Got my Motor Trend mag in the mail and promptly read the shootout. I'll spare the suspense. The 330i BARELY edged out the G in the comparo. The 6MT G was markedly faster (5.4 0-60 vs. 6.2 and 14.0 1/4mi at 100.4 vs. 14.7, with better 45 to 65 times on a hot day and no break-in), matched it in every handling category, stopped just a hair quicker, but evidently still fell short of BMW's ultra-solid ride.

They said the G was still jittery at times. I drove my future sister-in-law's 06 325xi the other day and that car handled and rode like champ. It was as solid as a tank. It was a bit small and less comfortable. For $10K less I'd rather smoke it at the stoplight and never have to take it into the shop. I do hope it's close in ride quality. I like my ride, but it is a bit less refined than the 3.

They said the only real competition for the G is the Bimmer itself. It'll be interesting to see what they do with a 2-year refresh now that the 335i is coming out. Anybody know if the sedan will be a twin-turbo too?

BTW - that new blue color is pretty sharp-looking.

 

I would take the G over it regardless of what anyone says. Now the 07' 335 sedan is a different story.

 

Yea, I'd take the G plus cash, and them mod the fck out of it (when available).

 

I love the new G....one thing though...w/o the "maintenance free" policy the BMW comes with...we end up spending a pretty penny over the life of the car (that is if we hold onto it for 4 years). Not sure how much that would be, but I assume we probably could spend $2-5k over the 4-5 years of ownership. Arguably, the BMW wouldn't require as much service (i.e. 10k between oil changes!)...but it does still add up a bit.

 

From my experience, BMW would not sell any car if it didn't have the "maintenance free" policy. It seems to be in the shop all the time....without that policy, people would pay an arm and a leg to own the car. Foget about owning it after the warranty period. I said "no waaaaaaaaaaay" when my friend offered me her 2001 3-series for sale in 2004. I witnessed that car being in the shop...hmmmm...too often. The one good thing about it being in the shop is that I got to test drive the many, many different loaners that she got.

Back to topic. The 2007 seems promising...it's so tempting to swap my 05 for it. Gotta go to the bookstore and get my copy of MT.

 

+1... The G is better IMO. Saving alot of money makes it even better

 

You can get the twin-turbo as either a coupe or a sedan

 

The 335 will replace the 330 in the near future so the comparison is already outdated. I doubt the new 07 G35 will hang with the 335 but price will be the key factor.

 

I was looking at the new 335 last night on BMW's website. I don't know guys. I might convert!!! lol They have alot of nice technology going into that car. Not to mention it's a twin turbo which would not be hard to pull more HP out of...

 

I would like the see the IS250 compared with this group as well.

 

I think you mean the IS350. The 250 only has like 210HP, that blows.

 

So is this the new redesigned G sedan they tested? I haven't got my copy of MT yet...argh.

 

The BMW 335 Coupe' and unreleased saloon are interesting propositions, however they may not be as easily tuned as say the 4G63 or EJ25 found in the Evo and STi respectively. The In-line six in the 335 uses small MHI (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries) turbos that spool up quickly to reduce turbo lag. Since the turbos are quite small and chosen for response rather than all out power the maximum threshold will only be slightly greater than the stock 300 bhp/300 lb/ft torque numbers.Turbos have a maximum stall speed, once that speed is reached the turbo is now a heat generator as opposed to a power production unit. I think the stock turbos will be hybrid models so that they will be perfectly matched to the characteristics of the engine. I would wait and see what sort of boosted numbers Hamann and AC Schnitzer are able to produce. I do not think it would make sense for BMW to release a 335 that can be easily boosted to number rivaling the up coming M3.

 

You know a magazine just did a dyno test on the 335i coupe and it makes close to 290whp, which equates roughly to a 350hp rating. It did 5.1 to 60 and 13.5 or something close to that for the 1/4th. Top gear acceleration from 30-70(don't remember exact numbers) was faster than the M3 because of its torque.

 

If you guys are looking for the article... Canuck posted scans of it in the 2007 G35 sedan section.