M235i Test Drive Noob Review

dmboone25 · 02-25-2014, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GFK007

My car gets here on Wednesday as well!!

The wrong one?? What happened?

lol...well, no one seems to know. It was supposed to land in Baltimore, and ended up in California.

I am going to end up getting it about 2-3 weeks later than I would have, but I guess that's not that big of a deal. I was super pissed when I found out, but am less so now...

SW19 · 02-25-2014, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lichenlt

Is this coral red interior? doesn't look too bright like some have suggested.

Yes it is the coral red interior.It does look a little bit brighter in person than the pictures.

webdither · 02-25-2014, 10:13 PM

I just got back from driving the car at Classic as well. What a beast! It's their demo car so the salesman told me to flog it... Really do feel sorry for whoever ends up with it haha

I'm coming from an M Sport 335 with M adaptive suspension and sport auto so I have some perspective to compare with that...

The ZF8 felt the same as my F30. It's still an awesome automatic and really shines in the M235. But I really felt that it was going to be "magical" with the manual transmission.

The suspension in sport mode was noticeably stiffer. Really made the car considerably more planted than the F30. It still isn't rough or jarring like a fixed M suspension is and as a DD I wouldn't want it to be.

The engine is really awesome. Very noticeable power bump from the F30's standard N55. It's so eager. Oh. And LOUD in such a good way... In purely scientific terms (lol) it's twice as loud as my F30 is in sport mode when getting on it. I realize it's synthetic mostly but I really didn't care... It sounded like a symphony of power lol

Interior is on par with the top trimmed 3er M Sport so I will only be missing the heads up display... Which I gotta say is really hard to get used to it not being there!

lichenlt · 02-25-2014, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by webdither

Interior is on par with the top trimmed 3er M Sport so I will only be missing the heads up display... Which I gotta say is really hard to get used to it not being there!

I think if you get the driver assistance plus, it comes with HUD, I may be wrong tho.

pikcachu · 02-26-2014, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lichenlt

I think if you get the driver assistance plus, it comes with HUD, I may be wrong tho.

No pretty sure HUD is not available for the 2 series at all

jms644 · 02-26-2014, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pikcachu

No pretty sure HUD is not available for the 2 series at all

+1.

I confirmed this with my dealer last week, there is no HUD available on the 2 series. This isn't a big deal for me at all though since I've heard the HUD becomes difficult/impossible to see with polarized sunglasses, which I wear all the time since I live in SoCal

This also worked out in my favor since it made the Tech package much more affordable for me ($2150 vs $3150 for models with HUD included in the tech package).

ASAP · 02-26-2014, 07:15 PM

I just drove the car today with the 8AT transmission and i must say it is fantastic. The EPS rack is the best out of BMW that i have ever driven and this is coming from a 135i owner w a classic hydraulic steering system.. I had my doubts about the tranny but it is incredible in terms of response and shift speed. The stock exhaust is tuned perfectly in terms of sound... my only complaint is a lack of power in comparison to my heavily modified 135 but that is apples to oranges. Stock for stock, the 235i is hands down the winner.

xbook · 02-26-2014, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ASAP

I just drove the car today with the 8AT transmission and i must say it is fantastic. The EPS rack is the best out of BMW that i have ever driven and this is coming from a 135i owner w a classic hydraulic steering system.. I had my doubts about the tranny but it is incredible in terms of response and shift speed. The stock exhaust is tuned perfectly in terms of sound... my only complaint is a lack of power in comparison to my heavily modified 135 but that is apples to oranges. Stock for stock, the 235i is hands down the winner.

This is exactly how I feel as well. For a very long time, I have been one of the greatest proponents of having a manual 'box. I took great pride in rowing my own gears. Then I had a 320i loaner that had the 8 spd 'box and I was sold. This 8spd is incredible. Yeah sure I can't snap a downshift when the engine is running over 5k, but that's fine, I'll just not downshift at such high RPM.

FunRevn · 02-26-2014, 07:48 PM

Now you guys are getting a feel for what a PPK on a 335 feels like. I drove the car again today and it's very comparable to what I have in my 2011 E90 Msport with factory installed PPK, but mated to that 8 speed just makes it awesome. This auto is so different than the 6 speed it allows you to do some great short shifting and it's an unbelievable 1-2-3 burst from 0 to 60mph

duky · 02-26-2014, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ASAP

I just drove the car today with the 8AT transmission and i must say it is fantastic. The EPS rack is the best out of BMW that i have ever driven and this is coming from a 135i owner w a classic hydraulic steering system.. I had my doubts about the tranny but it is incredible in terms of response and shift speed. The stock exhaust is tuned perfectly in terms of sound... my only complaint is a lack of power in comparison to my heavily modified 135 but that is apples to oranges. Stock for stock, the 235i is hands down the winner.

Just test drove a M235i today and loved it as well. The EPS really was not disappointing to me which I was shocked about. The F30's I've driven have always been horrible. This one was tight and felt nicely weighted I had a great time with it. Coming from my 6MT I am usually disappointed to drive autos but the 8AT was pretty good I must say. I'd still get 6MT but if for some reason I had to live with the auto this was the first time where I would say that I might be ok with that. The rear end also looked WAY better than I expected (based on photos the rear was the only angle I didn't like much) and I thought the car was beautiful as a whole. The one I test drove had carbon fiber side view mirror caps and black kidneys too, which I thought was a plus to see it a little "modded". Excellent car, I'm jealous of all of the people accepting delivery already.

Devon K · 02-26-2014, 09:38 PM

Ironic that ppl want black mirror caps now... they used to be seen as the low end alternative, base models came with them, you needed higher trim levels to get paint-matched mirror caps (talking non-BMW here).

Devon K · 02-26-2014, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xbook

... Yeah sure I can't snap a downshift when the engine is running over 5k, but that's fine, I'll just not downshift at such high RPM.

Why can't you downshift as long as it doesn't redline the engine in the downshifted gear? Weird behaviour for a "sports" transmission.

thomps · 02-27-2014, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ndukyh

The one I test drove had carbon fiber side view mirror caps and black kidneys too, which I thought was a plus to see it a little "modded". Excellent car, I'm jealous of all of the people accepting delivery already.

Any other pics or opinions/impressions on the CF mirror caps and black kidney frames? Really excited that these have finally made an appearance.

02-25-2014, 10:13 PM	#25
webdither Lieutenant 59 Rep 595 Posts Drives: 2014 BMW M235i Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas iTrader: (0) Garage List 2014 BMW M235 (July ... [10.00]	I just got back from driving the car at Classic as well. What a beast! It's their demo car so the salesman told me to flog it... Really do feel sorry for whoever ends up with it haha I'm coming from an M Sport 335 with M adaptive suspension and sport auto so I have some perspective to compare with that... The ZF8 felt the same as my F30. It's still an awesome automatic and really shines in the M235. But I really felt that it was going to be "magical" with the manual transmission. The suspension in sport mode was noticeably stiffer. Really made the car considerably more planted than the F30. It still isn't rough or jarring like a fixed M suspension is and as a DD I wouldn't want it to be. The engine is really awesome. Very noticeable power bump from the F30's standard N55. It's so eager. Oh. And LOUD in such a good way... In purely scientific terms (lol) it's twice as loud as my F30 is in sport mode when getting on it. I realize it's synthetic mostly but I really didn't care... It sounded like a symphony of power lol Interior is on par with the top trimmed 3er M Sport so I will only be missing the heads up display... Which I gotta say is really hard to get used to it not being there! __________________ 2014 M235i \| Manual \| Estoril Blue / Terra \| Tech, Premium, HK Audio, & Driver Assist \| M Performance Exhaust, Stainless Steel Pedals, Black Kidney Grilles Euro Delivery Trip Report
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02-26-2014, 07:15 PM	#29
ASAP Major General 10163 Rep 8,626 Posts Drives: '23 X3 M40i Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: FL iTrader: (0)	I just drove the car today with the 8AT transmission and i must say it is fantastic. The EPS rack is the best out of BMW that i have ever driven and this is coming from a 135i owner w a classic hydraulic steering system.. I had my doubts about the tranny but it is incredible in terms of response and shift speed. The stock exhaust is tuned perfectly in terms of sound... my only complaint is a lack of power in comparison to my heavily modified 135 but that is apples to oranges. Stock for stock, the 235i is hands down the winner. __________________ 2 x N54 -> 1 x N55 -> 1 x S55-> 1 x B58
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02-26-2014, 07:48 PM	#31
FunRevn Captain 60 Rep 736 Posts Drives: 2020 M5 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Western Region iTrader: (0)	Now you guys are getting a feel for what a PPK on a 335 feels like. I drove the car again today and it's very comparable to what I have in my 2011 E90 Msport with factory installed PPK, but mated to that 8 speed just makes it awesome. This auto is so different than the 6 speed it allows you to do some great short shifting and it's an unbelievable 1-2-3 burst from 0 to 60mph __________________ 2011 335 E90 MSport PPK - retired 2008 M3 - retired 2007 335 E92 - Buy back 2007 X3 MSport - retired 1995 M3 - retired
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02-26-2014, 09:38 PM	#33
Devon K Lieutenant 38 Rep 570 Posts Drives: TBD Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Toronto iTrader: (0)	Ironic that ppl want black mirror caps now... they used to be seen as the low end alternative, base models came with them, you needed higher trim levels to get paint-matched mirror caps (talking non-BMW here).
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