RE: BMW 330i M Sport prototype: Driven
Discussion
All I can say is thank God I bought a Six cylinder with Manual box when I did. The Guy who seems to be moving between the German makers making commission on the ZF is ruining whole ranges of cars Because HE sees no future for Manuals needs farming out to the Funny farm. The "commercial market feeds off the enthusiasts choices and without it why buy a BMW/Audi/Mercedes.
telecat said:
All I can say is thank God I bought a Six cylinder with Manual box when I did. The Guy who seems to be moving between the German makers making commission on the ZF is ruining whole ranges of cars Because HE sees no future for Manuals needs farming out to the Funny farm. The "commercial market feeds off the enthusiasts choices and without it why buy a BMW/Audi/Mercedes.
Its actually the world, and those people that actually buy the cars that have made the choice. The massive bulk of the populous doesn't want a manual box simply because modern autos are so much better (as long as you don't live life through rose tinted glasses).Obviously this is not the finished article yet but for those agnostic about BMW, the report suggests reasons for both cheers and jeers.
Cheer:
'BMW has, by its own admission, focussed on the hardware that 3-Series customers actually buy; it has chosen to work with simpler technology, and in good old-fashioned oil, steel and rubber, to give 'ordinary' versions of the car a more direct sporting character than the 'F30' had.'
I haven't bought a car for a few years but looking at the used market for many models, most were bought with non-adaptive suspension when the magazine reviews all focus on and rate higher the adaptive set-up. Please may this represent some sort of a return to a focus on passive suspension. (I realise it won't because the margins on adaptive systems are so much higher for car makers, not just at initial sale but also subsequent maintenance!)
Jeer:
'We had a couple of laps of the Nordschleife to interrogate the new 3-Series' handling balance, which on the road seemed very good - though perhaps not quite good enough to rival an Alfa Giulia for sports car like agility and incisiveness.'
So at this point in development, on the handling front the best alternative to the new 3-Series is another 4 cyl turbo auto-only saloon...!
Cheer:
'BMW has, by its own admission, focussed on the hardware that 3-Series customers actually buy; it has chosen to work with simpler technology, and in good old-fashioned oil, steel and rubber, to give 'ordinary' versions of the car a more direct sporting character than the 'F30' had.'
I haven't bought a car for a few years but looking at the used market for many models, most were bought with non-adaptive suspension when the magazine reviews all focus on and rate higher the adaptive set-up. Please may this represent some sort of a return to a focus on passive suspension. (I realise it won't because the margins on adaptive systems are so much higher for car makers, not just at initial sale but also subsequent maintenance!)
Jeer:
'We had a couple of laps of the Nordschleife to interrogate the new 3-Series' handling balance, which on the road seemed very good - though perhaps not quite good enough to rival an Alfa Giulia for sports car like agility and incisiveness.'
So at this point in development, on the handling front the best alternative to the new 3-Series is another 4 cyl turbo auto-only saloon...!
Encouraging move to make the more cooking versions better to drive. I read that as an admission of guilt that the moniker of "Ultimate Driving machine" wasn't entirely truthful.
o/t I'd love to know the number of people who bought a 330 and didn't realise it was a 2 litre. I'll bet it's not zero.
o/t I'd love to know the number of people who bought a 330 and didn't realise it was a 2 litre. I'll bet it's not zero.
TWPC said:
Jeer:
'We had a couple of laps of the Nordschleife to interrogate the new 3-Series' handling balance, which on the road seemed very good - though perhaps not quite good enough to rival an Alfa Giulia for sports car like agility and incisiveness.'
So at this point in development, on the handling front the best alternative to the new 3-Series is another 4 cyl turbo auto-only saloon...!
Because at some point, traditionalists are going to have to realise that in 2018, the weakest link about a manual sports saloon is the manual gearbox.'We had a couple of laps of the Nordschleife to interrogate the new 3-Series' handling balance, which on the road seemed very good - though perhaps not quite good enough to rival an Alfa Giulia for sports car like agility and incisiveness.'
So at this point in development, on the handling front the best alternative to the new 3-Series is another 4 cyl turbo auto-only saloon...!
Fetchez la vache said:
Encouraging move to make the more cooking versions better to drive. I read that as an admission of guilt that the moniker of "Ultimate Driving machine" wasn't entirely truthful.
o/t I'd love to know the number of people who bought a 330 and didn't realise it was a 2 litre. I'll bet it's not zero.
I think you be staggered how many people that actually buy cars (rather than just talk about them) don't know...and don't care what size engine is in a car.o/t I'd love to know the number of people who bought a 330 and didn't realise it was a 2 litre. I'll bet it's not zero.
We're still not as bad as the US where even dealers and mainstream hire companies don't know what size engines (or cylinder counts) their cars have, but it's a non issue for the vast majority of car buyers.
Ares said:
drpep said:
While I admire their efforts here, I'm not at all excited about this. There are lots of companies still making exciting, 6-cylinder sport-sedan/saloon cars but this is no longer in that class.
Like who?? What exciting 6-pot saloon car comes in at £mid-30s?I could find only one 6 pot saloon car available new with a list price of less than £40k; the Audi A4 3.0 V6 TDI is £38,435. Even the Kia Stinger is just over £40k.
I'd love to know if there are any others available.
TWPC said:
Ares said:
drpep said:
While I admire their efforts here, I'm not at all excited about this. There are lots of companies still making exciting, 6-cylinder sport-sedan/saloon cars but this is no longer in that class.
Like who?? What exciting 6-pot saloon car comes in at £mid-30s?I could find only one 6 pot saloon car available new with a list price of less than £40k; the Audi A4 3.0 V6 TDI is £38,435. Even the Kia Stinger is just over £40k.
I'd love to know if there are any others available.
Master Bean said:
BaronVonVaderham said:
If the 330i is powered by a 2L 4 cylinder, what on earth is a 320i powered by, fairies?
A 180ish bhp 2l 4 cylinder. Do please keep up at the back.I wish BMW and Mercedes had stuck to their model naming conventions. What's the problem with a BMW 315i and Merc C150? Surely it serves to highlight the technological progress that has been made that cars with such small engines can perform so well.
No need to answer...
Ares said:
telecat said:
All I can say is thank God I bought a Six cylinder with Manual box when I did. The Guy who seems to be moving between the German makers making commission on the ZF is ruining whole ranges of cars Because HE sees no future for Manuals needs farming out to the Funny farm. The "commercial market feeds off the enthusiasts choices and without it why buy a BMW/Audi/Mercedes.
Its actually the world, and those people that actually buy the cars that have made the choice. The massive bulk of the populous doesn't want a manual box simply because modern autos are so much better (as long as you don't live life through rose tinted glasses).Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff