New 228i!

[Imported]

$42K seems so spendy for 240HP - I'd have gone Coyote but that's just me as the new ones are just a month or so from hitting the dealers.

It is. Not gonna lie.. However, a M235 with the options I wanted was $51k. Had I gone for a stripper, it'd be much more in line with its price. Options are a bane.

 

[shortylickens]

When the hell did they start making 200's?

 

[phucheneh]

When the hell did they start making 200's?

When they decided the 1-series was too attractive.

Whoever is designing for BMW these days makes Chris Bangle look like freakin' Rembrandt.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

When the hell did they start making 200's?

Stupid BMW and their new naming convention. 1,3,5,7 Series = 4-doors
2,4,6 Series = 2-door coupes or faux coupes like the 6-series sedan.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

It is. Not gonna lie.. However, a M235 with the options I wanted was $51k. Had I gone for a stripper, it'd be much more in line with its price. Options are a bane.

Jeezus - $51K for a car with the interior room of a Civic coupe. I assume the 4-series, 428 runs about $4K more for the exact same options as in your 228?

 

[ballmode]

Here's the scan from Car and Driver. A3 on the left, 228i in the middle and CLA250 on the right.

Here's a dyno of the N20.. 230ish/250ish at the wheels.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/news/765303/stock-228i-dyno-numbers/

So yes, BMW is probably underrating the numbers.

Interestingly enough, the A3 wins the comparison.. but I don't see how. I drove both and the 228i was the clear winner to me.

This is what I don't get... goes 0-100 in 13.3, but does the quarter mile in 13.7 at 101mph? takes .4 seconds to go another 1mph?

 

[MongGrel]

Grats. Even then I wouldn't have touched a Prius.

One status car to the next 🙂

Still driving my old paid off Mazda 3, though I guess fully decked out it wasn't dirt cheap at the time.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Nice. Congrats.

What about this upgrade for $380?
http://burgertuning.com/N20_BMW_performance_Tuner.html

 

[Midwayman]

Interestingly enough, the A3 wins the comparison.. but I don't see how. I drove both and the 228i was the clear winner to me.

Probably the handling numbers. The a4 is beating the bmw there.

 

[LTC8K6]

This is what I don't get... goes 0-100 in 13.3, but does the quarter mile in 13.7 at 101mph? takes .4 seconds to go another 1mph?

Probably have to shift at that point...?

Here is the comparo article:

http://www.2addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=980064

C&D said the tires really hurt the BMW.

 

[dguy6789]

Sweet car :thumbsup:

 

[tortillasoup]

At this price point and type of commute, a Tesla would have made more sense. Would have been more reliable as well!

 

[jaedaliu]

At this price point and type of commute, a Tesla would have made more sense. Would have been more reliable as well!

Cheapest Tesla is $63k. How is that the same price point? (and who really wants a small battery Tesla?)

A Mitsubishi iMev or Nissan Leaf are cheaper and can easily make that commute without range anxiety. But this thread is about how great his car is, not how we know better.

 

[iamwiz82]

At this price point and type of commute, a Tesla would have made more sense. Would have been more reliable as well!

I'm shocked you didn't recommend a camry.

 

[Fritzo]

Nice. Congrats.

What about this upgrade for $380?
http://burgertuning.com/N20_BMW_performance_Tuner.html

I'm always leery about those things. If a software change can make the car that much better, why didn't the people building it do it? They never tell the trade-offs, only the benefits.

If they said something like "Using this DME will significantly shorten the life of many expensive engine components" nobody would install them 🙂

 

[NutBucket]

Eh. Been running a custom tune on our WRX for about 80k miles. No issues. Similar experience with our previous turbo Legacy.

Maybe you do lose some long term reliability...but I doubt it's anything the average owner will be limited by. In the case of BMW, make the engine too powerful and you can't upsell a more powerful model as easily😛

 

[exar333]

Congrats! OP - publish some better pics. 😛

 

[Midwayman]

I'm always leery about those things. If a software change can make the car that much better, why didn't the people building it do it? They never tell the trade-offs, only the benefits.

If they said something like "Using this DME will significantly shorten the life of many expensive engine components" nobody would install them 🙂

Turbo cars they are usually just turning up the boost with minor fuel corrections. Downside is that you remove a margin of safety. Say someone fills with 87 octane accidently, you have a much greater chance of breaking something with one of those attached. So long as you are careful you probably won't see the reliability issues until a long long ways down the road. Also you void your engine warranty of course.

 

[Imported]

Probably the handling numbers. The a4 is beating the bmw there.

Yup. Getting new tires in a few weeks.

At this price point and type of commute, a Tesla would have made more sense. Would have been more reliable as well!

😱 The cheapest Tesla is like 20k more. They aren't small cars either. I wouldn't be able to take a Tesla to an autocross without needing to recharge.

Nice. Congrats.

What about this upgrade for $380?
http://burgertuning.com/N20_BMW_performance_Tuner.html

I've thought about it but worry I'll fall deep into the rabbit hole if I begin modding. And the warranty issue is another. I haven't been able to find any guarantee it won't be found after taking it off when I take it in for service.

 

[tortillasoup]

I'm shocked you didn't recommend a camry.

Camry isn't in the same class and the guy just got rid of a Prius which is similar to a Camry.

Cheapest Tesla is $63k. How is that the same price point? (and who really wants a small battery Tesla?)

A Mitsubishi iMev or Nissan Leaf are cheaper and can easily make that commute without range anxiety. But this thread is about how great his car is, not how we know better.

But those cars aren't in the same class as a beemer and are ugly as sin sad to say. Now that isn't to say that if at the right price point, I wouldn't buy a Nissan Leaf because I would. If I could obtain a leaf for like $5K and had decent battery life left, I could see myself buying one and think of it as a Golf cart on steroids.

 

[thirdeye]

Congrats! Another fellow 2-series owner. 🙂

I got my M235i a few weeks ago.

 

[Imported]

Camry isn't in the same class and the guy just got rid of a Prius which is similar to a Camry.

To be fair.. the Prius was a stopgap when I had a long commute. Good resale value was also a factor when we purchased it. Prior to that, we had an IS250 (totalled and the reason for the Prius) and a G35 Coupe (sold when we consolidated cars).

I made a rushed decision buying the Prius due to the accident, not having a rental for much longer, etc. Had I waited 3 months to sell the G35, we wouldn't have needed to buy a car since we would have had a car to use. I'd never wish a Prius on any auto enthusiast as their primary car.

 

[tortillasoup]

I'm an auto enthusiast and I disagree. I've gotten the impression that you focus only one performance aspect, acceleration yet I think you forget the fact that there are much older, lower performing cars that enthusiasts drive and love. The car is quite advanced and anybody who appreciates engineering should appreciate what went into making the Prius work into the price point and fuel economy performance it has.

I drove an M35 (same engine/transmission as G35) several times and I just don't see what's so special about that car as a Camry. The ES350 I own has excellent acceleration, good road manners and quiet ride but otherwise it and the M35 aren't really all that different. Put a 2.0L engine (that's the performance equivalent in the Prius) in the ES350/Camry and you've got super luxury sedan version of the Prius. Strip out all of the amenities, noise deadening and make it a hatchback and you're at the Prius.

I'll admit I don't know much about the G35 other than the numerous shared things it has with other Nissan/Infiniti vehicles as I've never driven one but I do know about the fact that its owners seem to be the automotive equivalent of squids for motorcycles what with its exceptionally high deathrate (I highly doubt the car is unsafe/defective to the point of justifying that deathrate). But if the G35 is as similar as I think it is to the M35, then it's grossly overrated vehicle.

My biggest pet peeve with the Prius is the gauge cluster and steering feel. Seriously, there is no feedback/feel in the steering wheel, totally sucks. However I will say that even the ES350 has crappy road feedback, the M35 is acceptable but also disappointingly numb.

Prius isn't a bad car and I think you're grossly exaggerating the Prius' faults mostly because it doesn't accelerate as quickly as you were used to with those other vehicles.

 

[NutBucket]

It's not even just about acceleration. It's about the whole package. Steering feel, handling, braking, etc. You value the road manners and quiet ride of your es while I find that boring.

 

[z1ggy]

Grats again on the new car.

I drove a 328i recently and I loved how it drove...Absolutely loved it. However, for the price I felt the interior was meh and just wasn't all that pleasure with the wood trim etc.

I ended up with a new Genesis Coupe with all the same tech and a much nicer interior for about the same price (BMW was used). Granted the BMW does drive better.. That's something a couple mods down the road can fix.