butt dyno at these lower speeds the difference was only slight, but the 328 felt more responsive--huge powerplant upgrade from the old NA i6.

I felt the A4 drove as well as the 328 on the course, I managed to get the 328 to understeer in the skidpad which was a bit disappointed with all the propaganda we were fed. I'm a bigger fan of the A4 styling over the 3's as well. The C class felt like a boat and it was soft, but it was comfortable.

In the 335 segment, the 335 was the clear overall winner. But the TL surprised for how big the car was and being non-RWD based, and it was easy to drive. The G37 was a good car, but fell a distant 3rd IMO.

FWIW I was scrolling through the display on some of the vehicles, they were all averaging north of 35L/100km :D

^ turbo and hard driving = bad fuel econ :lawl:

the lux car segment of small luxury 4wd:
bmw 328xi
bmw 335xi
mb 300 4matic
mb 350 4matic
audi a4
audi s4
volvo s60
vw jetta? passat?

acura tl sh-awd
infiniti g37x
lexus is250 awd
lexus is350 awd
hyundai genesis???

pretty competitive segment.

^If the Jetta makes it on the list, the Subaru Legacy deserves a nod too, arguably with the best AWD system

Not just the turbo cars, the NA cars too.

Tried to go to the Mini version of the same event the other day but it was so foggy they cancelled the event :okay:

Silent hill drive up the Cypress Bowl Road I knew something was up...

I was up there on Sunday morning, they let us drive but pushed us 30mins later cause of the fog.

Of course the classic 3-series feel is disappearing with every subsequent generation because BMW is a small car company and they need to appeal to the masses. Not only that, but cars are now disposable commodities, so they need to build cars that have the latest and greatest gadgetry at the expense of "driving feel". BMW hasn't been an enthusiast's company since the last E39 rolled off the production line. My dad who has both an E36 and E46 drove a loaner E90 a few months ago. He said, "WTF is this shit?" when he drove the E90 loaner. The N-series engines sound like ass compared to the earlier M50-54 engines. (The M20/M30 sounds the best of all, btw.)

Forced induction, non-driver oriented controls, iDrive, the lack of the familiar in-line six "song", and automatics. BMW is just like the rest.

/rant

I agree fully.


My 135i was a joy to drive, zero lag at all. My only complaint was the open diff.