|
I did this in a dealer outside of Philly this weekend. I didn't get to drive the M5--heck, I didn't even see it. I drove the M340, M2c, and X3M. Perhaps not the sportiest lineup, but there's a value to it that may not be obvious by just looking at the cars. Two different generation S-series motors and the best standard I6t the brand offers currently. And I got to compare the new ZF-based transmission with the older DCT.
I can go on and on, but I'll keep this brief. First off, the guys working my event showed me where all the performance setting were. All the cars were set in sport or sport+, which the automatic always in the sharpest setting. I used the paddles exclusively for the drives. Ok, the most fun overall was the m2c. I loved it---it had a great balance of modern turbo power and torque in a small body. I really liked the setting of the standard suspension. Best all-rounder: M340. What a wonderful vehicle. I would never buy one because it's auto only, but if you can get past this and aren't a track rat, this might be the best street-performance car BMW offers. Love the engine and love the firm but not punishing ride. Really nice job BMW!
Biggest disappointment? The S58 in the x3M. I just couldn't get past the lack of any low-end grunt. I felt nothing under 3k rpms and after that point, the car started to get exciting quickly, but inevitably, I would have to stop accelerating before I could experience the full in-gear acceleration. Really not great for a street driven car, but I'm sure it's ridiculous on the track. At least with the S65 in my car, the gearing is low enough where I can wind out a couple of gears and not be well over the speed limit. The S55 in the M2C felt a lot nicer. I really wonder what the M3/4 will be like.
|