my first impressions are that the 135 feels like a very hot hot hatch, not a coupe. the reason i dumped my 335i was because it felt so big on the road and you never really wanted to throw it around through the corners. it was a high speed cruiser and massively uninvolving and apart from the engine I wouldn’t recommend one. before that i had an R32 Golf which I loved to bits and this is much closer to the R32 than it is to a 3. you just want to abuse it to be honest and i think a lot of people will lose their licenses in it!!!
it is tight inside too, but i’m pretty big, and it’s not uncomfortable; it just feels small and compact - the way a sports car should. can’t get the seat adjusted for height very well though yet. it’ll come though.
quality inside is usual BMW, although the Pro Sat Nav that pops up isn’t as nice as the 3’s in-dash version. seats are better, stubby M Sport gear shift is too, although obviously it’s pretty stuff at the moment. the upgraded speaker system sounds ok but not great. not really worth the money if i am being honest.
footwell is tight compared to the 3. going to take some getting used to as the space between the pedals is proper sports car, not executive car.
seats in the back are great but your passengers will have to leave their legs at home. no room at all behind my seat and i’m 6 foot. but i didn’t buy it for my friends!!
too early to tell on the road really. again the engine is so new it’s not fair to boot it yet, but like the 335 it is very very rapid in any gear and in any rev range. the suspension is definitely more sorted than the 335 and inspires so much more confidence. the wheelbase seems so much shorter and the whole car feels so much more planted and grippier.
brakes are amazing, but harsh. again I guess that’s because it’s new.
sorry this isn’t very technical, but i’m not. i’ll try and give you more opinions as i drive it over christmas and new year and i’ll post some more pics in the next day or so.
Montego blue with red interior looks terrible, a lot of folks call it the superman package.
I agree after all the fuss over this car, it came in at a higher price then people expected, its straight line performance is not any better(in fact I believe its a little slower) then the 335i. I’m sure its more tossable then the 335i, but there are better cars for that then a still heavy BMW.
That can be fixed, but it shouldn’t have to be. This car is not the end all that a lot of people thought it was going to be, and it doesn’t surprise me. I think the M3 is even a bigger let down, the E46 M3 was THE car to beat, now the 335i can keep up, with simple mods can surpass it at a HUGE savings, and with the GT-R coming at about the same price range someone is going to have to be a hardcore BMW loyalist to purchase it.
What does the M3 retrail at? GTR ballpark of $70K?
335i is looking like a hell of a car more and more, I’ve loved the styling since it came out, the turbo setup has amazing potential, which tuners are taking advantage of. M5/M6 not withstanding, it looks like the only BMW worth buying at the moment.
The price hasn’t been confirmed yet, but its suppose to be in the mid 50’s, plus everything because its a BMW, I suspect most will be in the low 60k range
Also that’s the base packadge, once you start adding on basic but almost “required” luxury packadges (you are buying a BMW after all), even a regular 328 that starts at low 30’s can kreep upto 39K
So a nicely trimmed M3 will cost right on part with a Nissan Gtr… that should be interesting.
BMW isnt stupid, they wouldnt release a new 1 series that wasnt a ton of fun to drive. (Btw: The 1 series isnt the same market niche as the Evo or STi). They also didnt just release an M3 that barely edges out the 335i in performance, the M3 destroys it.
The M3 will be right around the Nissan GTR pricing (Nissan wanted to be in this M3, base 911, Vette, etc market), but you gotta remember that the M3 was never about the most HP and has never had the most HP but it keeps winning comparisons year after year. 90% of the time they rank cars on fun to drive factor, and I’ll take whatever is the most fun to drive.
German cars do usually have more in package costs than other cars (you also cant buy a “base” car, unless you order it. How many Audis have you seen with cloth?), so a loaded up, delivered M3 will be $65-75k. What does the base GTR go for MSRP? Now add in comparable options for it.
Both cars are definitely going to sell. Too bad this area blows for car nuts and we wont see many of them.
Haha - now that is funny. Miata’s are (from what I’ve heard) a really fun car to drive, too. Would I want one, eh- if I could get it done cheaper than a honda… maybe…
Anyway- back on topic- I can’t say as I followed the progression of the 1-series that much, but I was really hoping for something closer to a lighter, ‘tossable’ car (think 318ti, but lighter) compared to what it apparently sounds like has been released. Eh, I couldn’t afford one anyway anytime soon.
