[Yogi335]

Well i have owned the car for a little over 2 months now but it was technically my wife's car so i had yet to take it on a sporty drive in the twisties...until 2 nights ago. Here are some of my thoughts impressions. Hopefully they will be helpful to someone else considering a 335.

2010 BSM/Saddle E90 335i
6AT w/Paddles
M Sport
Luxury
Premium
Heated Seats
USB/IPOD
Comfort Access

The good:

1. I love the turbo feel, car definitely does not feel like it only has 300hp. While there is tq, i am probably in the minority here but i like a little bit of lag, which give you that taking off feeling. I love putting it in a gear with only 1.5k to 2k rpm and flooring it and feeling the engine/speed climb. I have missed this the last 5yrs from my WRX days.

2. The steering feel is amazing, better than any other car i have driven, way better than my buddies e46 330xi with sport and better than all my vettes. Closest car i have driven with said feel was an S4 back in 07 (not sure what kind of options it had).

3. While i wish now i had gotten a manual, since this car is now my driver and not my wifes, the 6AT is one of the best autos i have driven. It will definitely suffice for now i guess. I used it exclusively in manual mode and love the rev-match downshifts and quick upshifts. I can only imagine what the DCT is like.

4. I really dont think the base stereo is THAT bad (im not an audiophile obviously).

The bad:

1. While i do like the auto tranny in manual mode, i find myself getting lost in the gears compared to driving a manual, never realized how much i rely on the feel of the shifter for which gear i am in going into a curve for my speed. While the guages do provide this info, the sensory aspect is definitely lost. Also i like the console shifting better than the paddles FWIW.

2. Car could definitely benefit from an LSD like others have mentioned. I actually felt like the car was really fighting me, in a scary way, coming out of turns until i turned DTC off. It felt like it was applying brakes through the turn which was very unnerving for me. I did not like that feeling at all. Lesson learned.

3. My shakey HIDs are really bugging me on the freeway when i am following another car. Did not bother me in the country when i was driving by myself.

That is all for now, i really like driving this car. The steering and turbo feel are definitely what set it apart. The 6AT isnt TOO bad but its still no manual.

[jeff g]

Right about one thing..AT is not as good as MT.

[madeinhongkong]

Yea the steering and turbo also sold me on the car! My dad hates the steering though... i dk y... i guess that's why he doesn't enjoy bmw's and enjoys benz' instead.

[nukezero]

not to turn this to another 400 page debate of AT vs. MT.. but everything you said about the AT i agree.

I test drove 6 AT 335i's across socal dealership. Then I drove 1 MT CPO. I was immediately sold. I had the SAME exact problem. While the 6AT was equivalently as fast, I found myself not knowing which gear I was in. I also found the computer not knowing what gear I wanted to be in. And while I was paddling the up/down, the shifting was so smooth that I don't know if the tranny shifted or not. So I find myself keep looking back at the cluster gauge to see what gear it was in.

This was a total distraction for me. Worrying about how stiff the clutch pedal would be, I drove a 335i cpo 6mt and was immediately sold. IT was buttery smooth and relatively effortless when compared to my girl's old 350Z.

Likewise, the 6AT is great for stop and go. But when you hit those curves, I just love mashing the gear shifter to 2nd and womping on it... especially on on-ramps to freeways...

[Nor_Cal_335i]

Nice little review. I just got a 07 w/ the 6AT. I like it. Im usually a manual guy, but I like the 6AT in the 335i.

[07E92TT]

yeah, I just got my 335i back after a weekend of HPFP hell and I still love it to death. Automatic transmission and all! lol