Y34RZ3R0iscoming
Banned
Haha yeah. Everybody groans about a GTI turboback from apr being $1800. a full E46 Exhaust setup will run u near $8000
6
Said Goodbye to my GTI last night
- Thread starter Whafrodamus1
- Start date
Haha yeah. Everybody groans about a GTI turboback from apr being $1800. a full E46 Exhaust setup will run u near $8000
Whafrodamus1
Ready to race!
You said it! I loved my MKV GTI and MK6 GTI. I thought the interiors were great, but the last thing I wanted was another car with EXACTLY THE SAME INTERIOR!
Whafrodamus1
Ready to race!
Hey guys!
Got back this past Monday from Europe! What an amazing experience! I'll post a longer synopsis with some pictures later tonight. As for now, I'll just go over my impressions thus far.
First: BMW Euro Delivery = God (Flying Spaghetti Monster)'s Gift to Gearheads
Holy jeebus, the whole experience of picking up your car is something beyond words. I picked up my Mk6 GTI from the port, and I thought that was pretty cool. But flying to Germany, getting a taxi to a building that resembles some spaceship 20000 years in the future, being treated like royalty... this is all before you even receive the car! After you fill yourself with the free food and drinks you want, you get walked down a grand staircase to your car! It's on a rotating platform, 0 miles on the odometer, not a spot or fingerprint on it. WOW. Picking my GTI up at the port doesn't compare to this by a longshot.
Second: The car itself
The BMW 328i xdrive is not slow. There's a lot of bashing on it because it's not a 335i. Anyone who asks "Why didn't you get the 335i!? omgz twin turboz and speeeeeed" doesn't get it. Because it has the base engine in the US, people assume that it's the "least good". It's not. The engine is smooth and the power delivery is top notch. I'd say it's just as quick as the GTI (though it doesn't feel it). In Europe, you get some perspective as to where US BMWs stand. The majority of 3 series on the road were 318d or 320d, some had an M-sport body kit and nothing else. Cloth interior, no nav, no nothing... just a body kit and a tiny diesel. The engine in the 328i would more of a middle of the line option there (if they got it, which they don't). I only saw a couple of 335s on the roads there, saw more M3s.
Now, comparing the car as a whole to a GTI or even Golf R, you can't even compare. I've owned 3 GTI's, a Mk2, Mk5, and Mk6. The mk5 and 6 were nearly identical in a lot of ways. I didn't want another of the same car, though I do think the Golf R is cool. I loved the 2.0T, though I found it (in it's stock form) more quick than fast. The 2.0T lost a lot of steam above 80 mph. The 328i is a lot more linear and smooth in its power delivery. It may not feel as quick, but the speedometer needle does jump faster than you are expecting. I don't consider myself a speed demon (though the GTI has gotten me in some trouble), and I don't brag about going uber fast. I've taken my GTI up to the electronic limit of 130. Lot of wind noise, and though it wasn't scary, it wasn't the most soothing experience. That was the fastest I had ever been in a car until I took delivery of my BMW. I went 140 MPH on the Autobahn and had more room to go, and it was as smooth as 60 mph. Bash on the Bimmer all you want, 140 MPH is not slow, and not just stability but comfort at those speeds is a testament to their (over)engineering.
The Nurburgring:
Obviously, I went to the nurburgring and took my BMW around twice. WOW. The handling is far more balanced than the GTI, though the run-flat tires are clearly NOT made for track duty. The whole facility there is NUTS. The German countryside is indescribably cool, the people are friendly, and the history there is very interesting. The ring itself is almost 100 years old! And there's a 12th century castle there you can walk around! I had only driven the ring in video games. I didn't time myself because I'm not stupid... though it was tempting. I'm not a race car driver, and I got passed by a lot of cars (I overtook some too!)... I got passed by a dude BOMBING it in a mk1 GTI... and another in a new Audi A1!... heh... I had fun though! That's what counts. I decided that I'm never going to own a car that hasn't been on the nurburgring (set the bar too high perhaps?).
Here's some pictures, more to come:
And for the dubbers:
A guy had two tuned cabrios for sale by the nurburgring! This one was the more ridiculous of the two.
Got back this past Monday from Europe! What an amazing experience! I'll post a longer synopsis with some pictures later tonight. As for now, I'll just go over my impressions thus far.
First: BMW Euro Delivery = God (Flying Spaghetti Monster)'s Gift to Gearheads
Holy jeebus, the whole experience of picking up your car is something beyond words. I picked up my Mk6 GTI from the port, and I thought that was pretty cool. But flying to Germany, getting a taxi to a building that resembles some spaceship 20000 years in the future, being treated like royalty... this is all before you even receive the car! After you fill yourself with the free food and drinks you want, you get walked down a grand staircase to your car! It's on a rotating platform, 0 miles on the odometer, not a spot or fingerprint on it. WOW. Picking my GTI up at the port doesn't compare to this by a longshot.
Second: The car itself
The BMW 328i xdrive is not slow. There's a lot of bashing on it because it's not a 335i. Anyone who asks "Why didn't you get the 335i!? omgz twin turboz and speeeeeed" doesn't get it. Because it has the base engine in the US, people assume that it's the "least good". It's not. The engine is smooth and the power delivery is top notch. I'd say it's just as quick as the GTI (though it doesn't feel it). In Europe, you get some perspective as to where US BMWs stand. The majority of 3 series on the road were 318d or 320d, some had an M-sport body kit and nothing else. Cloth interior, no nav, no nothing... just a body kit and a tiny diesel. The engine in the 328i would more of a middle of the line option there (if they got it, which they don't). I only saw a couple of 335s on the roads there, saw more M3s.
Now, comparing the car as a whole to a GTI or even Golf R, you can't even compare. I've owned 3 GTI's, a Mk2, Mk5, and Mk6. The mk5 and 6 were nearly identical in a lot of ways. I didn't want another of the same car, though I do think the Golf R is cool. I loved the 2.0T, though I found it (in it's stock form) more quick than fast. The 2.0T lost a lot of steam above 80 mph. The 328i is a lot more linear and smooth in its power delivery. It may not feel as quick, but the speedometer needle does jump faster than you are expecting. I don't consider myself a speed demon (though the GTI has gotten me in some trouble), and I don't brag about going uber fast. I've taken my GTI up to the electronic limit of 130. Lot of wind noise, and though it wasn't scary, it wasn't the most soothing experience. That was the fastest I had ever been in a car until I took delivery of my BMW. I went 140 MPH on the Autobahn and had more room to go, and it was as smooth as 60 mph. Bash on the Bimmer all you want, 140 MPH is not slow, and not just stability but comfort at those speeds is a testament to their (over)engineering.
The Nurburgring:
Obviously, I went to the nurburgring and took my BMW around twice. WOW. The handling is far more balanced than the GTI, though the run-flat tires are clearly NOT made for track duty. The whole facility there is NUTS. The German countryside is indescribably cool, the people are friendly, and the history there is very interesting. The ring itself is almost 100 years old! And there's a 12th century castle there you can walk around! I had only driven the ring in video games. I didn't time myself because I'm not stupid... though it was tempting. I'm not a race car driver, and I got passed by a lot of cars (I overtook some too!)... I got passed by a dude BOMBING it in a mk1 GTI... and another in a new Audi A1!... heh... I had fun though! That's what counts. I decided that I'm never going to own a car that hasn't been on the nurburgring (set the bar too high perhaps?).
Here's some pictures, more to come:
And for the dubbers:
A guy had two tuned cabrios for sale by the nurburgring! This one was the more ridiculous of the two.
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McQueen77
Banned
Wow, good post man. What you did is basically my car related dream and what I want to do after I've gotten some years out of my current GTI. Euro delivery is the way to go. Don't they also shave off a few bucks from the price if you do Euro pickup? I'm looking at the 328i as next car as well. Great choice you made, great color, 6 speed, etc. Anyone who bashes the 328i for being 'slow' sounds like an idiot to me. Sorry. What planet do these people live on? People who say crap like that read too many Car and Driver comparisons and road tests and live in a fantasy world as opposed to the real world (in our case, the U.S. where anything faster than 80-85 will get you a fat speeding ticket). Or they are teenagers rolling with a giant jet wing spoiler on the back of their crappy yellow Cobalt or whatever.
328i is a respectable car, has been the benchmark in the segment for years and has the sweetest inline 6 on the market IMO. Only bummer is they are a dime a dozen in L.A. The 335i is a beast, but at almost 50k its overpriced with a heap of reliability issues. Well I guess they all have reliability issues these days. Anyway, nice car.
328i is a respectable car, has been the benchmark in the segment for years and has the sweetest inline 6 on the market IMO. Only bummer is they are a dime a dozen in L.A. The 335i is a beast, but at almost 50k its overpriced with a heap of reliability issues. Well I guess they all have reliability issues these days. Anyway, nice car.
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Whafrodamus1
Ready to race!
Thanks dude! You save about 7% or something along those lines with european delivery. It's funny that you mention the whole speed thing. The taxi driver (in a new 5 series) on the way to the airport said the same thing. He was talking about people getting the 550i with the 400hp twin turbo v8, when they can only take it up to 80-85. Even hitting 100-120 mph, you're not even touching the limits of those cars. They're made for bombing it on the autobahn! He was saying "What's the point?", and thinking about it I agree.
Anywho, more pictures:
McQueen77
Banned
Cool shots. I was on tour in Germany in June and we spent a lot of time on the Autobahn but there were so many places to hit in such a short time, mostly festivals and shed shows in the middle of some huge field that we didn't catch a lot of sights. I definitely want to go back and can't think of a better reason.