After owning the BM for nearly a month now, I thought I'd share a few thoughts.
The background to the requirement was a single car to replace my MX5 and g/fs Ibiza (both now sold). The key points being that I only get to drive a car on a weekend, and my g/f is now 12 weeks up the duff. So a 4 door saloon was the chosen solution.
Other cars we looked or considered included an ATR, Impreza, C Class, Mundano, even a Vectra. None had all of the talents of the BM. e.g the Impreza was fast, but wouldn't be that nice a place to be in a traffic jam, C Class just wasn't that classy, ATR was fast, but needed to be throttled to do it.
The car we bought was a blue 330i sport auto with leather interior. I suggested a diesel, but she wanted a petrol as living in London, we spend a lot of time in traffic jams, and even the six pot BM diesel feels like a taxi when stationary.
And to live with:
- Ultimate driving machine? I'm only partially convinced by this. The steering is brilliant, and it's certainly fast. The acceleration appears to be completely linear and I'm "guessing" would continue to be so well above 100mph. It doesn't roll much (less than a WRX Impreza) and handles surprisingly well. I'd definitely take it over any of the previously mentioned saloons that we considered. Even the 5 speed autobox is not that much of a hindrance. Leave it in D and plant the throttle results in instant kickdown. It also includes a "sport" mode which holds the gears to higher revs, avoids the overdrive top gear and improves general responsiveness. Use that when you need some performance and you'd not be far adrift from a manual. If you really insist, there is a sequential manual override mode, but I've only ever used that to prove that it works.
The only problem is the sheer mass of the car. I've read comments of "molds around you to feel smaller", and yes that is true, but only partially so. It still weighs 1500kg and feels it. It's most noticeable when entering a corner, when you're only too aware of the mass around you. Doesn't stop the car being chuckable around windy roads, but it simply isn't a lightweight sportscar like my old MX5.
- Grand Tourer? Yep, now this is where it really shines. 200 miles on a motorway, that's just a warm up. The seats are brilliant, comfort levels are high, mix in an effortless engine, cruise control and lowish cabin noise. The only downsides is really the ride. No it's not bad, but it's not as smooth and cossetting as say my old Rover 75, which wafted along. You can also link in the autobox which is incredibly smooth in use and bearing in mind the amount in time it will spend in traffic, was definitely the right choice.
Mix in a set of open sweeping roads, and I struggle to think of a better saloon.
- To live with. Fuel economy has been "interesting". Close on 30mpg on a run left me impressed, as that's better than I achieved with my old S13 and not far off my MX5. In town and in a traffic jam, we've got down to 20mpg, which is RX8 level. BTW, the fuel gauge was quite a way out during it's tenure in traffic. For an auto it's hardly surprising, but doesn't make me want to jump for joy.
The interior really is lovely to live with. No it's not flashy, but it's certainly well made and has zero rattles or similar despite having completed close on 85k miles.
What would I change? Very little really. The fuel economy isn't great, but that's the trade off for being a petrol. I think I'd prefer the ride to be less firm but appreciate that it would lose some of the agility. For a GT, I'd take the slightly smoother ride, and have wondered if a switch to 17" wheels would achieve the same. Excluding the above, I still can't think of a similarly sized saloon that has the mix of effortless ability (the auto is a critical element of that) linked to it's capabilities to dispatch more windy roads with such gusto.
The background to the requirement was a single car to replace my MX5 and g/fs Ibiza (both now sold). The key points being that I only get to drive a car on a weekend, and my g/f is now 12 weeks up the duff. So a 4 door saloon was the chosen solution.
Other cars we looked or considered included an ATR, Impreza, C Class, Mundano, even a Vectra. None had all of the talents of the BM. e.g the Impreza was fast, but wouldn't be that nice a place to be in a traffic jam, C Class just wasn't that classy, ATR was fast, but needed to be throttled to do it.
The car we bought was a blue 330i sport auto with leather interior. I suggested a diesel, but she wanted a petrol as living in London, we spend a lot of time in traffic jams, and even the six pot BM diesel feels like a taxi when stationary.
And to live with:
- Ultimate driving machine? I'm only partially convinced by this. The steering is brilliant, and it's certainly fast. The acceleration appears to be completely linear and I'm "guessing" would continue to be so well above 100mph. It doesn't roll much (less than a WRX Impreza) and handles surprisingly well. I'd definitely take it over any of the previously mentioned saloons that we considered. Even the 5 speed autobox is not that much of a hindrance. Leave it in D and plant the throttle results in instant kickdown. It also includes a "sport" mode which holds the gears to higher revs, avoids the overdrive top gear and improves general responsiveness. Use that when you need some performance and you'd not be far adrift from a manual. If you really insist, there is a sequential manual override mode, but I've only ever used that to prove that it works.
The only problem is the sheer mass of the car. I've read comments of "molds around you to feel smaller", and yes that is true, but only partially so. It still weighs 1500kg and feels it. It's most noticeable when entering a corner, when you're only too aware of the mass around you. Doesn't stop the car being chuckable around windy roads, but it simply isn't a lightweight sportscar like my old MX5.
- Grand Tourer? Yep, now this is where it really shines. 200 miles on a motorway, that's just a warm up. The seats are brilliant, comfort levels are high, mix in an effortless engine, cruise control and lowish cabin noise. The only downsides is really the ride. No it's not bad, but it's not as smooth and cossetting as say my old Rover 75, which wafted along. You can also link in the autobox which is incredibly smooth in use and bearing in mind the amount in time it will spend in traffic, was definitely the right choice.
Mix in a set of open sweeping roads, and I struggle to think of a better saloon.
- To live with. Fuel economy has been "interesting". Close on 30mpg on a run left me impressed, as that's better than I achieved with my old S13 and not far off my MX5. In town and in a traffic jam, we've got down to 20mpg, which is RX8 level. BTW, the fuel gauge was quite a way out during it's tenure in traffic. For an auto it's hardly surprising, but doesn't make me want to jump for joy.
The interior really is lovely to live with. No it's not flashy, but it's certainly well made and has zero rattles or similar despite having completed close on 85k miles.
What would I change? Very little really. The fuel economy isn't great, but that's the trade off for being a petrol. I think I'd prefer the ride to be less firm but appreciate that it would lose some of the agility. For a GT, I'd take the slightly smoother ride, and have wondered if a switch to 17" wheels would achieve the same. Excluding the above, I still can't think of a similarly sized saloon that has the mix of effortless ability (the auto is a critical element of that) linked to it's capabilities to dispatch more windy roads with such gusto.
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good review! I want a 330 sport for my next car.
My point, however, remains the same - they are not really that difference. You won't notice a 7.5% weight increase on the road.
Below this it is comparatively useless. Its about as far from linear as you can get this side of a VTEC! This could be my remap causing this, but others did agree at the RR day that it was the case on their M54 powered cars too.