[3.0L]

I'm kind of thinking that the fellow who ordered the car through that dealership would've been required to make a cash deposit to lock up the deal and guarantee delivery. It that's so, then yes, the dealer was a dick for selling it out from under him.

On the other hand, it may have just been a sales tactic. In other words, the mysterious fellow who "ordered" the car didn't really exist.

[FunRevn]

The story is fine. I'm more interested in how does it compare to your 335IS and are you loving it? Give us a little first impressions. Thanks!

[hans007]

Originally Posted by 3.0L

I'm kind of thinking that the fellow who ordered the car through that dealership would've been required to make a cash deposit to lock up the deal and guarantee delivery. It that's so, then yes, the dealer was a dick for selling it out from under him.

On the other hand, it may have just been a sales tactic. In other words, the mysterious fellow who "ordered" the car didn't really exist.

deposits in california are guaranteed refundable.

thus worthless.

so a dealer i would figure has every incentive to move the car since so many people decide to bail on the commitment. its a manual car too which is a lot harder to sell and thus could sit around awhile taking up the dealer floorplan money, so i'm guessing that is why they sold it to the OP so quickly.

[KevinC]

So - which stealership was it? McKenna??

[mrbrett]

Originally Posted by FunRevn

The story is fine. I'm more interested in how does it compare to your 335IS and are you loving it? Give us a little first impressions. Thanks!

I hit 200 miles today on the odometer, so these are my initial comparison/impressions of the car... Let me preface this by saying, when I turned in my 335is lease last year, I knew I wanted an M235i or a 435i, but neither was out. So I bought a used Focus ST I was driving around. So obviously the M235i is just about better than the Focus ST at everything (except for Bluetooth streaming... wtf I-drive), but my impressions may be a little deluded since I've been driving a overpowered FWD car for the past year.

Anyway...

Power: Tie. I'll just say I come from the school of not following break in rules, except for brakes and tires for the first couple hundred miles. Having said that, they feel about the same, maybe the 335is was slightly faster feeling off the line, but very similar. The 335is was a DCT and the M235i is a manual so that could also be it, but again very similar. Once rolling if you get on the throttle, the 335is felt like it had a better mid range, but the M235i feels like it has a slightly better top end. But again, so similar.

Throttle: M235 is better. The throttle feels good to me in comfort and I can see myself using this mode for regular driving conditions. Sport and Sport+ obviously feel great and more sharp. I messed around a bit with eco-pro to play the little i-drive game, but don't see myself using this mode very much. The 335is had a sport button and it was always immediately turned on when I got in the car, the normal mode was TERRIBLE and laggy with the DCT. I hated it. The M235 has more options and just seems better.

Steering: 335is was better. Anyone who owns an e90 or e92 knows the hydraulic setup is just better. Road feel was great, it was classic BMW steering that everyone loves. Having said that, the M235i is not too bad the weight is pretty good and precise, obviously a bit sharper as you go into the sport modes. I will say, after testing a regular 335i last year and the steering was terrible and super light, I was pleasantly surprised the M235i was much better than that.

Handling:M235i is better. I live near Palos Verdes and there are some curvy roads I've taken it on and pushed it pretty hard and haven't reached it's limit. I am still getting comfortable with it. The thing grips like crazy! I'm super impressed. It feels much lighter and smaller than the 335is, even though they weigh close to the same. Don't get me wrong, but the M235i just feels better, but it's also a newer platform and specially tuned suspension. If I remember correctly the 335is had the standard sport suspension setup that my previous 2008 335i coupe had. So nothing too amazing.

Brakes: I've been taking it pretty easy breaking them in, so jury is still out on this one.

Exterior: Tie. This entirely subjective and exterior design doesn't play too much into my car buying decision. So having said that I feel like the 2 series is a runway model compared to the tore up from the floor up ghetto rat that was the previous 1 series. The 335is was longer so it looked more swoopy to me which was nice in comparison to the stubbiness of the 2. Both the 335is and M235i's backs are boring. I like the front of the of M235i better. The side mirrors on the 335is were black and I wish they were black as well on the M235i, this silver color looks terrible on a Alpine White car and follows an Audi trademark (boo). Just awful. It stanks and I hate it.

Interior: 335is was just better overall. This is kind of nitpicking, but BMW has cost cut in the interiors of the cars lately and it shows. For example, the M235i has these flimsy vinyl sunshades that belong in a scion. The 335is had solid but vinyl sunshades, while my original 2008 pre-LCI E92 had really nice sunshades wrapped in the material from the headliner. Where is my flash light in the glove box BMW? Where is the tool set in the trunk BMW? It screams cost cutting to me.

Leather is exactly the same in all three cars.

The plastics feel similar, but the texture looked better in the 335is.

The steering wheel looks better in M235i, but that scroll wheel thing is just a terrible idea and usability of the steering wheel controls were just better in the 335is. Can I get some next and previous track buttons please? If I remember correctly the steering wheel in the 335is felt slightly thicker and I think I prefer that one, but close.

Goes without saying, but I-drive is of course better and faster now in the M235i, with more features. However, I feel like the ipad looking screen isn't as bright as it should be in the direct sun while wearing sunglasses. I think that is a pretty common use case scenario that they seemed to ignore for aesthetics. Speech recognition in my limited navi tests are SOOOO much better. It was pretty worthless in the 335is, but I could see myself using it in the M235i. The touch pad seems a gimmicky to me. We'll see though.

Seats feel the same to me, which is great.

"Harmon Kardon" system... ah... let me just say in comparison to the 335is the system sucks nut sacks in the M235i. The 3 series had such a nice setup with logic 7 and the equalizer. I was super disappointed when I was searching furiously for it and it's just not there in I-drive. If I ordered this car, I wouldn't order the HK upgrade having used it. It feels like a standard setup to me. I am not impressed.

Oh and the 3 series had the awesome strip club lighting! Not present on the M235i.

Mileage: Let me get back to you on this one . Let's just say it's terrible so far, but that's my fault.

Exhaust Sound: 335is HANDS DOWN no comparison. The M235 sounds good and that's all I can say about it. The 335is sounded amazing, it was one of my favorite things about that car and I miss it. So many people would comment on how great the car sounded. I can't say enough about how it sounded.

So that's it for now. These are my initial impressions. Overall, I'm loving the car. I will update this thread when I have some serious miles on it.

TL;DR I love the M235i as I did the 335is. The M235i is a better car overall. Better drivers car sans the steering. The interior and creature comforts were better on the 335is.

[FunRevn]

Great initial impressions. I only test drove the car and those are mostly my impressions too.

Thank you very much for write up.

[hyperzulu]

Originally Posted by mrbrett

Oh and the 3 series had the awesome strip club lighting! Not present on the M235i.

What??? Ugh... I love my amber nightclub that is the 335is interior.

[Discover]

It's one beautiful machine! Congrats!

I also bought someone else's car (didn't want to wait 6 months), but it's just because the guy dropped the order.
He placed the order during a special event the dealership had to it's previous customers, and regret it a week later.

I don't believe ANY dealer would actually sell someone else's special order just because he's on a few days vacation.
He probably decided to drop it, and the dealer didn't want to tell you about it so you won't try to leverage it into a bigger discount.

[VMRWheels]

You bought my car!!!


.. jk. No, but really.. nice find! When I was in the market I wish I stumbled on a gem like this. Congrats!

[cbbplanet]

nice.. we have the same exact combo. that sticker looked like it was from new century or century west?

I'll be seeing around in socal then twin.

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by hans007

deposits in california are guaranteed refundable.

thus worthless.

so a dealer i would figure has every incentive to move the car since so many people decide to bail on the commitment. its a manual car too which is a lot harder to sell and thus could sit around awhile taking up the dealer floorplan money, so i'm guessing that is why they sold it to the OP so quickly.

Sure.

[asm777]

Originally Posted by mrbrett

Oh and the 3 series had the awesome strip club lighting! Not present on the M235i.

Originally Posted by hyperzulu

What??? Ugh... I love my amber nightclub that is the 335is interior.

FYI, you can switch the ambient light settings to the traditional amber color somewhere in the vehicle light settings menu if you prefer that to the whiter light that it comes set to standard. =)

[Revartr]

Originally Posted by asm777

FYI, you can switch the ambient light settings to the traditional amber color somewhere in the vehicle light settings menu if you prefer that to the whiter light that it comes set to standard. =)

Wait, there's ambient lighting in the M235i? O.o

[e90post_user]

I got the same optioned car in AW w/ Terra!
Coming from a 2011 335i xDrive sedan w/ 6-MT - there is no comparison.
As I said previously, the hill assist is the most hateful option this car has...

[mrbrett]

Originally Posted by asm777

FYI, you can switch the ambient light settings to the traditional amber color somewhere in the vehicle light settings menu if you prefer that to the whiter light that it comes set to standard. =)

Yeah I played with the two different options and couldn't see the difference, then I cranked up the brightness and you can see it. The 3 series had the lighting wrap around both doors and in the back seat too. The 2 series just seems to have a little light in the interior door handle and two overhead lights over the front and back seats... cool, but not as noticeable as the my old 3 series.

[mrbrett]

Originally Posted by e90post_user

I got the same optioned car in AW w/ Terra!
Coming from a 2011 335i xDrive sedan w/ 6-MT - there is no comparison.
As I said previously, the hill assist is the most hateful option this car has...

Really? It doesn't bother me too much. Maybe it's my driving style, but I notice it once in a while on a hill, but not too much.

[ll1l2l1l2lll]

I"m not say it's exactly what happened but, I'm sure the customer didn't stay in constant contact with the CA. I would sell it too if the customer never responds!