My personal car reviews: BMW 335d

DanRoM said:
You're positively insane.

But I can't wait to see the videos. Everybody loves those mountains.
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I just returned home and still have to check the videos but it looks like going there at sunrise set a very nice mood. I have been planning to do this for ages but either I didn't have the right car or the time or other things prevented it. I combined this trip with a visit of my cousin in Salzgitter, which made the whole thing bearable.

Won't do that again too soon, though.

I took this picture at around 6 am on the parking lot on the A 44 shortly before S?dkreuz Kassel, where I made a short break, cleaned the windscreen and set up the camera:

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pepitko said:
Thanks for the review and great videos, I hope that a 335d will eventually make it into my garage. One question, I don't remember whether you've driven the 335i, but if yes, which one would you buy? Oh and another one, what was your average fuel consumption during your rental?
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According to the onboard computer, I used up 11.3 liters/100 km. Since I did mostly pedal to the metal (I did 700 km in four and a half hours, which means an average of 155 km/h), I think that's rather good. The 335d is what we call a "Kilometerfresser" in German, a mile eater. Distances seem to shrink, as if time itself has been sped up.

I didn't drive the 335i and probably won't have the opportunity. However, I have developed kind of a dislike for high-reving petrol engines in saloons and estates on the Autobahn. They're too hectic for my taste. I like being fast but relaxed and a powerful diesel is the better choice for long distance travelling in my opinion.

The only thing I did not like with this particular 335d, is the M sport pack. It simply makes the car too nervous at high speeds and has a nasty habit of following ruts and making the car unsteady, when there are patched pieces of tarmac. Also the car is very crosswind-sensitive, as I already mentioned. It spoiled the fun a bit, I must say, because it can cause some scary moments. You simply don't wanna drive a car, where you suddenly have to correct the steering in a split second, when doing 260 km/h in a straight line.

I had the 330d with the normal suspension a while ago and that had a much better road holding. The M sport pack also doesn't score much in handling, since the car is much too nervous and jumpy and thus loses grip and is shifting sideways, when you haven't got anything but a completely smooth and flat road surface.

While I work at the videos of today (which can take a while), here's the 2nd part of my driving around:

 
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335d touring is my perfect car. I will have one one day.
 
I'd love to have one someday, but they are only sold as autos here.
 
MacGuffin said:
According to the onboard computer, I used up 11.3 liters/100 km. Since I did mostly pedal to the metal (I did 700 km in four and a half hours, which means an average of 155 km/h), I think that's rather good. The 335d is what we call a "Kilometerfresser" in German, a mile eater. Distances seem to shrink, as if time itself has been sped up.

I didn't drive the 335i and probably won't have the opportunity. However, I have developed kind of a dislike for high-reving petrol engines in saloons and estates on the Autobahn. They're too hectic for my taste. I like being fast but relaxed and a powerful diesel is the better choice for long distance travelling in my opinion.

The only thing I did not like with this particular 335d, is the M sport pack. It simply makes the car too nervous at high speeds and has a nasty habit of following ruts and making the car unsteady, when there are patched pieces of tarmac. Also the car is very crosswind-sensitive, as I already mentioned. It spoiled the fun a bit, I must say, because it can cause some scary moments. You simply don't wanna drive a car, where you suddenly have to correct the steering in a split second, when doing 260 km/h in a straight line.

I had the 330d with the normal suspension a while ago and that had a much better road holding. The M sport pack also doesn't score much in handling, since the car is much too nervous and jumpy and thus loses grip and is shifting sideways, when you haven't got anything but a completely smooth and flat road surface.
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Wow, 700km in 4.5 hours is very impressive, no wonder the fuel consumption was above 11 liters :).

Interesting point about that M-sport pack suspension. My friend has a 330i with sport suspension and when I drove it, it also felt that the car was quite nervous across bumps on the motorway. The car would sometimes jump sideways on some bigger bumps, which can be quite scary at high speeds. But I like the way the 3-series looks with the M-pack, so I guess the best option is the M-pack but stock suspension.

Oh and btw, how did the 335d compare to the 330d you drove a while back, was it noticeably faster or not really?
 
The 335d is a lot faster, than the 330d.
 
mitchell.scott said:
LOL, that diesel 6 sounds as good or better than my Accord V6.
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I just watched the videos now and it does sound pretty nice for a diesel... very meaty!! like it. For those that know swimming, Liam Tancock knocks about loughborough in an Alpina D3.... not sure if thats a 330 or a 335d, but whatever Alpina have had their mitts on it and thats got to be one of the very best cars you can buy today. TG mag ran one as a lifer and they couldnt fault it.

Appears the D3 uses the 2.0 liter.... 211bhp though!!
 
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MacGuffin said:
I didn't drive the 335i and probably won't have the opportunity. However, I have developed kind of a dislike for high-reving petrol engines in saloons and estates on the Autobahn. They're too hectic for my taste. I like being fast but relaxed and a powerful diesel is the better choice for long distance travelling in my opinion.
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The 35i engines aren't exactly screamers.
They have very good low end torque and I believe the power starts to drop when nearing the redline especially when tuned. The small turbos/turbo aren't very efficient on high engine speeds.
The 335i with a 6 speed manual is geared to go something like 306 km/h so I don't believe it would actually scream at 160 km/h.
The only thing I did not like with this particular 335d, is the M sport pack. It simply makes the car too nervous at high speeds and has a nasty habit of following ruts and making the car unsteady, when there are patched pieces of tarmac. Also the car is very crosswind-sensitive, as I already mentioned. It spoiled the fun a bit, I must say, because it can cause some scary moments. You simply don't wanna drive a car, where you suddenly have to correct the steering in a split second, when doing 260 km/h in a straight line.

I had the 330d with the normal suspension a while ago and that had a much better road holding. The M sport pack also doesn't score much in handling, since the car is much too nervous and jumpy and thus loses grip and is shifting sideways, when you haven't got anything but a completely smooth and flat road surface.
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The runflats are shit. They ruin the ride, follow every rut and the grip is also terrible. The largeish 18" wheels with 255's at the back won't help either.
Just sold my runcraps and it's a significant improvement on every aspect. Did the same with my old Mini and it was also a night and day difference. I hate how BMW equip all their cars with runflats and you can't order them with normal tires.
Dodge learned from their mistake and returned the real tires for the gen 4 Viper after the runflats flopped on the gen 3. Hope the BMW would do the same.
 
Pry said:
The runflats are shit. They ruin the ride, follow every rut and the grip is also terrible. The largeish 18" wheels with 255's at the back won't help either.
Just sold my runcraps and it's a significant improvement on every aspect. Did the same with my old Mini and it was also a night and day difference. I hate how BMW equip all their cars with runflats and you can't order them with normal tires.
Dodge learned from their mistake and returned the real tires for the gen 4 Viper after the runflats flopped on the gen 3. Hope the BMW would do the same.
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Those runflats may be shit and partly responsible for what I described.

However, the 330d I had last year, was also equipped with them and had a much, much better road behaviour.

So I still believe the main culprit is the M sport suspension.

By the way: Has anybody been watching my "road movie" at all?
 
MacGuffin said:
Those runflats may be shit and partly responsible for what I described.

However, the 330d I had last year, was also equipped with them and had a much, much better road behaviour.

So I still believe the main culprit is the M sport suspension.
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There's quite a big difference between 255/35R18 and 225/45R17 tires in terms of comfort and rut following.
The M sport suspension affects the ride comfort but I believe the main reason it follows the ruts is the wider, lower profile tires.
 
You have a point there. 180 doesn't look much faster, than 120. Also you have the "ski jump" effect: The slopes and ramps never look as steep, as they are in reality. If it helps: I did the way from Hattenbacher Dreieck to Dreieck Kassel S?d (65 km), in about 23 minutes, which is an average speed of 170 km/h or so :)

But the beginning of Video 3 looks quite fast to me, to be honest. Going uphill with 250 km/h is a special thrill. Especially when you consider, that most of the cars I'm overtaking, are at their limits.

However, I'm planning a time-lapse version, maybe that helps a bit... :p

Also cutting together the fast pieces at the moment or a YouTube upload without music for the purists. Will probably post those here.
 
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Sadly, I'm really not familiar with the route at all. About the only destination I would need to pass through there to reach is the Southern part of East Germany, and why would I want to go there? ;)
 
That's the problem with you living in the west of Germany :p

I basically grew up with the A7 being the major Autobahn for all our travels to the north or to the south. Especially since I have been to Bavaria a lot during my time in the air force and have a friend, who lives in W?rzburg.
 
MacGuffin said:
According to the onboard computer, I used up 11.3 liters/100 km. Since I did mostly pedal to the metal (I did 700 km in four and a half hours, which means an average of 155 km/h), I think that's rather good. The 335d is what we call a "Kilometerfresser" in German, a mile eater. Distances seem to shrink, as if time itself has been sped up.
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I'm actually quite disappointed with that, my measly Astra can do the same average speed and use about 7,5l/100 kms
Still, for my Astra to reach that average would mean flooring it almost constantly, and your rental does seem to accelerate effortlessly even above 200 kph, unlike my car

How come the "official" fuel consumption figure is 9ish l/100 km? Is it that unrealistic?
 
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