You hit the nail on its head.

The 335i will realistically cost about $10000-12000k more than the G35 6MT. That's a substantial difference. I would never consider any 3-Series except the E9x M3. That is worth the money but not the 335i. You can tune it, but they've been having a lot of turbo/oil related problems and it definitely won't last long enough. I'd lease one and drive the **** out of it though. That's the only way you'd get your money's worth.

 

It just feels more natural.... but hard to quantify. BMW is like running barefoot through the grass, other cars are like playing basketball in dress shoes.

Most of the difference is the steering. Also, I think BMW uses softer tires from the factory.

 

^
i have both cars e93 335 and g35x
i agree with above (being "natural")
335i = going through butter with hot knift
g35x = with a cold knife.

when making a turn, the 335i feels so smooth and has no resistance. i sometimes feel that the car is slding?skating?

but my 335i has sport package 18" staggered 225/40, 255/35 and the g35x has stock 17.... so i dont know if that has a factor also.
my 0.02

 

The 335 is better in high speeds? really? My evo X does not pull as hard as my VQ35 from 80-100... normally... a 3.0L i6 will be better @ acceleration if anything than a 3.5 v6.. iono about that high speed acceleration thing... what are we talking about 100-150?

 

German cars are engineered to run at high speeds for an extended period of time (autobahn), Japanese cars are not. German cars typically carry a lot more oil and coolant, so they run cooler at the extremes.

 

Yes, it does. My G35S doesn't come close to my 335 with the ZSP sports package. The 3 with the ZSP sport package has suspension tweaks (springs and dampeners) that make it handle much better. The car stays flatter through turns and is very predictable. The steering feel is very different, as well as the handling. The chassis is also 49/51 (IIRC), so it's pretty balanced. I don't have the oem tires on the 3 (19" rims with Falken FK452s) so it does help in handling. When I had the stock RFTs on, it still handled better.

There is a lot of mis-information in this thread from people who don't actually own a 3. In my 11 months of being a member on e90post/BF/N54tech.com, I've read of 2 turbo failures (one over boost, one sucked something into the intake tubes), maybe about 5 waste gate problems, and about the same HPFP problems. Consider that ratio to how many members are on the 3 main internet boards (1000's and many are modified), as well as how many actual 3 owners who don't frequent the net (tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds), and you'll see that the failure ratio is very very small. Don't let people fool you into thinking that the motor is a failure (it isn't) and it has frequent problems (it doesn't).

A prospective buyer has to consider if the price difference between the two cars is worthwhile for him/her.

 

the arm rest on the G35S MT is too low that it's basically useless, for that reason along I want to sell the car,

 

I once heard that some people trade their cars when the tank is empty

 

ya nice you don't drive a 6sp, the point is other 6 sps can get that piece right but not the g35S Mt, go figure, i'm screwed everyday cruising on the highway for 2.5 hrs with no elbow support

 

forgot to metion that some 3s like to have their sunroofs explode.

 

How about oil cooler issue early productions, Fuel pump failure issue with 07,08 and 09 also, Turbo lag, run flat tire,etc, etc. To be honest don't want to turn this into a BMW sucks thread so I won't say a bad thing. They are nica cars but compare to our g35 they have more problems and lot more serious. Do you know how much the fuel pump cost? After warranty they still will fail.

Check consumer reports our g35/g37 made it to the top again 3rd year. Now it has to share with Hyundai but still on the top in its category. M35/M45 made it even higher.

Both cars are nice.

 

I own both, so again, I do favor the 3 over the G when price isn't factored in.

Fuel pump: the 09s just came out so naturally there aren't any failure rates there, but in mid/late 08 they changed the design of the pump so it hasn't been an issue of late. There was a supply problem (getting the new pumps), but I haven't read anything about that lately. They don't fail that often, and it's usually due to guys running more boost. Sure, there's been a couple of cases of it going bad on a bone stock car, but **** fails and that's why we have a warranty. If it does fail out of warranty, it's only $2XX.XX (IIRC) not some enormous amount.

Oil cooler: if you bought an 07 with the sport package, there was a chance that you didn't get one stock. It wasn't on the spec sheet but rather something BMW decided to upgrade late in the year. Some people got the OC installed at no charge after the fact, some didn't. They have no failure rate AFAIK, and I have never read of one going bad. Every 335 from early 08 with the ZSP package had a factory oil cooler installed.

Turbo lag: mine is stock (other than exhaust and some other small mods), but there is no lag. The turbos are too small to make any lag. Lag came into play when BMW introduced new progmans for the DME, but the latest update seems to have fixed that. Certain piggybacks now address lag for those who have that particular progman that introducted lag. In some cases, lag was all in the head of the driver.

RFT: Mine came with the Michelin Pilot RFTs, but I took them off. People had some problems with the other brand BMW uses, but hell, it's a tire. It isn't like BMW makes that tire.

And, BMW made top 10 again this year too, so that's a moot point. They are the car that Infiniti and every other car maker aims for and wants to be in that catagory. They are both great cars and I love both of them, but price difference aside the 3 is better.

I'm not posting in this thread for the arguments sake, but to rather give someone who is actually considering a 3 accurate information, not speculation.

 

^I agree with everything. Besides the handling comment.
Both stock sport package cars have very similar handling with completely different feels. G feels bigger and heavier but it can change direction, and go through a corner same as the 3. Longer wheelbase on the G makes it feel much bigger than it actually is but the handling is virtually the same.

 

Klubb, does your 3 have the ZSP package? The springs on the G are way soft, and the dampeners are way underdamped (IMO) compared to the 3. I'd give the edge in cornering to the 3, as well as high speed handling.

 

Mine has the sport package with 18 inch wheels and Micheline rubber. I will say 3 is more tossable through smaller corners but when it comes to high speed cornering, I would give the G the edge, eventhough the 3 just feels tight and limitless. The reason I say this is because i have pushed both cars very hard and the confidence that 3 gives u is incredible but when u get close to the limit, u better be very quick with the steerring in the 3 otherwise it will bite u really bad.

One thing that I know is that the average driver will say 3 is heads and shoulders above the G when it comes to handling but that simply is not true. They are very close and one late braking or exiting one corner faster will give that particular car the edge.