The 2008 BMW 335xi
Created | Updated Feb 1, 2009
The 2008 BMW 335xi is simply amazing car. Pompous, annoying, too flashy, but still a great drive. The image you present isn't particularly grand, you know what they say about BMW drivers. But all that aside, it’s a great car. We’ll start with the bad things.
The exterior, which isn't appallingly obnoxious like a Mercedes C63 AMG, is a bit too much. It doesn't look bad at all, but it’s slightly overdone, too many hard lines. And the lights are rather appalling. The old BMW's were more appealing, more subtle, more civilized. This is cutting it a bit too close to the repulsive territory.
The interior, on the flip side, is absolutely gorgeous. The way it’s laid out is great and there's so much room in the front seats, the back seats are lacking at best but you would be ashamed to be back there anyways. All the leather and wood really does this car well. Very cool, very sublime. An absolute joy to be in. Until you start it up.
The iDrive system; it's awful. It's unnecessary and complicated, you need an IT qualification to operate it. For instance: you can choose how long you want the headlights to say on once you've killed the engine. I wish you can order it without it. It should be called the iDivert-attention and then iPut-the-car-in-a-ditch. It gets in the way and can ruin your day. Took quite a while to figure out how to turn the sat-nav lady off. But like an annoying school child, if you ignore it, it will go away. Then you find something amazing.
This car is an absolute joy to drive. The four-wheel drive system gives you a solid, planted feel, allowing you to take corners at a higher speed. And as for speed, there is a lot. The turbocharged 300 brake horsepower engine is absolutely amazing, the acceleration is astonishing. Because it puts that ample power down on all four wheels, there is just so much grip! It would take a constitutional amendment to get the back end to let go. It’s a great winter car as well for the same reason. You can have a manual but the one I drove had BMW's Steptronic Transmission, which, though you should go for the real manual, was not bad at all. Smooth, quick changes and surprisingly smooth at slow speeds. To drive this car is an absolute delight to drive. Very, very sporting as well.
There is a bit to say about BMW drivers carrying an air of pompous arrogance; and cutting you off on the motorway, not signaling and other annoying things that they do, that's for another time.
All told, a great car indeed. Underneath the over the top looks and the horrid iDrive system, this is a great car. This shouldn't steer you away from it, but if you want a properly fast BMW go for the M series. For myself, I wouldn't buy a BMW. One should go for the more reserved, but equally swift Audi.
There is an iDrive update: They've added some menu buttons on the 2009 to make the iDrive easier to navigate, which actually, is quite nice now.
- Steven A.
- Mark (editor)
The exterior, which isn't appallingly obnoxious like a Mercedes C63 AMG, is a bit too much. It doesn't look bad at all, but it’s slightly overdone, too many hard lines. And the lights are rather appalling. The old BMW's were more appealing, more subtle, more civilized. This is cutting it a bit too close to the repulsive territory.
The interior, on the flip side, is absolutely gorgeous. The way it’s laid out is great and there's so much room in the front seats, the back seats are lacking at best but you would be ashamed to be back there anyways. All the leather and wood really does this car well. Very cool, very sublime. An absolute joy to be in. Until you start it up.
The iDrive system; it's awful. It's unnecessary and complicated, you need an IT qualification to operate it. For instance: you can choose how long you want the headlights to say on once you've killed the engine. I wish you can order it without it. It should be called the iDivert-attention and then iPut-the-car-in-a-ditch. It gets in the way and can ruin your day. Took quite a while to figure out how to turn the sat-nav lady off. But like an annoying school child, if you ignore it, it will go away. Then you find something amazing.
This car is an absolute joy to drive. The four-wheel drive system gives you a solid, planted feel, allowing you to take corners at a higher speed. And as for speed, there is a lot. The turbocharged 300 brake horsepower engine is absolutely amazing, the acceleration is astonishing. Because it puts that ample power down on all four wheels, there is just so much grip! It would take a constitutional amendment to get the back end to let go. It’s a great winter car as well for the same reason. You can have a manual but the one I drove had BMW's Steptronic Transmission, which, though you should go for the real manual, was not bad at all. Smooth, quick changes and surprisingly smooth at slow speeds. To drive this car is an absolute delight to drive. Very, very sporting as well.
There is a bit to say about BMW drivers carrying an air of pompous arrogance; and cutting you off on the motorway, not signaling and other annoying things that they do, that's for another time.
All told, a great car indeed. Underneath the over the top looks and the horrid iDrive system, this is a great car. This shouldn't steer you away from it, but if you want a properly fast BMW go for the M series. For myself, I wouldn't buy a BMW. One should go for the more reserved, but equally swift Audi.
There is an iDrive update: They've added some menu buttons on the 2009 to make the iDrive easier to navigate, which actually, is quite nice now.
- Steven A.
- Mark (editor)
