Each BMW 3 series is the best car of its generation

It must always have been the best in its class since people always describe cars that size as being in the '3 series' market, and if a car in that market does come out, its success is always based on how well it does 'in comparison to the 3 series.' Other manufacturers seem to be catching up though. I like all of the most recent A4, 3 series, C class and Mondeo; Lexus IS has to be mentioned too, I'm in one quite often and it's a superb car, very tightly put together and lovely inside but just too small. I believe the new C class is particularly good though? Very highly rated, but out of the above 5 models it's the only one I've never been in.
 
5tephen said:
It must always have been the best in its class since people always describe cars that size as being in the '3 series' market, and if a car in that market does come out, its success is always based on how well it does 'in comparison to the 3 series.' Other manufacturers seem to be catching up though. I like all of the most recent A4, 3 series, C class and Mondeo; Lexus IS has to be mentioned too, I'm in one quite often and it's a superb car, very tightly put together and lovely inside but just too small. I believe the new C class is particularly good though? Very highly rated, but out of the above 5 models it's the only one I've never been in.
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Id add the Accord inot the mix too, the 2.2 cdti is a peach of an engine, other Manufacturers have definately made a decent attempt to catch up, but bimmer,Audi, and Merc still have by far the best diesels, the new Audi 3.0 is just immense.I think Audi interiors are the best by far.
 
wohoo said:
Id add the Accord inot the mix too, the 2.2 cdti is a peach of an engine, other Manufacturers have definately made a decent attempt to catch up, but bimmer,Audi, and Merc still have by far the best diesels, the new Audi 3.0 is just immense.I think Audi interiors are the best by far.
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How does the Audi 3 litre compare to the simply superb BMW 3 litre unit?
 
The_Dark_Side said:
How does the Audi 3 litre compare to the simply superb BMW 3 litre unit?
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Very favourably. Performance wise, it's about near level now. I thought the performance figures for the A5 3.0TDI were astounding but Autocar did not agree, and were unable to get anywhere near Audi's figures with their test car:

Autocar said:
The A5 3.0 TDI isn’t exactly a rocketship; neither is it totally comfortable jostling for position in the urban crawl when, below 1500rpm, the V6 diesel engine can feel a bit undernourished. Where this big capacity diesel finally finds its feet is playing the role of ‘effortless cruiser’ - knocking back the miles, exactly fitting the role cast for a big coupe.

Changes made to the 3.0 V6 diesel for the A5 have liberated a further 7bhp, but it’s the additional 37lb ft of torque that’s most evident. Low rev deficiencies aside, the delivery is linear - evidence third gear, good for 30mph to 80mph, with each 20mph increment taking less than four seconds.

More impressive than this flexibility is the fuss free delivery. The Audi may not be able to live with BMW’s epic twin turbo 335d - our A5 taking 6.4sec to reach 60mph from rest, but also weighing 145kg more than claimed - yet it’s the Audi diesel that’s the more sophisticated. Other than an occasional tyre drone, we can find little fault with the A5’s refinement. Even under hard acceleration only the slightest diesel chatter is audible.
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I suspect it's the Quattro effect - good traction off the line giving artificially low 0-60 times.

People keep comparing it to the 335d where it falls short but I wish they would stop doing this - its priced with the 330d, so it should be compared with that. They just need to add another Turbo and go 335d chasing next.
 
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[TW]Fox;10290505 said:
Very favourably. Performance wise, it's about near level now.

They just need to add another Turbo and go 335d chasing next.
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Coming from you that's praise indeed.
Even if you're not a fan you just couldn't deny how good that BMW diesel is.
I'm not that impressed with most of their cars, but their engine development guys are just impressive as hell to me.
 
BMW's engine development has been absolutely amazing lately. Even if you hate BMW you have to appreciate what they've been doing with their engines becuase remember, everyone else will follow so you can expect similar in your choice of car soon.

Here are some choice figures for you of the new 2007 range:

BMW 330i Saloon: 272bhp, 39.2mpg combined, 178g/km c02, 0-60 6.1
BMW 120i 3 door: 170bhp, 44.1mpg combined, 152g/km c02, 0-60 7.7
BMW 123d Coupe: 210bhp, 400nm, 54.3mpg combined, 138kg/km c02, 0-60 7.0

Nobody, not even the biggest BMW hater, can deny they are extraodinary figures. That sort of COMBINED fuel economy from petrol engines is excellent. And the performance v economy of the 123d? It even satisfies the Carbon Hippies.

To give you an idea, when I managed to eek 39mpg from my 530i last year most people here wouldnt believe me. I did it by doing a constant 75mph on the cruise for 300 miles. Nobody believed me, and since changing to higher rolling resistence tyres, I've not been able to repeat it, only get close, and only on sustained long distance driving. Yet here we have the new 330i, with an engine with 50bhp MORE than mine, offernig the same 39mpg but on the COMBINED cycle!

And like I said. Hate BMW? Dont worry, becuase Audi, Merc, Ford, whoever you love, will be forced to compete, and within a few years we will ALL be benefiting from engines with this sort of performance v economy blend.
 
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Isn't the new economy figures down to the new generation of Vanos/Valvetronic in use or has this area remained unchanged since double-vanos ?

Impressive 120 too :o
 
[TW]Fox;10290585 said:
BMW's engine development has been absolutely amazing lately. Even if you hate BMW you have to appreciate what they've been doing with their engines becuase remember, everyone else will follow so you can expect similar in your choice of car soon.

Here are some choice figures for you of the new 2007 range:

BMW 330i Saloon: 272bhp, 39.2mpg combined, 178g/km c02, 0-60 6.1
BMW 120i 3 door: 170bhp, 44.1mpg combined, 152g/km c02, 0-60 7.7
BMW 123d Coupe: 210bhp, 400nm, 54.3mpg combined, 138kg/km c02, 0-60 7.0

Nobody, not even the biggest BMW hater, can deny they are extraodinary figures. That sort of COMBINED fuel economy from petrol engines is excellent. And the performance v economy of the 123d? It even satisfies the Carbon Hippies.

To give you an idea, when I managed to eek 39mpg from my 530i last year most people here wouldnt believe me. I did it by doing a constant 75mph on the cruise for 300 miles. Nobody believed me, and since changing to higher rolling resistence tyres, I've not been able to repeat it, only get close, and only on sustained long distance driving. Yet here we have the new 330i, with an engine with 50bhp MORE than mine, offernig the same 39mpg but on the COMBINED cycle!

And like I said. Hate BMW? Dont worry, becuase Audi, Merc, Ford, whoever you love, will be forced to compete, and within a few years we will ALL be benefiting from engines with this sort of performance v economy blend.
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The 123d looks bloody impressive, even the emissions on the 330 are frankly amazing.
 
quel surprise. A thread that turned into a BMW bashing thread.

I like my BMW, it doesn't have as comfy a seat as my old Renault, but its on 120k miles with original gearbox and clutch, has sound damping so I don't hear every bit of road noise like some jap cars I have driven and surprisingly is easy for me to repair myself when things need doing.

lol @ housemaster, that was entertaining, but unfortunately, there are people who neither have the experience or the ability to form their own opinions and see being in the BMW hater crowd as "cool and popular" so they will take that statement as gospel.

TBH, people can say what they like, I have my own opinion based on driving lots of cars for a living. The only car that made me feel as good about driving as my 3 was an Audi. I have to agree that the recent quality of BMW has gone downhill in a big way. I was totally uninspired by the new M5 and the E46 M3 would be the last thing on my list, however, I like my 3 and 5 series and unless someone can come up with an intelligent argument as to why other cars are better, I will continue to form my own opinion.

I don't like the way that chavs have got hold of the low end 3 series now and are really trashing what was once a great image. The reason that 3 series are popular with reps is because a) they are a great car to drive b) low company car tax

I wouldn't mind driving the 320d for a while as it is a great little car and quite poky for a 2 litre.
 
mejinks said:
quel surprise. A thread that turned into a BMW bashing thread.

The reason that 3 series are popular with reps is because a) they are a great car to drive b) low company car tax
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Its an image thing with reps, you can tell the types at our place, they would rather have a base spec 316/18/20 than a cheaper better specced accord/mondeo.

Its like the teeth and t*ts brigade who drive around in poverty spec 1 series and A3's, simply image.
 
wohoo said:
Its an image thing with reps, you can tell the types at our place, they would rather have a base spec 316/18/20 than a cheaper better specced accord/mondeo.

Its like the teeth and t*ts brigade who drive around in poverty spec 1 series and A3's, simply image.
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I think its also a bit of the sheep brigade too. they see other reps driving the, so think they must do the same.
 
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