Our "own" car reviews

This car had a very opposite effect. It left me completely cold. It didn't infuriate me, but it left absolutely no impression. I can honestly say that if I had one at my disposal and had to go somewhere, I'd probably catch a bus. That's not something I've thought with any other car I've driven.

You might be onto something... maybe it's a plot of the eco-mentalists to rob us of our driving fun and make us use public transport by forcing the car industry to make particularly crappy eco cars?

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I drove a 2011 Lexus GX 460 at work last week, I guess I was expecting something more from a $80,000 "luxury" SUV, but I wasn't a fan at all.

Hopping in, the interior seemed nice enough; big, comfortable, leather seats with infinite adjustments, simple, uncluttered dash with everything falling nicely to hand and a large centre console/armrest that I could actually rest my arm on (most are too low). But then I noticed the leather felt stiff and unnatural, the dash was mainly hard silver plastic and the majority of the controls were activated by multiple menus on the touchscreen, not what you want to be dealing with while driving in the city.

Once on the road it wasn't too bad, the big lazy V8 had more than adequate power for normal driving, but when downshifting a gear to pass I noticed how unpleasant the exhaust note was at a sustained 2500rpm. The suspension seemed to smooth out everything until I hit a few decent potholes and it shuddered and clunked over them. Adjusting the suspension between comfort and sport made very little difference. Sightlines were decent for a large, modern vehicle.

Overall, it drove ok, was nice enough inside and would capably perform its duty of shuttling around yuppie soccer moms and their offspring, but I simply dont see it being worth the price tag when there are so many other options out there.
 
..lexhsush..

This is my exact problem with Lexuses. Everyone tells me they're supposed to be luxurious first class Jap-cars. And still they provide nothing but mild satisfaction. Mercedes did it in the 80's, how hard can it be to design a modern luxury barge?

Oh, and regarding the Veloster conversation. I'm hating myself for saying this, but, providing it drives anywhere near as it looks, I'd take one any day.

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Okay, dump the silly Ford Fiesta colour scheme. Other than that, how could I not? Hyundai's really stepping up the game.
 
Sorry about the double post, but I figured it might be clearer this way.

BMW 330i E46

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I've been looking for a smallish, good looking, reasonably priced RWD car with solid build quality and a potential for dynamic driving. Sound like too much to ask? Well, ever since the failure which was my experiment with the Z4, I've felt that it's an impossible feat for a modern car manufacturer. But then came the idea of an E46. Not as crude as an E36 and not as glass jawed as the E90, it seemed like the perfect mixture of fun and solidity.

On paper.

So what we have is a 2003-model 170tkm 330i black sedan riding on winter tyres. On sale at "Sula", the infamous equivalent of used car hell. To be expected then, is an overpriced and badly maintained car, sold by a total asshole.

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After making our way through the snowy parking lot, we hunted down the salesman, who was doing his best to hide from us. A strangely un-attentive man to work in sales, I thought. I had to chase him down the parking lot just to make my issue clear. Even then he seemed totally surprised at my greeting and inquiry. And I wasn't the only one. A few customers even mistook me for a salesman, since I was more attending than the guys themselves. So, that's the "total asshole"-part checked. Still, I haggled for the keys and we fired up the straight six.

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For a 170tkm car, it might as well not have been driven at all. Shutting the door sounded like a vault door clamping shut. The engine fired up as for the first time in its life. The seats looked like they'd just been upholstered. The whole cockpit felt like it was meant to be sat in. To drive the car. Only minor complaint could be made of a tiny rust spot on the boot, but as it was clearly a "suomiauto", this sort of thing was to be expected. Oh, I did ask for the origins of the car. The salesguy had no idea. Probably didn't even care. :rolleyes:

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I can't emphasize how well the engine ran. I'm used to some minor niggles in idle revs or even some dust in the engine bay. This thing purred like a kitten on new year's eve. I quietly rolled it off the parking lot. Now if I'd have to nitpick, there was a faint whine to be heard from the engine, which I presume came from the valves being a bit frozen. I mean, the poor car had sat through last week's inhumanely low temperatures, a bit of stiffness was to be expected. All extra sounds quickly quitened down though, as the thing got properly moving and started warming up.

THE POWER. Sure, it's only 231hp, but the delivery is insane! Pick any gear and it urges forward with a sense of newfound joy not unlike the one you have the morning after a good lay. Sure, we had trouble finding any grip on the frozen roads, but hell, sideways is always a way to make progress. The DSC was something clearly designed by a driver, for a driver, not by a 44-year old grandmother from a halfwit flower arranging club, trying to stop her grandson from growing any balls. This car did it all. No niggles, no shouting about being a better driver than you, no parts coming off.. Yeah, I could've driven it home straight away.

  • Pros
-Awesome car. Enough power, good looking, big enough to fit 3-4 people and some luggage.
-That engine. Holy wow. The sound, the smoothness, the delivery. I'm a turbo-nut myself, but this opera of revving is insanely addictive.
-Smallish size, but solid. Solid enough not to fall apart, that is, which seems to be a problem with the cars I test-drive. So a definite plus.
-Quirky personality. I know these are regarded as the Mondeo of their age, and only assholes drive them, but I don't care. The car had a definite personality about it. Something that said "What? Yeah we can go, why didn't you say so!" in an un-pretentious, non-zoomzoom way.

  • Cons
-It needs the M-Sport package, or at least a sport-button. The gas pedal was way too family car-like in its reactiveness.
-That rust. Can't be having that. Easy issue to get around though - just don't buy it from Finland.
-This particular car was way too expensive, and I could never force myself buy anything from such a crappy establishment. Not the fault of the car though.

So, here's something to save money for. I can't see myself needing anything else for a daily driver.
 
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How is your general pattern of driving? I mean, the distances are fairly big in Finland, so you haven't considered...ehm...a diesel...?
 
How is your general pattern of driving? I mean, the distances are fairly big in Finland, so you haven't considered...ehm...a diesel...?

Well, mostly the driving I do is for pleasure and what not. Sure, if I'd need to commute huge distances daily, a diesel would be a viable, and even sensible, option. And the 330d is a mighty bit of wheels.

But it's missing all the sound and character of the petrol six. So I'll rather spend a bit more to experience that. :wub:
 
Yeah, diesels are a rational choice, but they sure lack the character of a fine naturally aspirated straight six. Which brings me nicely to the new F30 320d.

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I had a quick test drive and some more time at the passenger seat in a '12 F30 chassis 320d on the last weekend. I wasn't so sure about the styling when I saw the press pictures, but the real thing really looks great. Front lights look good and you don't notice the bit awkward curve of the bonnet, which is there only to make pedestrians feel more comfortable during the accident. It's not a radical change from the dull E90, but it feels much better. I can't wait to see how the M-Sport version looks.

Inside was typical BMW fashion. Modern, but you still felt right at home. There were some hints from E46 and others from newer ones, but as a whole it was good looking, modern and functional. If I'd have to nitpick I'd complain about the iDrive screen, which looks like it could slide down inside the dashboard, but it can't. It looks like something that's been added during the midlife refresh.

I've never owned a BMW, but I've always felt right at home in them. F30 didn't make any difference. In a matter of seconds I had adjusted the driving position close to perfection and we got going. When driving a car at -22?C weather on a snowy road it's hard to make any perceptions about the steering, or behavior of the suspension through corners, but at least everything I could feel was rather okay. Steering felt good enough, but proper opinion must wait until the roads melt, because when you really don't have much grip, you won't have much feel either. At least it felt natural, which is already quite a high praise. Suspension comfortable enough apart from a firmness on bigger bumps, but it wasn't hard in an american "it's spordy because its' hard" way, which would've been annoying.

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Many have complained that the F30 is as big as the E39 was over a decade ago. They might be right, but it didn't feel too big to drive, and compared to cars like Passat or 508 Peugeot it's still relatively compact looking. BMW 3-series has never tried to offer as much space as some of the less-premium segment cars, but four mid-size adults should fit in there nicely.

So as a four door sedan it seems to be good. So how does it fare as a driver's car then, this Ultimate Driving Machine. How is Freude am Fahren?

As I already said, conditions were so slippery it's impossible to comment about it's balance or anything like that. What I can comment is the ESP system, which is brilliant for three reasons. First, the normal mode is excellent. Rear end moved just a tiny little bit when I tried to provoke it with too much gas, but I couldn't hear any rough sounds from the brakes or anything. The car just kept it's line. Imagine driving in Gran Turismo 5 or Forza 4 with virtual stability control on. That's how it felt. Silent yet effective. Like it could pre-react and limit the amount of gas before the slide happens. Anyway, it felt safe and not-annoying, which is not something I can normally say about ESPs.

Second great thing was the dynamic mode, which allowed nice little slides but kept things under control.

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The third great thing about the ESP was the possibility to turn it of. I know this might not be that important if you live in a winterless country, but we have snow on the ground more than three months every year. In a conditions like these all you need to start a small little innocent slide is a small throttle input. You might only be travelling at 30km/h like the car in the picture, but the amount of control you have in a well balanced rear wheel driven car on a perfect snow road is incredible. For many years companies like Mercedes or Audi have prevented us from this honest joy in RWDs or quattros, yet BMW still offers the possibility to turn the ESP off and enjoy. The F30 320d is a good family sedan that allows you to grin like an idiot when you go around an empty corner at a slow speed. It's a car you can justify to your wife or girlfriend. Or to your dad. And then you can borrow it and enjoy one of the greatest things automotive world has to offer: RWD oversteer.

The below -20?C weather left the engine a bit cold. At urban driving the engine never got above 50?C which was the minimum mark on the analog engine coolant temperature gauge, which I was happy to see on the dash. If the engine was left a bit cold because of the weather, so was I. Emotionally. Electric heater provided plenty of cozy warm air to cabin. 2-liter diesel with 184hp and 380Nm offers plenty of power and great fuel economy, but like all 4-cyl diesels, doesn't really cause any emotional moments.

It's a great engine in it's class, no doubt about it. Maybe I'm a bit old fashioned, but I like cars where the engine is a pretty defining component. I like Subaru's because they've unique way to put boxer engine to everything. I like the turbocharged Imprezas and I like the six cylinder Legacy, because you can try to find some Porsche notes when you rev it. Alfa need a glorious V6. A friend of mine bought CRX Honda with a B16 engine and after first test drive I could never buy one without VTEC engine. The way the engine changed it's note when the VTEC system activated the high-lift cams and the engine started to surge towards 8000+ redline defined that car.

And maybe the most of them all I love BMW straight sixes. They're smooth and aristocratic like all straight sixes. They're as free of vibrations as V12 or flat six. And then when you rev them the sophisticated smoothness turns to a howling animal, which I think frankiess explained extremely well. You used to get an inline six even at the pretty basic 320i during the 80s and 90s

That kind of an engine used to be special yet so common that it is something that defines BMW for me, still it's something that's totally missing from the F30. The line is full of fine engines. Turbocharged inline fours sipping petrol or diesel. But they don't offer the aural excitement of a straight six. There is the mighty 335i of course. It's a bit pricey, but the since the introduction of the E90 the trend has been like that. Straights sixes have moved from middle-spec models like the 320i to only the range topping versions. I understand the reason, but I'd still love to hear honest, howling straight six in an otherwise pretty excellent sedan. And because of the ESP off possibility, I would buy one without even test driving it's ESP-always on forcing competitors.
 
I have only one comment:

They're smooth and aristocratic like all straight sixes.

Jeep's 4.0 begs to differ :p

Otherwise I'm completely with you on RWD in the snow, and an engine defining the car.
 
Jeep has a 4.0l BMW straight six? How outlandish.

Cool pics, Lastsoul. Shame you didn't catch one off the interior, though. But it's good to know the 3-series still has potential for a fun ride. :)
 
The claim was that BMW straight sixes are smooth and aristocratic, like all straight sixes. I just provided a counter example within "all straight sixes."
 
Haha, well Jeep's are fairly rare here so I've no experience, but good to know! :D
 
ah yes, the 320d, pretty much all the car you'll ever need for mainland Europe

Sporty but comfortable
Powerful but not over the top
Economical but still fun to drive

Hard to fault it really...
 
As I already said, conditions were so slippery it's impossible to comment about it's balance or anything like that. What I can comment is the ESP system, which is brilliant for three reasons. First, the normal mode is excellent. Rear end moved just a tiny little bit when I tried to provoke it with too much gas, but I couldn't hear any rough sounds from the brakes or anything. The car just kept it's line. Imagine driving in Gran Turismo 5 or Forza 4 with virtual stability control on. That's how it felt. Silent yet effective. Like it could pre-react and limit the amount of gas before the slide happens. Anyway, it felt safe and not-annoying, which is not something I can normally say about ESPs.

I've been waiting for this to happen. Every new piece of automotive tech is met with skepticism at first. Eventually the technology improves and people will start to take it for granted. :)
 
I've been waiting for this to happen. Every new piece of automotive tech is met with skepticism at first. Eventually the technology improves and people will start to take it for granted. :)

And still I ended my review with a comment "I'd buy this without test driving it's main rivals, because they don't allow you to turn the ESP off".

ESP is a fine system to have and when I'm driving a car with one, I always keep it on outside urban areas, but as long as my average speed is below 80 or so I switch it off. I just hate the throttle control killing nanny. When the speeds are greater than that I admit I'm not nearly as good as a driver as the ESP is and that's why it stays on.


ah yes, the 320d, pretty much all the car you'll ever need for mainland Europe


Sporty but comfortable
Powerful but not over the top
Economical but still fun to drive


Hard to fault it really...

Definitely all you need, but still leaves you cold. We waste all the money in our lives anyway, why not waste it for petrol and get engine that really brings the car alive?
 
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Definitely all you need, but still leaves you cold. We waste all the money in our lives anyway, why not waste it for petrol and get engine that really brings the car alive?

because we can't afford it?
 
E46 330i rather than F30 320d then? You buy lots of fuel with the price difference.
 
because we can't afford it?

People "couldn't afford" a 330i either back when fuel was, say, 30% cheaper than it is now. It's a psychological thing, mostly.

Altough I can't of course fault anyone for trying to keep their fuel bill as low as possible. Personally I don't know if I'd rather pay off a F30 320d or fill up an E46 330i. I opted for paying off AND filling up a 2.5T instead :p I sure as hell wouldn't be driving this if I did more than 10-15k/year. Most of my road trips are with paying passengers, too.
 
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Yeah, of course yearly mileage makes a huge difference. But people sometimes assume cars like 330i drink heavily and the difference is much bigger, than it really is. Of course tax and insurance vary a lot between countries and can make reasonable car in some country totally impossible in another.
 
But people sometimes assume cars like 330i drink heavily and the difference is much bigger, than it really is.

I briefly mentioned to my father that a Mondeo 2.5T would be nice when they depreciate a bit more. He told me i was crazy because it's so thirsty. Fast forward 3 months, and he didn't have any issues with me buying a Volvo 2.5T. :lol: Again, psychological thing.
 
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