10-08-2017, 07:13 AM | #1 |
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Lease half-way mark musings
With my 19th payment on this lease posted, "what's next" thoughts have started to pop up in my noggin. At this point with my last lease, I was pretty unhappy with my car (which was a pretty basic '13 328i X-drive...the only options it had were heated seats, moon roof, and PDC). Thankfully that is not the case with my 340 as I am overall happy with it. I started the BMW journey with an ill-fated used 2010 328 X-drive, purchase in March of 2013 and traded back to the dealer in October of 2013 for the '13 328 (which I turned in several months early because I was tired of it...it cost me some money but I was happy to do it) in an attempt to find a comfortable, fun, AWD car, leaving high-strung, spine-bashing, FWD cars behind. My '16 340 mostly fulfilled that quest. My feeling now is that this is my last 3-series. I will either buy it out and drive it for 2 or 3 more years past the lease or move on to either something smaller or something larger (so no C43 or S4).
Random things that I like: 1. I love this engine. I don't think I need to elaborate. The B58 is a gem. 2. Sometimes the car doesn't feel like a big car. Before the BMW's I was driving small Honda's (94 Civic, 95 Integra, then two RSX-S's). Despite the size increase from the cars I had before, once I got the seating position right on this car, sometimes I forget that it's 182 inches long and it feels right. 3. I still don't love automatics, but I do feel like the ZF8 is the right transmission for this car. I love Manuals, but I do see the point many engineers make regarding new turbo engines not mating well with them. This is the only Automatic I've driven in decades I haven't hated. 4. The exterior isn't silly looking (opinion point here...I can't take the looks of Cadillac's and I dislike the rear-half most Mercs nowadays). 5. The interior is fine. Good layout, not overdone. Decent quality (a friend just bought a new Mazda 3...looks great in pictures folk, but in real life it matches the low price of the car). 6. I have a less-than-common set of vision issues that don't interfere with seeing the road but cause issues with seeing both the road and the interior displays clearly at the same time. The HUD is a god-send for me. I basically have to have it to interact with the car comfortably. 7. Handling with the Adaptive Suspension is fine. I'm used to it. 8. The seats are great for spirited driving. My route to work is mostly country roads, so I do get to have some fun. Things I'm not fond of: 1. The Interior quality is just decent. I've poked the C-class interior several times. It's flashy, but it isn't really better quality overall. I do think I'd like to take it up a notch. 2. I will never buy a black car again. Never. No matter how pretty it is when clean. 3. I'm acutely aware at this point that the 3-series is a compromise car (as is the A/S4 and the C-class). None of the cars in this class are as sprightly as I might want at times, other than perhaps the Alfa and, unfortunately, I need my car to actually work most of the time. Also, none of the cars in this class give the same feeling of comfort that the larger cars do. Folk might want to argue this, but I stand by it. This class of car is a compromise class. It's a good compromise, but it is what it is. So, if I don't buy out my 340, what's next? I really don't know. It's going to come down to swinging the Compromise Pendulum one way or the other. If I can't have a smaller, more nimble car that still manages to fulfill what I need (including the HUD), then I'm going to swing it towards a more comfortable car with better interior materials and more space. It will not be an SUV. An M550i is a possibility. I'd like to think I could swap to an M3 or M4 to stay with this size of car but swing the pendulum to the "fun" end, but the country roads and lack of snow plows around here concern me. I really do need to stay with just one car. I will not go to something like the STI. I won't sacrifice comfort to that degree anymore (and yes, I've been in new one that hasn't been messed with when it was driven over less-than-perfect roads and a couple sets of railroad tracks...I don't care how visceral the experience is, I don't want that car as my daily driver). At the end of the day, I'm happy with the compromise I'm driving in a way that I was not with the last two rolling compromises. But I'm not entirely sold on the compromise itself. Last edited by bri1042; 10-08-2017 at 07:24 AM.. |
10-08-2017, 07:43 AM | #2 |
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Mostly agree with your points. I can?t comment on the engine since I have an N20 and an N55, but agree about size when driving. It feels smaller than it is. Sometimes when I?m walking to my 335 in the parking garage, I do a double take to make sure I?m not walking to someone else?s F10, it looks positively huge. Fortunately it doesn?t feel that way and BMW at least still does a decent job of making it feel like a cockpit in there, especially once you get the seating sorted out.
As far as interior quality, nothing will change unless you move up a class. I have the leather dash in my F31, and it makes a world of difference, but still not as much as full merino leather would, and even then, these cars can still get pretty loud on the highway simply because thy lack the sound proofing of the other classes. I?m toying with replacing the F31 with a Macan GTS, and test drove one recently, and other than exhaust/engine noise (which is what you want with that car), when it?s all sealed up, it?s noticeably quieter in the cabin on the highway. Same for the F10, A6, E class, etc. Move up a class or it will just be variations on a theme imho. Have you tuned or upgraded your car? Maybe buying it out and then spending some $ on upgrades will up the fun factor even more and make up for some of the shortcomings. My 335 is tuned, and modded, and it definitely puts a smile on my face, even when I want to complain about interior quality, noise, etc. I agree the 3 is a bit of a compromise, but with the B58 paired with the ZF8, you?ll be hard pressed to find a better all-rounder unless you?re willing to move on up.
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10-08-2017, 08:07 AM | #3 |
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I have a JB+ and it's amusing but as far as I'd want to go with modding the car, even if it was paid off. At default settings on the JB+, I had some less than desirable results with the fuel that's available here and I noticed some issues when the ambient temps got too high at the beginning of Summer. I dropped the boost control on it down a bit and that made everything happy.
Modding isn't really my thing. It wasn't my thing during the 18+ years of driving Honda's, either. I need my one car to stay reliable and I'm not willing to "upgrade" the suspension to the point where it becomes harsh in the name of flat cornering. I would consider Dinan Shockware, but probably nothing past that point. If the car as designed isn't what I want it to be (other than audio...), for the most part at least, it's not the right car for me. That whole subject is certainly not something I want to argue about. I've seen the results of modding, good and bad, over the last 30 years of driving and I'm comfortable with my "not for me" stance on it. |
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10-09-2017, 06:14 PM | #4 | |
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10-09-2017, 06:49 PM | #5 |
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I don't understand the B58 not mating well with manual transmission. I love the 6MT with my F32 440ix. I'm not looking for the fastest 1/4 mile. The combination is fine for the mixture of city and highway driving I do. The only "problem" I have had was the one time I parked in a lot where an attendant parked the car. The guy couldn't drive a stick. I think I am less likely to have the car stolen.
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10-09-2017, 07:06 PM | #6 |
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I have to admit, the market is limited IMHO for exciting AWD upscale cars. Otherwise I would just suggest an STI or WRX. If you absolutely need AWD, I would look into an RS5 or wait until the upcoming X3M, or wait even longer to see if the next M3/4 will be AWD.
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10-09-2017, 07:36 PM | #7 |
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M5 is AWD.
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10-09-2017, 07:51 PM | #8 |
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M550 can come with xDrive as well, might be worth consideration?
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10-09-2017, 10:19 PM | #9 | |
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10-09-2017, 11:20 PM | #10 |
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Same boat here, I have high hopes for awd m3.
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10-09-2017, 11:29 PM | #11 |
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If the M5 has it I don't see why the M3 can't adapt the same tech.
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10-10-2017, 02:47 AM | #12 |
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Love the manual. It's pretty much the only reason I have a BMW. If I ever learn how to drive an automatic transmission, oh my, just think of all the possibilities.
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10-10-2017, 07:19 PM | #13 |
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Do yourself a solid and test drive the M240i xDrive. Dynamically it?s what the 3 series used to be and reminds me of how much I loved about the 135i - the feeling that the car is rotating under your seat as you turn the wheel.
I came from an F30 and was hooked after driving one. This is my 4th BMW and the only one I will be holding onto come lease end.
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10-11-2017, 06:06 AM | #14 |
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Covering a couple of questions in the thread:
No HUD on the M240i, so no being able to read the NAV or song lists while I drive (again, my vision situation is not normal for most folk my age and younger). If BMW adds one, I'll look at the 2 series. I'm actually pretty annoyed with BMW over this. STI's: I've driven them, a lot. Including the new one. I've considered the STI several times. I'm not interested in going back to a car that awful over rough roads as a daily driver. The single, large Turbo is an amusing blast from the past, but again not one I want to go back to. I'm honestly not interested in going that down-market, interior-wise, either. The "Manual and modern turbos" question: There's nothing WRONG with how the Manual works with the B58, the ZF8 just appears to have been born for this engine. It's such a smooth, nearly flawless combination. Sport Mode or Sport+, this auto with this engine is magnificent and feels correct. But I'm right with you guys...I really do miss manual transmissions here and there. Seamless integration or not, the experience is sometimes lacking with the auto, specifically in Comfort mode (I have no idea about EcoPro...never used it). I'm honestly not sure if this is actually the thing that's holding me back from total love of my car. The auto is "correct" but after 4 and a half years with autos (following 25 or so with manuals), I'm still not in love with them. M550: I don't think you can even buy an M550 without X-Drive in the States and the car is still at the top of my list if I don't keep my 340. I had the day off on Monday and I went and drove a couple of things (last sunny day of the week, nothing else to do). I haven't driven the M550i yet, but the Alfa Giulia Ti is right out. It died a block from the dealership (electrical system turned off and on and it wouldn't start again). The interior is pretty, though. If the things worked and they had a model between the Ti and the Quadrifoglio (power-wise), I'd love to look at them (or if they worked and I decided to go RWD, I'd look at the big fella vs the M3 or 4). I also drove the C43 again and liked it but didn't walk away from it feeling like it was really an upgrade. I can't put my finger on what I don't love about the way it drives, but there's something... Anyway, I also just had a great time communing with my current car on a sunny fall day, just bouncing about wasting time and it was a good reminder of why I bought this car in the first place. A few bouts of moderate acceleration and some sustained highway speeds without being in a hurry to get anywhere can do wonders for the soul. |
10-11-2017, 08:49 PM | #15 | |
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i'm a huge manual buff and wouldn't have it any other way but i have to agree with you i was blown away with just how good the ZF tranny is in the F30. in fact i thought it was way better executed in than in the Giulia. i felt like the throttle blips on downshift were flawless in the F30 whereas the Giulia you could feel a bit of a jolt. i actually prefer the 340i interior to the C43. i didn't get a sense of quality from the buttons in the C43 plus i think the LCD is badly done. it's funky and i get it but i much prefer the wider, cleaner, seemingly higher res screen in the 340i. i love the screen placement in the Giulia but the image didn't seem as high res and i don't like how the screen looked when it was on :P also completely agree with you the car feels smaller than it is and the adjustable bolstered seats are excellent in the 340i.
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10-12-2017, 04:58 AM | #16 |
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I had two RSX-S's, a 2002 and a 2006. The two of them were eleven and a half years of my driving life and followed my 95 Integra GS-R. They were very analog and very much drivers' cars, from the near-perfect 6MT (the change to the gear ratios for the 06 was very welcome, though) to the steering feel. I was very happy with them, for a long time. Torque steer and under steer were constant companions, of course, and I did get to the point where I was done with FWD while driving the second one (I owned it for over 7 years...the longest I've owned any car). I was, however, driving it into and out of downtown Portland every day for work and it got to be less enjoyable than it was annoying (stop and go traffic, dealing with our huge hills getting to and from work during bad weather, pot holes that made you regret how much the suspension and wheels communicated...etc...). Bottom line is that I felt connected with every weld and bolt in that car when I drove it, and that absolutely is not something I get out of my BMW's.
The fun thing about the RSX-S is how folk don't know how it good it was for an NA FWD 4-cylinder. One of the magazines did a test of the Focus ST with All Season tires on it a couple of years ago and, when equipped with similar rubber, it ended up pulling pretty much the same numbers that magazine managed with the RSX-S on All Seasons 10 years earlier. The much newer, turbo charged car actually wasn't faster than a car designed in the late 90's with a naturally aspirated, identically sized engine. I don't know if that says the RSX-S was really good for it's time, or if it says that the Focus ST isn't as good as folk think. Open for interpretation, I guess. Also, I bought my 94 Civic DX in 1995. Between 1995 and March of 2013 (when I bought my used e90), I had exactly two things break. One window regulator (Integra), and one O2 sensor (first RSX-S, fixed in 15 minutes while I had coffee at the dealership). Also, I bought the second RSX-S for around 24k in October of 2005, and sold it for almost $13k to the BMW dealership in March of 2013 (pretty sure it was the lowest-mileage 06 S in the NW at the time). Hard to beat that. |
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