[- Paul -]

I've owned two Mark 1 Escorts in the last few years. My last one was a Mexico. Not in anywhere near as good nick as your RS, but it was fun. There's a pic of it on this forum somewhere.

[silverbmwz3]

Thanks Dave.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by Dave_3

the 335D is surprisingly good, just lacking that traditional high rev howl that sends tingles up your spine

This is what I am talking about.

My car has a lovely bass rumble at idle, which gradually increases in tone and attracts a raspy quality. Then at around 4000rpm the exhaust note gets harsher and much more aggressive. This just builds then all the way up to the 7000rpm redline.

I will accept diesels are probably faster most of the time on the road.

I will accept that they are more economical

I will even accept that they sound good (at least the 6 cyl ones do)

But .... they don't sound anywhere near as nice as the petrol cars.

[rjs]

I drove the 335i today (drove the 335d a few weeks ago) I had it on a all-day test drive & managed 85 miles of "spirited" driving (~15mpg!)

You get more of a kick when flooring it, but i wouldn't say that it is a great deal faster then the 335d. It does sound mich better though Purrs to life rather than clatters when starting & sounds great up to 7000 rpm. I've always had diesels in the past so it sounds even better to me.

I can see the many advantages of the d, but I had more fun in the i The diesel was fast, but somehow effortlessly so, the i definatly engaged me more. Will I ever tire of paddling down a couple of gears and hearing it rev? I don't think so

Apparantly the wait at the moment is huge, sep, maybe even oct! (Garage man was rambling on about everyone was ordering the 335i, so they put it in it's own group to make it more exclusive, and that increases the wait??) The wait on the d is long apparantly now as well according to them.

The garage managed to find a spec changeable i though, arriving mid june, maybe earlier!

It's the old head vs heart arguement again! Head is shouting diesel, but I think heart will win out this time

Order going in tomorrow I feel

[ChrisMWard]

Personally I've had enough of loud cars and the quietness of BMW diesels is an attraction. Every time we take someone out in our 335d we have to tell them it's a diesel.

And as for clattering on start up?

Regards

Chris

[rjs]

It depends how you drive it, if you drive it normally the 335i is really quiet.

If you were to sit me blindfolded in a 335* and start it, I'm 100% sure I could tell which one I'm in by the engine noise at idle. It's nothing like the racket the old mondeo diesel I used to have made, but there is still a slight diesel noise.

I'm not saying the diesel is a bad car, quite the opposite, I was highly impressed by how far diesel engines have come, I just prefered the petrol thats all.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by rjs

It depends how you drive it, if you drive it normally the 335i is really quiet.

If you were to sit me blindfolded in a 335* and start it, I'm 100% sure I could tell which one I'm in by the engine noise at idle. It's nothing like the racket the old mondeo diesel I used to have made, but there is still a slight diesel noise.

I'm not saying the diesel is a bad car, quite the opposite, I was highly impressed by how far diesel engines have come, I just prefered the petrol thats all.

Quite agree.

There are lot's of reasons to choose diesel.

The soundtrack is a VERY good reason to choose petrol

[rjs]

Originally Posted by needforspeed

Quite agree.

There are lot's of reasons to choose diesel.

The soundtrack is a VERY good reason to choose petrol

Yup, I thought the petrol was just more fun as well

I got out with a bigger smile on my face than when i drove the diesel. I know you have to drive it a bit harder to get the max out of it, but I like that. If I'm giving it a thrashing, I want to be involved

I'm not trying to argue that the petrol is better, just that I prefered it. They're both excellent engines, if some people prefer the diesel, great, get yourselves one! It would be a boring world if everyone thought the same.

[- Paul -]

I thought I'd pretty much made up my mind re the diesel and will test drive on Thurs. The comments re the poor MPG for the diesel have me a little concerned though.

RJS - how many miles (per year) are you going to be doing? Did you buy the auto?

[ChrisMWard]

Originally Posted by needforspeed

The soundtrack is a VERY good reason to choose petrol

Not a good enough reason in my book though

Reasons we now have diesels (after a long line of sporting petrols).

Effortless, quiet motorway cruising, 2000RPM at 80MPH.

Better fuel consumption, 50% better for the type of driving we do.

Torque, instantly available you never get caught out.

Grin factor, the look on other driver faces when they realise they've been dieseled.

Add in a few other things like increased reliability and lower servicing costs and we will be unlikely to buy another petrol again (as a main car).

I may be generallising a bit here, but my comments above refer to BMW diesels. I have driven plenty of other diesels with my job and I can safely say that none of the other manufacturers come close to the engines produced by BMW. The overall package of performance, economy and refinement is second to none.

Regards

Chris

Regards

Chris

[skansa]

on the bad mpg what do u get, and at what mileage and avg speed are you driving?


i dont mind getting somewhere in he 35 mark for a 335d, is this possible in city driving?

[- Paul -]

Originally Posted by skansa

on the bad mpg what do u get, and at what mileage and avg speed are you driving?


i dont mind getting somewhere in he 35 mark for a 335d, is this possible in city driving?

Don't know if that was directed at me? I get 47.8mpg in my 320. Average speed is 57.something. This is over a 30 mile journey - 26 on motorway.

[silverbmwz3]

The turmoil of it.... I ordered 335d over 335i mostly because of the wait for 335i. Sure I could've got a spec changeable one but watch out for those - if they aren't at the same dealer you are buying from you won't get such a good deal as far as I can tell... the spec-changeable deal I was offered on a 335i was 5k more than the deal I ended up with on spec-changeable 335d (the order was by the dealer I bought from, whereas the +5k one would have had to do a deal with another dealer).

I too was a bit worried about the sound on startup, but I'll get over it.

I noticed the performance was effortless with the diesel without making a noise, part of the plan with this car was to get a 'family' car (first 4 door car I've had) so it being effortless is kind of an attraction. It also might mean I need a speed camera detector!

[Dave_3]

Originally Posted by skansa

on the bad mpg what do u get, and at what mileage and avg speed are you driving?


i dont mind getting somewhere in he 35 mark for a 335d, is this possible in city driving?

I have done the last 3,000 miles in stop-go traffic in town. Basically each trip no more than 10 miles. Hardly warms up. Literally. Avg speed (bit skewed really with this amount of stop-go over short distances) of about 20mph.

Fuel economy sitting at 32 mpg ! When I was running it in before I reached 1k miles I saw 36 mpg on a cruise back to the UK. I would expect even more now. My last car (4.2 Jag) sat at about 16-17 mpg in that city traffic, and in fact NEVER saw more than 28mpg EVER. My 335D goes twice as far .... good thing the little chime comes up to tell me whan I need Diesel.

I really don't see a 335i, even if you drive without using any real revs (beats the point), getting anywhere near that in the journeys I make. And I can use that mountain of torque all the time and still get that mpg I can fly when it takes my fancy, but keep a low profile ... under the radar. Stealth.

Start-up is not an issue to me either. It burbles like a big CC engine. Agree with what Chris wrote. I'd love a button on the gear lever that would emit a puff of black smoke as I pass people so they know it was really a Diesel Because, with the particle filters I have NEVER seen a whiff.

I have other cars for full-on, high-revving, downdraught webers singing with induction roar, straight through big bore exhausts, quick rack steering, quick-shift close ratio box, power slide etc. So the 2-3% of the time I want to enjoy some driving I can ... best of both worlds.

But for daily driving, in amongst others, in town with the same economy as some little "economy" cars - I have the correct car for me

They are both excellent motors, though.

D.

PS : silverbmwz3 - look at the posts outlining how to add cameras to your iDrive Nav Map

[silverbmwz3]

Hey, thanks, didn't know you could do that but had wondered! That's excellent.

Unfortunately I don't do a lot of miles - I'll be lucky to do 8-10k a year (max) probably less so the economy thing is less of an issue for me but I guess the miles I do do will still be cheaper!

[rjs]

Originally Posted by 1stnewcar

RJS - how many miles (per year) are you going to be doing? Did you buy the auto?

Prob 9,000 at the most. Looking seriously at the auto. I was sceptical before I drove it, but it's good

[NFS]

Originally Posted by rjs

I'm not trying to argue that the petrol is better, just that I prefered it. They're both excellent engines, if some people prefer the diesel, great, get yourselves one! It would be a boring world if everyone thought the same.

I agree. Personal preference and choice makes life more interesting.

I actually found my 530d a little dull, because I didn't want 'effortless performance' I wanted an involving drive.

When I did a couple of race days last year this crystalised my opinion and I decided I had to have a powerful manual petrol car.

For me that was the right decision. But I know plenty of people would make a very different choice.

[rjs]

Well, my choice has been made Just got back from the garage.

The garage managed to get me a spec-changeable 335i with a Mid-June (Poss earlier) delivery date, which i've ordered!

Spec:
e92 335i M Sport
Le Mans Blue
Black Leather
19" 255 M Wheels
Steptronic
Sat Nav Pro
Bluetooth
Voice Control
Front & Rear PDC
DAB Radio
6FL USB
Hi-Fi Speakers
Storage Pack
Floor Mats

The wait's not too bad considering they quoted me sept if I was lucky when I spoke to them last week! Still going to seem like ages though!

[Oli]

I have just ordered a 335D E91 with lots of toys, and Im coming from MKV R32 and before that a modded MKV GTI, and I think Ill have just a much fun in the Bemmer, especially after reading Peppernick's write up on his re-map As fast as a CSL - YES PLEASE.

I do understand the argument for petrol, but when you can do it all in a diesel, which in real world driving is faster, then why bother - But ultimately in the end, each to their own, and Ive made my decision

[NFS]

Congrats OliH and rjs

You are going to love your new cars

[rjs]

Originally Posted by needforspeed

Congrats OliH and rjs

You are going to love your new cars

Thanks I'm sure i am!

[skansa]

i am very jealous!