[Bicax]

Heya,

My parents bought one, and yesterday I gave it a try. I only drove around 40 miles (mix of highway with secondary roads), so take my comments with a grain of salt.

The car is, and feels, more powerful than a stock E91 335d. I was impressed by its push, it wasn't struggling as much as the E91 does at higher speeds (180kph+, test conducted on an airplane field of course).

The gearbox is amazing, as others have commented. Extremely smooth and fast, no comparison with my 6hp28. It's exactly how I want my gearbox to behave, and it makes me think how much I would pay for a proper transmission flash on our cars...

I can't compare the handling since mine has the sport suspension and this one doesn't. But the electric steering was either too soft (comfort mode) or too heavy (sport mode), but never communicative enough. Strangely enough I ended up preferring the comfort mode, since it was actually a lot more comfortable to drive than my car, and the sport mode just felt heavy instead of being sporty/fun like the E91.

Inside, the car feels bigger and more spacious. This will sound silly, but I disliked how the hood looked from inside, a bit too round and bulky. The HUD works like a charm, but I didn't have time to play around with the geeky goodies

Aesthetics wise, I prefer the E91 in general. But not only is this very subjective, I have also yet to see a M-performance f31.

All in all, I liked it but it didn't impress me. I'm definitely in love with that gearbox, but I'm not sure I would happily trade my hydraulic steering for it. I left the car thinking that I was happy to get back into mine, and that I won't be ready to trade it in at least for a few years, not even for an LCI f31. Maybe the next gen?

[335ddd]

in US, we dont have F31 335D but I did test drive F31 328i. Not sure if its the same gearbox but it was great. now everything else was meh. Did not like the steering feel. Interior felt cheap ( seat plastic covers in the back, bottom door panels...). Was glad to be back into E90. Not even the new M3 impressed me. I am sure the engine is great but everything feels like its not made to last, for fast living society, already whats next, too flashy gets tiring fast. all that black shiny plastic. I rather take an e36 with manual climate control, cloth vader seats and a simple speedo.

Price wise maybe in the future I will look into e90 m3 sedan without options

[F32Fleet]

The interior of the F30,31 is about the same as the E39 5 series. I also felt the same about the hood.

The AT is the same worldwide (ZF 8HP).

[austinla335d]

Originally Posted by 335ddd

in US, we dont have F31 335D but I did test drive F31 328i. Not sure if its the same gearbox but it was great. now everything else was meh. Did not like the steering feel. Interior felt cheap ( seat plastic covers in the back, bottom door panels...). Was glad to be back into E90. Not even the new M3 impressed me. I am sure the engine is great but everything feels like its not made to last, for fast living society, already whats next, too flashy gets tiring fast. all that black shiny plastic. I rather take an e36 with manual climate control, cloth vader seats and a simple speedo.

Price wise maybe in the future I will look into e90 m3 sedan without options

Price wise *cough* 15 mpg *cough*

[335ddd]

Originally Posted by austinla335d

Price wise *cough* 15 mpg *cough*

well highway wise M3 is not so bad. in the city i am sure i can get my diesel to avg 15 mpg. regardless i like the balance of power and economy of D.
have any of you drove e90 m3? whats your take

[austinla335d]

Originally Posted by 335ddd

well highway wise M3 is not so bad. in the city i am sure i can get my diesel to avg 15 mpg. regardless i like the balance of power and economy of D.
have any of you drove e90 m3? whats your take

I could've had an e90 m3 DCT. It can't average over 15-16 if you try. On all highway or mostly highway it's capable of 18-19mpg.

It's one of those cars that you obsess over at first, are then let down by, but it grows on you. I thought why not make a 335d more M3 like with double the mpg an triple the life at half the cost?

The diesel is a good compromise. Someday a new M3 is in the cards. It can hit 30mpg highway. And it's much more capable as a daily driver/track car.

[AzureHaze]

Let's see some side-by-side pics of the two diesel wagons!

[Hoooper]

the 8 speed tranny explains part of your perceived power difference, but isnt the f31 335d rated at more power than the e91?

[Ajs_435d]

Yeah 286 vs 313

I'm pretty sure it's a reworked engine out of the e92 335d, seen a few here in the UK.

[Bicax]

I'll try to get a few pics if/when possible, I'm on holidays visiting family up and down with the kids right now.

Hoooper, the f31 is rated at 313hp/630nm vs 286/580 if I'm not mistaken. That extra torque and the gearbox make one hell of a (perceived) difference.

I agree with the comments made on the flashy plastics, my first impression was that I was entering a spaceship. Obviously there is worse out there, but too many lights and shiny things going around for me, I like the sober BMW look better. But well, that's very subjective.

[bleublaze55]

Ive driven the new 535d, i, and 328i and d. The 5 series have a great finished interior and the power from the engine seems to be smoother and more robust than my 335d. The 328i,d were sporty, however, the interior was very cheap. My 335d has been into the dealer multiple times for service since i bought it in Jan, so i get to drive a lot of thier loaner cars for about a week.
I would not buy a new 3 series. They need to work on making the new cheaper plastic not look cheaper. The leather wrapped plastics we have on our E90s seems to be better quality over all. Even the newer 5 series fully loaded did not have leather wrapping on the plastic. Isn't that part of owning a BMW and not a mitsubishi?
BTW I have an EVO too, so I can make that claim.