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Just when it was starting to look like BMW had nothing to offer that nobody else could...


Enter the 3.0 Inline-6 sequential twin-turbo oil-burner. That engine... holy ing .

They say forget everything you know about diesels.... I say forget everything you know about engines. Seriously, I was not expecting it to be that d@mned good.

Enjoy the turbo whine and growly engine noises as you merge onto the highway. So far its driving like a luxury sedan. No hint at what lingers beneath the hood.

Pull onto pavement at 1000rpms in 2rd gear, drop it. Your truckload of torque has arrived. Shift, and there's a whole new truckload in 3rd.

The ability to pull in any gear used to be enough for me to love a diesel. But this one, the powerband in your passing and acceleration gears is something to behold. I imagine it to be like a twin-turbo'd V12 Mercedes cut in half and upped in boost.

Having driven a Banks-turbocharged 7.3L diesel F250 truck before, I was totally unprepared for how smooth and lag-free the acceleration could be.

The transmission is seemingly better in the diesel as well. Less RPM range to deal with I guess. I drove the 335i automatic on the same day, and believe it or not the diesel was a lot less jerky.

A guy on NAGTROC used the term "think it and you're there" to describe a GT-R with Cobb tune. Thats actually the sensation I'm thinking about. The tach barely moves. The second hand on your watch barely ticks. Just a little turbo whine and you just went from 50-90. It is epically intoxicating. No other way to describe it.


I don't care how expensive the fuel is. I don't care if the gasoline version is faster around a track. I don't care if it doesn't come with AWD.

My pants tighten for torque. It would be worth every penny.

lol Matt, great review! Now I want to go drive one!

Sabre wrote:lol Matt, great review! Now I want to go drive one!

You will not be disappointed in that engine. Perhaps its in the wrong car from our perspective, but the engine is otherworldly.

As soon as you think you're in a diesel, thinking "hey, this is just a big Jetta TDI, cool!".... you're still at half throttle. Anywhere past half throttle and you get a sense of what it was like driving Audi's V12 TDI's in Le Mans. That mid-range that feels atomic-powered because it never stops coming. More like a jet engine on a runway than a car. You are forced back into the seat, but without a single jerky transition. Like breaking the sound barrier in a Concorde, it can only be detected with instrumentation. "What? I'm going 1000 mph? Get right out of town!"

They need to stop marketing the economics of diesel, and bring more of these performace models over, and Americans that want the perfect daily driver should consider them. No joke, for a middle-class American looking for luxury, this is it. Hard acceleration should not be this effortless. Traffic becomes tolerable, because it takes the flick of your little toe to navigate.

Screw small cars, I want every I-4, flat-4, V-6, V-8, V-12 twin-turbo diesel they have over there. Here. Now. At this exact moment, I wish I was back in that car summoning the torque demon.

but did you like it?

I like it enough to know I sound . Lets put it this way, I'm a 3-series skeptic.

I think because the M3 used to share more with the 3-series, non-skeptics are pre-programmed to step into one thinking that there's some magical connection to the road. That its extra-mechanical, as if BMW mechanicals are just more mechanical than other mechanicals.

Even in a sports-package equipped 335i, I just do not get that. Handling is par. Interior is par. Power and performance, depending on the model, is a reasonable par. Engine noise is sub-par. Dare I say overpriced to hell? Yes, I get my flamesuit and I do dare.


And yet... here I am raving like a lunatic over a boosted slushbox oil-burner that they built.

I've often wondered what they "feel" like behind the wheel.

I'm greatly concerned you've confirmed my fears.

Now that you got me interested, I started looking around and found this.
"The engine sounds like Tom Waits gargling a gallon of Irish Cream". That is a sound I could live with.

complacent wrote:I've often wondered what they "feel" like behind the wheel.

I'm greatly concerned you've confirmed my fears.

I don't mean to say its a bad car. 'Average' is not an insult. Its a perfectly legitimate purchase in its class. I just don't buy Car'n'Driver's constant "standard of the world" talk.

OK, so it comes in RWD, but it understeers a bit and has no LSD. So its RWD-edness doesn't occur on a daily drive unless its wet, or you force yourself to think about it. I'm honestly just as happy in a Mazda 6.

I'm not declaring war on our resident 3-series owners either. I'm actually thinking along the same lines. From someone who bought a 335xi, the Spec-B was legitimate competition. And I'm sure the G37 is also legitimate competition.

Good? Yes. Unique? No.

What sold them was the seats. And I totally agree. A 4-hour spirited drive in my car (sprung a bit more stiffly than a Spec-B at this point) is punishing. A 3-series would not be.

zaxrex wrote:Now that you got me interested, I started looking around and found this.
"The engine sounds like Tom Waits gargling a gallon of Irish Cream". That is a sound I could live with.

What caught my ear the most was the turbo-whine. Despite all the emissions equipment, the sound of the spool comes through.

legasleeper wrote:

complacent wrote:I've often wondered what they "feel" like behind the wheel.

I'm greatly concerned you've confirmed my fears.

I don't mean to say its a bad car. 'Average' is not an insult. Its a perfectly legitimate purchase in its class. I just don't buy Car'n'Driver's constant "standard of the world" talk.

OK, so it comes in RWD, but it understeers a bit and has no LSD. So its RWD-edness doesn't occur on a daily drive unless its wet, or you force yourself to think about it. I'm honestly just as happy in a Mazda 6.

I'm not declaring war on our resident 3-series owners either. I'm actually thinking along the same lines. From someone who bought a 335xi, the Spec-B was legitimate competition. And I'm sure the G37 is also legitimate competition.

Good? Yes. Unique? No.

What sold them was the seats. And I totally agree. A 4-hour spirited drive in my car (sprung a bit more stiffly than a Spec-B at this point) is punishing. A 3-series would not be.

Nonono! I was worried about falling completely in lust with teh torque... I must not drive one of these cars. The toaster would be on the auction block, practicality be damned.

complacent wrote: The toaster would be on the auction block, practicality be damned.

bathe her and bring her to me

I am dying to drive a 335d. DYING I TELL YOU. I think it would be an ideal car for me. Too bad they cost so much!