[sheps]

As some of you know, I received my car yesterday.

I did manage to locate some patience from somewhere and not drive the car until this morning (a belly full of lager and a reasonably early night saw to that).

I have been out in the car this morning, had a break for an Ikea jaunt (took the wife's A4 avant for that) and am about to go back out.

Just wanted to share some thoughts/opinions with you guys

Number one (and most important) I love it...
Very pleased with the appearance of the car, loving the 19" wheels (well worth the few hundred quid for the upgrade) the M Sport kit and the choice of colour combo.
The new car smell (especially the leather) is great
The feel of the M Sport wheel in my hands is wonderful - very chunky. The steering itself is surprisingly heavy (compared to Impreza) the trade off being a positive, planted feel at speed.
The ride - more surprising than the steering - I'm actually very impressed. I hadn't driven and E9x in M Sport spec with 19's, but reading on here (and other forums) I was expecting the worst. However, after nearly 85k miles in an impreza I think the BMW has a more compliant ride (with less lean on turn-in also).
Performance - I'm trying to keep the lead food from mashing against the bulkhead all the time but initial impressions are good. It doesn't have the passing-3000rpm-almighty-shove-back-in-your-seat of the scoob, but on the flip side, comparing a blown 4 to a N/A 6 is a bit silly - the power deliveries are going to be very different.
The powerplant is certainly very very smooth and sounds great. Refinement is great at motorway speeds, as is low down grunt - something the Impreza lacked in spades, dictating a down-change to a gear offering 3.5k rpm + in order to really move.

All in all, I'm really chuffed. I have probably 800 miles to do next week, so I'm looking forward to getting properly acquanited then.

Sorry for my ramblings - thought I'd share this with guys that can appreciate it rather than keep boring the wife!!!

[silverbmwz3]

Nice write-up, congrats.

[jasongtr]

glad you're enjoying it, i wish i could afford a brand new car, still i've only had my 330i for a week now so shouldnt be to p1ssed off

[vivekk]

Congrats sheps.

Would be nice to see you & the car at UK4.

All the best.

Viv

[Z4 Beemer]

Good writeup sheps Glad you are enjoying the car. As I posted on another thread, I remember reading a while back that the 'smaller' 6 cylinder petrol engines are incredibly smooth and refined.

Funny you should mention the steering, thats one of the first things I commented about mine, but you will soon get used to it.

[squeezebm]

Enjoy it!

[DervFan]

Glad you managed to resist temptation, don't think I could have

[dxb335d]

nice one shepsy, enjoy the motor

[sheps]

Not even a week in and I have covered over 1000 miles already!

Not typical of my usual mileage, but I had a meeting in central London on Monday, one in Eastbourne on Tuesday and one in Wales yesterday.

The car is now pretty grimy and I'm actually looking forward to cleaning it this weekend. I have lots going on at home at the moment, so I can't spare the time for a full days' Zymol detail, so it will just be a quick wash, rinse and dry this week, with (hopefully) some time to get it done for UK 4

I've had some really positive comments about the car, lots of good feedback. Most commented on is the red leather (with people being surprised how good it looks compared to what they'd imagined when I told them I was 'going red') with the wheels (their size in particular) a close second. Pictures of the 19" 225M's really don't do them justice.

I'm really feeling comfortable with it now and have started to push a little harder - already I can feel the car loosening, where on day one (with 9 miles on the clock) it felt very comfortable cruising at 85 in 6th, it now seems much happier cruising at 100+.

What is staggering (for me) is the amount of mechanical grip on offer - the cornering speeds achievable are much higher than I had anticipated. In bends which would have my old Impreza understeering in (which would encourage you to 'drive around' the understeer using lift off antics to tuck the nose in and swing the arse out) the BMW just tracks the line in the direction you point it - very impressed.

My only minor (and it is minor) gripe is the seatbelts - the seat belt helper is way too flimsy - I can see one of my passengers snapping it off (the merc system in the CLK is much sturdier) and also the speed at which the belts recoil - I can see that damaging some internal trim or (much worse) breaking the side window glass.

Other than that, I'm totally smitten. I love the sound of the straight six, at very low revs on a large throttle opening (a great, deep almost gutteral sound) and then again at high revs when it sounds like a turbine winding up, yet is sewing-machine smooth. I'm tempted to look at exhaust options, but wouldn't want to ruin the attribute this car has over the Subaru more than anything else - its ability to just munch mile after mile in near-total silence and utter comfort.

I want a magical exhaust that is noisy when I'm giving it the beans, and quiet as a field mouse when I have 250 mile trip from Wales-to-home to do....anyone know of such a part??!!

[dxb335d]

good write up sheps, i enjoyed reading that.. sounds like you have enjoyed every minute with your new car!

what HP is the 325 engine?? how does it compare mid-range acceleration with your old subaru?

thanks

Carlos

[sheps]

I believe the 325 is 218bhp, there or there abouts.

I'm finding it tricky to get a handle on the whole speed thing at present;
The problem is, the Subaru was very blunt about what it did - it was noisy (due to lack of sound proofing by comparison, a boxer-4 and noisier exhaust) so you got the impression of speed (or certainly, potential) even when just pottering about.

By comparison the BMW is serenely quiet and smooth to the point where, on several occasions when I have had the stereo on (not loud, either) i have actually had to check that the engine was running!

The BMW is definitely much more torquey at lower revs ( the subaru was plain dangerous trying to pull off from roundabouts in 2nd gear!) and it;s power delivery very linear - polar opposite to the Impreza that was very much an all-or-nothing car, with about 4000rpm being the point of see-saw.

The BMW definitely does not have that 'punch' but then the fact that you've been travelling faster and accelerating harder up to that point where it would happen in the Subaru probably negates the fact it doesn't happen.

It's smoothness and lower volume go some way to convince you that you aren't moving as fast, but when you look at the speedo needle moving, or the sceneray flying past you're being told otherwise.

In short - it really is hard to tell. One thing I do know, I'm having enormous pleasure trying to find out!

[vivekk]

Originally Posted by sheps

Not even a week in and I have covered over 1000 miles already!

Not typical of my usual mileage, but I had a meeting in central London on Monday, one in Eastbourne on Tuesday and one in Wales yesterday.

The car is now pretty grimy and I'm actually looking forward to cleaning it this weekend. I have lots going on at home at the moment, so I can't spare the time for a full days' Zymol detail, so it will just be a quick wash, rinse and dry this week, with (hopefully) some time to get it done for UK 4

Please can you say you're coming to the meet, sheps, on the meet calendar.

If we don't know who is coming, we won't know to wait for you, if you're late.

Cheers.

Viv