Well, I finally got around to writing up my review of the BMW 3-series. I appreciate any constructive criticism...


The benchmark. The ultimate-driving machine. Both are names that are regularly associated with BMW automobiles. Understandable? Yes and no. One can find it easy to say that it is just a marketing ploy—unless they have driven one. In fact, I found myself thinking that way, until about a week ago when I slipped behind the wheel of an Orient Blue 325ia. I will be forever changed…to a degree.

So is the slogan “the ultimate driving machine” bogus? No, not really. In fact, it’s absolutely correct. The 3-series is quite possibly the best driving automobile out there (save for exotics, maybe). The ride was firm yet very comfortable. Bumps are transmitted perfectly through the suspension, when they are encountered. No jarring occurs and there is no light, airy feeling as you hit bumps—it is a solid, secure feeling. However, drive along a smooth road and the 3er blesses you with a velvety smooth ride.

The transmission and engine are another velvety smooth marvel. The small 2.5 liter 6-inline engine is so smooth and quiet, you hardly know that it’s running. It’s not until you get the RPMs above 3000 that you realize there is an engine propelling this amazing automobile. The published 184hp statistic must be conservative, however. The car feels powerful and is ready to push you along in a hurry at any time. When cruising, push the bottom-hinged gas pedal down and you’ll hardly hear or feel the 5-speed automatic transmission downshift. Shifts are smooth and quick and come in right when they’re needed. But you might want to pay attention to the RPM gauge to know when it shifts. That’s the only way you’ll know.

The variable assist steering is at least the second most impressive quality of the car. Wrap your fingertips around the thick leather steering wheel and experience it. Steering feels superb with a solid feel, and requires enough effort to make you feel like you are one with the car. Pull into a parking lot and you’ll really understand what variable assist steering is all about—you’ll instantly notice the rather heavy feel. Bad thing? Not at all…it feels great to put more effort into the steering.

So it’s decided that the 3-series is the ultimate driving machine, even when not equipped with the sport package (which gives you a slightly firmer suspension, larger wheels, and some better bolstered sport seats). But how are the accommodations? Pretty good. But that’s about it. The interior is nicely done but is starting to look a little dated when compared to the likes of the Acura TSX, Audi A4, and Mercedes-Benz C-class. That’s not to say it’s bad, however. The wood is beautiful and rich. The materials used just reek of quality—and boy is it a wonderful smell. The seats are firm and comfortable and nicely bolstered to hold the driver and passenger firm within their seats during more spirited driving. All the controls are within reach, but some buttons may be just a bit too small. But if you have the intentions of carrying more than one passenger on a regular basis, I might suggest looking elsewhere—rear seat space is rather cramped. All in all, however, it’s a very comfortable place to be.

Does the exterior design stack up to its driving characteristics? Ehh—not really. The car looks small and rather…well…puny. But that apparently doesn’t bother too many people, considering 3-series are literally all over the place. Is it an un-attractive car? Not at all—its popularity has just taken a toll on the car. But all of this is subjective.

On the teenage desirability scene, I’d say it has a rather high rating. Driving off from the dealership, I got the stare-down and head-turn from a couple of kids on their bikes. Let’s face it—the BMW logo says a lot nowadays. The car is classy, but still has a design sporty enough to be rather cool. Four doors make it nice so friends can go along to the mall, and the large trunk is perfect for massive backpacks and projects that schooling demands. It’s size and space are perfectly acceptable for a teen’s needs. But it’s still just a little too “old” looking. It’s not exactly a “grandma’s car”, but it still is more popular with the older crowd.

All in all, BMW knows how to make the ultimate driving machine. It has become the BMW trademark and is the secret that all other manufacturers wish to find out. It’s the driving characteristics alone that make this BMW all worthwhile.

 

Great write up SPUD, as usual. (Hey, howya doin' -- been a while!)

About that first thing: I suppose that would be due to "torque"? (I don't know, does it have a great number on that? Actually I wouldn't have thought so.)

And that second thing: It does bother me -- not for appearance, but for everything else. As I've said elsewhere, the size difference between the 3 and the TSX is significant enough that IMO the 3 isn't really a comp for the TSX -- and I mean this in TSX's favor.

Lastly, something you don't mention at all because it's a different subject: Reliability. To a lot of us, that's what knocks the 3's completely out of the water. Let BMW get its act together on reliability, then we'll seriously consider the car again.

(signed, former BMW owner)

 

Or maybe we should wait until there is a published reliability report for the TSX before we go giving it the edge over anything... You didn't buy the TSX for it's reliability because that data was not and is still not available. You bought it "assuming" it would be solid based on Acura's track record...

 

 

.....or maybe then again......:

http://www.acura-tsx.com/forums/show...4256#post64256

 

The size I was thinking of is the number on the window sticker. A substantial number of US-market 325is are produced in Rosslyn, South Africa, (check your VIN!) where the workers are paid between $350 and $500 monthly. All well and good, because it's probably more than they could make doing something else in South Africa. But why does the 325i still sell for so much more than the TSX in the US?

"A Honda by any other name is still a Honda" ... "A leopard doesn't change it's spots" etc.

If a company has been building reliable cars for years it is most logical to think they will continue to manufacture reliable cars, at least until proven otherwise. If a company has been manufacturing cars average to below average in reliablility for years it is most logical to think they will continue to do so until that is proven wrong, too. Otherwise, reliability history would be a useful tool for choosing a car only in retrospect.

(signed, current BMWCCA member)

 

The poor slob working on the assembly line is a very small fraction of the cost of the car. Do you think the Japanese guy assembling the TSX makes less than a guy assembling a 5 series in Munich? No way! The reason BMWs cost so much is due to many other factors beside the hourly wage of the assembly line worker (like bigger profit, larger engineering workforce for the number of cars produced, higher quality parts, customizability of cars, etc.) I think I read somewhere that the assembly cost of a typical car is only like about $2000. So even if the assembly cost is cut to $100 in South Africa BMW only saves $1900 (which of course you'll never see) some which is lost by the increased cost of shipping the car further.

 

Wicked SPUD.

I didn't even see it coming

The paragraph explaining the 3 fits "a teen's needs" was awesome. I've heard reports about them massive backpacks y'all are slugging around these days. Must be tough:P
I'd agree, the 3 series is definitely adequate for teenagers. So adequate in fact, I'll have to pass on an example of "the ultimate teenage driving machine".
A couple years ago, over in West Vancouver(where the rich people reside), there was a fatal street racing accident. The victim was a passenger in a 2002 330ci which was racing another vehicle at 150kmh in a 50kmh zone. The driver lost control, the 3 flipped and smashed into the library. At the trial for the driver, the father stated that his son "hated his new life and wanted to go back to Iran". So what did pops do? To "shut him up" he bought him a brand new black 330ci. Great parenting, IMO. To this day, the driver has still not publically apologised.

IMO, all new teenage drivers should have to "settle" for a used car with 150hp or less, just for a year at least. Who doesn't have cherished memories of their first beater. My 50hp 1982 Prelude was tha shit. I could beat anyone of the line and across the intersection in that thing!

In no way am I dissing you SPUD. You wrote another great piece with excellent style. The teenage needs bit was just a bit too much. I'm just preparing you for those asshole editors who'll seem hell-bent on ruining your work:P

editor Soze

 

Well ... YES!

I think Wolfgang in Munich earns more than the ROBOT assembling the Accord-TSX in the Saitama Factory in Japan! I DID read that BMW uses South Africans at Rosslyn instead of welding robots for some tasks because the South Africans are even cheaper than robots!

If US manufacturers' car costs include $2000 in just health care costs per unit, the labor involved per unit must be an even higher number. It's an intersting question, though. How much of a BMW, a Honda's, or a Chevrolet's price actually represents wage costs ... and exactly where do you start the calculating? At the iron mine and the rubber plantation? And is the CEO's compensation a part of the number?

In terms of different permutations and combinations of the Accord-TSX, Honda's building an entire spectrum including RHD, LHD, 15" steel wheel and cloth seat versions with small gasoline engines and diesels up to our well-appointed TSXs.

Whatever the market will bear, of course.

 

Oh, now you want to be an Accord? Make up your mind...

 

I think the $2000 figure was arrived at by multiplying a round figure of $40/hour (total compensation) for the assembly line worker by 50 hours of labor it takes to assemble a car. I assume it takes Honda fewer man hours to assemble the TSX than a 5 series but neverthless the actual assembly cost difference between the two is not much (at that level). And BTW Wolfgang has just as many robots at his disposal as the guy in Saitama even though he only works a 35 hour work week.

 

That BMW sounds like it is a nice car, and good review by the way, you should be writing for some crab wrapper somewhere if you're not already.
My only question is a price comparison seems to be missing. It seems to me a lot of folks compare the $28k TSX and the $28k BMW as if they are equals. I went to the "build your own" part of the BMW web site and was pushing very close to $40k before I could add all the options that already come standard on the TSX, the A4 was almost the same. I'm so glad that I don't have to negotiate each option with Honda/Acura.
Anyway, I think after a fair price comparison, and a review of the whole FWD vs AWD or RWD performance, I am starting to think that you really can't compare the TSX with the A4 or the BMW.

 

I like your review SPUD, and I have also really appreciated that you gave you opinion of what a 3 means for teens.

I have always loved BMW 3s, I always turn my head when I see one, and I thinks it's going to stay this way for at least the upcoming generation.

I have a TSX because it is closest to BMW 3s that Honda has produced, but with a superior reliability. Yes, Buff-Daddy, I do buy a brand-new Honda and expect top-notch reliability, and I also know it is not blind faith, it is only a natural expectation. The TSX is my 5th Honda, the 4 previous have revealed themselves extremely reliable, trust me, I can tell you what reliability is with the amount of driving I do.

The way you seem to be doubting about Honda reliability makes me think you are new to the Honda family. If it is so, don't make a fool out of yourself: Wait, watch, and learn. Your TSX will be up to Honda's reputation.

 

A good friend of mine has an 03 325 which stickers for 37000 USD with all options. I Am not kidding. I was looking at it today. Having said that, in additon to driving it almost daily, this is the best experience I have had behind the wheel, period. I seriously considered the TSX, until the multitude of "rattle" threads began to surface on this site. 2000 miles and rattles is absolutely unacceptable. I would not buy this damn car for 10 grand if it rattles even remotely close to how its been stated on this forum...suffice it to say I was disappointed when I read so...

 

Jaybird...I can understand your apprehension but I think you are taking it too far. Acura must fix the speaker rattle issue, but other than this, thereare few reported problems. Conversely, BMW 3's had suffered a number of quality issues in recent years, although Consumer Report just put them back on the recommended list. That said, I emailed my dealer 2x before picking up my car telling him to check the door speakers for rattles. He didn't, and my right front does rattle (vibrate) when I have the bass and sound level elevated. Car is outstanding other than this. I am going to tear the dealer a new asshole when I do my internal quality review for Acura. Other than that, I love the car.

 

Yeah, I wasn't pleased when I came across those posts. Correct me if Im wrong, but they've been reported to affect the steering wheel, door lock mechanisms, driver and pass, dash areas, etc. Maybe it's easier to focus on the negative, but as a consumer I would not be happy if these sounds emanated from my ride. Dude, I can't make a solid decision for 5 minuted when it comes to buying a car.

 

Consumer Report's latest reliability stats were released a few weeks ago. Acura had the lowest problem rate of any brand, more reliable than Lexus/Toyota even. There wasn't a single Acura vehicle that wasn't much better than average in overall reliablity. I think we can predict, with near 100% confidence, that the TSX will be highly reliable.

BTW, the BMW 3 series improved to "average" in the latest issue. I'd say that is good enough for reliability to be a non-issue when you are looking for cars, since average is pretty good these days.

 

Yes indeed. But for me, there was more than that. Although Buff kinda doubted it, I really was relying to some extent on TSX's "lineage," being based on the Euro Accord -- which I believed in turn had a few years worth of "lineage" of its own -- i.e. that it's very similar to its predecessor. From some of what had been said on this site about the Euro Accord being basically a totally re-done car, I started thinking that I had been wrong, but from what has been said more recently (see above link), I think it's basically correct to give the TSX "credit" for having several years worth of good reliability "lineage" -- over and above just being an Acura.

 

Larch, i just responded on this very same subject in another thread where you have posted about this "lineage" I still dont get what you mean. Can you specifically state what parts of the TSX is exactly the same as the last gen euro accord?

BTW, here is my other response ...


http://www.acura-tsx.com/forums/show...4603#post64603

 

Sure (although I never said or meant that anything about the TSX is exactly the same as the last gen Euro Accord).

You misunderstood both me and Legendguy on the other thread. BTW this doesn't necessarily mean I'm right about the basic point (see below -- I might not be), but you definitely misunderstood us. I thought I was clear, but I guess not. (FWIW, Legendguy got what i was saying.) I dunno, maybe the reason you misunderstood is that you know the correct facts, and maybe some of what I said was inconsistent with them so it didn't compute to you.

Here's the whole deal, in longer and more boring detail -- and please realize, I'm not sure the "facts" in here are right.

When I was thinking of getting the TSX, I did have some "reliability" concern, in view of its being a "new model." But, besides being able to look to the fact that it was an Acura, my "research," which consisted of talking to dealers, reading the media, and reading our old site, led me to believe -- in kind of an impressionistic way, without retaining all the specifics, and without knowing 100% for sure whether it was valid -- that the TSX was very closely related to Accords that had been out in Europe for a few years. This helped me to feel confident about the car.....

Then, as I got better at understanding the specifics, I saw that the current Euro Accord was released only a few months before the TSX (I think it was actually 7 months??), and I wondered if I had been wrong before. To my mind, what it came down to was: How close is the current Euro Accord to its predecessor? Is this Euro Accord really a totally new model compared to its predecessor (as is, for example, the new TL), or is it similar enough that we can feel the track record of its predecessor is directly relevant to the current car? I asked this a couple of times on this site, some time ago, but nobody ever addressed it.

The stuff on that other thread:

http://www.acura-tsx.com/forums/show...&threadid=4450

.....sounds to me like I was indeed justified in my original belief -- that the TSX's "intimate lineage," so to speak, does go back further than the current Euro Accord, to its immediate predecessor, and that we have about 6 years' worth of reliability to go on, not just 7 months worth (i.e. the age of the TSX) or 14 months worth (the age of the Euro Accord).

Cliff's Notes: The current Euro Accord maybe wasn't really a "new model," but was actually very closely related to its predecessor which dates from 1997; and therefore, all those 6 years of experience are relevant to the TSX's reliability prospects.

As I said, I'm not sure all of this is true. But that's how it looks to me. If you don't buy some of the "facts," or if I'm just flat-out wrong about some of them, then of course the conclusions don't apply.

 

Right Larch, I understand what you are saying, but I just dont see how the TSX (or new euro accord) is that close to its predecessor. I read through that link but still dont see it. As far as I know the TSX's core components are new that is ->chassis, engine, drivetrain,etc., all of which have generally unknown reliability. (Not to mention that even taking old parts and putting them together in a new way can yeild unexpected things). So it is just as much of a "new" car as the TL. Unless you can quote specific components of the TSX that are the same as the previous gen euro accord?

 

Yeah, FDL -- as I said in my "edited" version of that previous post, it looks like you misunderstood me because you know the facts better than I do, and it didn't "compute" in your mind because it's not consistent with what you know.

Looks like it is indeed a stretch to say the TSX's "lineage" goes back to the current Euro Accord's predecessor. But (back to the topic on the CR thread), it also looks like the TSX's "lineage" is longer than the new TL's lineage, since it goes back to around Sept. '03. Unless: Was there a really close predecessor of the new TL (and if so, how far back does it go)?? I've asked this a couple of times too, and haven't gotten a straight answer to this one either.