E92 335i vs F30 328i FR

[Ryou]

Reposting this here in F30 forum as well...im normally in e90 sectionSince i had the good fortune of driving around my moms' new 328i b4 sending it up north, decided to do a short comparo with my own car, which is my daily drive.F30 328i - Premium Selection from Quill PJ, 9k km milege, RM260k. 3 years warranty and BSRi, free llumar securtiy tint.E92 335i - Msport, from grey importer, 68k km milege, RM270k, bought in early 2011after driving the 328i for a week and jumping back into my own car, 2 things jump out at me.Brakes - I have never had issues with my e92's brakes, but the 328i's brakes are miles better, the pedal feel, the crispness and stopping power is a real improvement over the e92'sSteering weight - My e92 Msport wheel is heavy and meaty, feels good to hold and drive.(makes me feel manly ) the F30 is abit too light for my liking, its easy to park and you dont notice after a while, but i prefer the weight of the e92 steeringNow the important bit...would i consider the 328i as a upgrade over my current ride? mmmmm very hard question but in the end, no. I think anyone looking for a performance BMW with the budget of around GTI/Megane RS range, should consider a recond E9x 335i... and if you had the budget for a new F30 328i, a E9x M3 might be a btter optionDont get me wrong, i absolutely love the f30 328, its fast, powerful, the response is like a GTI, fast and lag free. The interior is fabulous and the updated idrive is miles prettier and more intuitive to use then the e9x version BUT it doesnt give me a smile on my face the way the 335i inline 6 does...for 95% of the time in normal town driving, the 328 would be as fast or even faster then the 335, but when the road opens up and you get to floor it, the roar of the inline 6 is awesome and the power just keeps coming and coming like never ending wave....the 328 tends to strain abit and run out of puff higher in the rev range, like all the other 2.0 turbos out in the market..its really true, there is no replacement for displacementits not only the car that got bigger lol

 

[dzuljazz2001]

:top: ... good summary bro ... I must try the 328 one of these days .... :4: ....

 

[charcoal]

:top: good review

 

[soulfood]

So in a way... 335 still better la....i feel relieved as i am driving 335 but not my daily ride....my daily ride is very much longer and it's driverless....hehehehe

 

[MRsamdol]

love the 328i when i test drove it, almost bought a 335i myself and agree with your review.

 

[NKTOB]

IL6, last of it's kind...it's a legend by itself, the growl is addictive.

however the last N/A will be the V8, off course.

 

[dzuljazz2001]

So in a way... 335 still better la....i feel relieved as i am driving 335 but not my daily ride....my daily ride is very much longer and it's driverless....hehehehe

:listen: after I hv tried the 328, 335i is much much better ... for me for now :4: ...

 

[Mavik]

IL6, last of it's kind...it's a legend by itself, the growl is addictive.

however the last N/A will be the V8, off course.

Plenty more of that

F30 335i, Z4 s35i and not forgetting the 1M hehehehe

 

[glock_8]

Taken from bimmerpost...reviewed by mike from autoblog...a pro driver and this is what his take on f30 335i vs 328i...based on review I think a 6at e92 335i would be very close to 328i 8at overall



Okay, so I just spent the day on the track with four different versions of the F30:

328i 6MT Sport
328i 8AT Sport
335i 6MT Sport
335i 8AT Sport

My time was equally spent, about 30-40 minutes in each back-to-back. All damn fun.

That said, in order of which is fastest around the track (assuming identical wheel/tire packages). My butt timer:

1--335i 8AT Sport
2--328i 8AT Sport (tie)
2--335i 6MT Sport (tie)
3--328i 6MT Sport

Okay, before you all soil your shorts... the N55 engine is heavier and placed much further forward in the nose of the 335i when compared to the N20 in the 328i. When driving both vehicles around the track at 10/10ths, the 335i will understeer much quicker (plow) while the 328i has faster turn-in. And, the big four-piston front brakes on the 335i (vs. the single-piston front brakes on the 328i) are offset by its additional mass. There is no obvious advantage on the track.

The 8AT is just about flawless on the track, cracking off bloody-fast shifts and always seeming to be in the torque curve. So good, that it makes the 6MT feel sloppy and with tall ratios (even Bill Auberlen said the 8AT is faster than the 6MT).

So, which keys would I grab first for driving on a track (not the fastest, but the most enjoyable):

1--328i 6MT Sport
2--335i 6MT Sport
3--328i 8AT Sport
4--335i 8AT Sport

Which keys would I grab first for driving on the street (money no object):

1--328i 6MT Sport
2--335i 6MT Sport
3--328i 8AT Sport
4--335i 8AT Sport

Lastly, which keys would I grab first if I was paying for the vehicle:

1--328i 6MT Sport
2--328i 8AT Sport
3--335i 6MT Sport
4--335i 8AT Sport

Being honest here, I feel the performance difference between the N20 and N55 doesn't warrant the price premium. They are less than 1/2 second apart to 60 mph. If the N55 was tuned to 340 horses, my tune would change.

That said, the N20 is buzzy as all hell. It feels like a four-cylinder engine in terms of vibration and sounds like a damn diesel at idle (super loud fuel rail). It doesn't try to be an inline-6 and it shouldn't. It does sound kinda cool at WOT.

The answers to some of your above questions to follow.

- Mike

LA Folk -- I may bring one car (335i 6MT Sport) down to Orange County on Saturday to show it off... if you want to check it out. More details to follow.

 

[Mavik]

Taken from bimmerpost...reviewed by mike from autoblog...a pro driver and this is what his take on f30 335i vs 328i...based on review I think a 6at e92 335i would be very close to 328i 8at overall



Okay, so I just spent the day on the track with four different versions of the F30:

328i 6MT Sport
328i 8AT Sport
335i 6MT Sport
335i 8AT Sport

My time was equally spent, about 30-40 minutes in each back-to-back. All damn fun.

That said, in order of which is fastest around the track (assuming identical wheel/tire packages). My butt timer:

1--335i 8AT Sport
2--328i 8AT Sport (tie)
2--335i 6MT Sport (tie)
3--328i 6MT Sport

Okay, before you all soil your shorts... the N55 engine is heavier and placed much further forward in the nose of the 335i when compared to the N20 in the 328i. When driving both vehicles around the track at 10/10ths, the 335i will understeer much quicker (plow) while the 328i has faster turn-in. And, the big four-piston front brakes on the 335i (vs. the single-piston front brakes on the 328i) are offset by its additional mass. There is no obvious advantage on the track.

The 8AT is just about flawless on the track, cracking off bloody-fast shifts and always seeming to be in the torque curve. So good, that it makes the 6MT feel sloppy and with tall ratios (even Bill Auberlen said the 8AT is faster than the 6MT).

So, which keys would I grab first for driving on a track (not the fastest, but the most enjoyable):

1--328i 6MT Sport
2--335i 6MT Sport
3--328i 8AT Sport
4--335i 8AT Sport

Which keys would I grab first for driving on the street (money no object):

1--328i 6MT Sport
2--335i 6MT Sport
3--328i 8AT Sport
4--335i 8AT Sport

Lastly, which keys would I grab first if I was paying for the vehicle:

1--328i 6MT Sport
2--328i 8AT Sport
3--335i 6MT Sport
4--335i 8AT Sport

Being honest here, I feel the performance difference between the N20 and N55 doesn't warrant the price premium. They are less than 1/2 second apart to 60 mph. If the N55 was tuned to 340 horses, my tune would change.

That said, the N20 is buzzy as all hell. It feels like a four-cylinder engine in terms of vibration and sounds like a damn diesel at idle (super loud fuel rail). It doesn't try to be an inline-6 and it shouldn't. It does sound kinda cool at WOT.

The answers to some of your above questions to follow.

- Mike

LA Folk -- I may bring one car (335i 6MT Sport) down to Orange County on Saturday to show it off... if you want to check it out. More details to follow.

Also very good points but this is more from a track perspective versus an every day to day driving. Both merits pros and cons. Thanks for the info!

 

[glock_8]

As he mentioned...three diff situations of which car would he gets for track, on the street and if he was to buy one....

Not to forget he is comparing a 8 speed AT vehicles ....not a fair comparison with the e9x which only has 6 speed....

But that is just his opinion and a bunch of other profesional's....to each their own.

 

[Mavik]

Funnily you can see his preference since its all MT! Hahahaha wished we had that option here

 

[wigertoods]

had a quick run with a 328i with my golf r just now heading to penang...i was surprised with the quickness he was able to keep up...i thought the r would be able to shake him off...i was wrong...perhaps on my 535 with the higher displacement

 

[Mavik]

had a quick run with a 328i with my golf r just now heading to penang...i was surprised with the quickness he was able to keep up...i thought the r would be able to shake him off...i was wrong...perhaps on my 535 with the higher displacement

Well the Golf R in malaysia is a detuned version and after the AWD 35% transmission loss the amount of power you get on the wheel is dropped (friend's Golf R had a 235whp dyno result) so I guess it shouldn't be so much of a surprise

The 535 should be blazingly fast instead

 

[wigertoods]

i think the 8speed transmission helps too...the 535 always feels right when you need the power...the r needs to be pushed but when the turbo kicks in..it's so sweet...the power on the 535 is more linear...whereas the r is flat and steep later...ryou sorry to kacau ur thread

 

[Mavik]

i think the 8speed transmission helps too...the 535 always feels right when you need the power...the r needs to be pushed but when the turbo kicks in..it's so sweet...the power on the 535 is more linear...whereas the r is flat and steep later...ryou sorry to kacau ur thread

Its ok, once upon a time, Ryou was dreaming of the Golf R hehehe

 

[fabianyee]

Handling for a lighter engined car will always be better at the track... Then again, how many of BMW drivers here are track junkies? But u must try your car and your skills on the track at least once.... It isn't as damaging as u imagine it to be.

 

[jason]

had a quick run with a 328i with my golf r just now heading to penang...i was surprised with the quickness he was able to keep up...i thought the r would be able to shake him off...i was wrong...perhaps on my 535 with the higher displacement

D 535i is only 0.1s faster the century mark compared to d 328i. Both n20 and n55 have similar flat tq curves coming early in the revs. I don't think the 535 can really pull ahead significantly.

 

[glock_8]

yeah..since mt is not applicable here..see the result minus the MT.

Funnily you can see his preference since its all MT! Hahahaha wished we had that option here

 

[Mavik]

D 535i is only 0.1s faster the century mark compared to d 328i. Both n20 and n55 have similar flat tq curves coming early in the revs. I don't think the 535 can really pull ahead significantly.

Thats the thing, the 3.0L twin turbo shines at speeds faster than 100kph. The pulling still start somewhere around 170-180kph.