bkknight369

Guys im just wondering how our cars stack up to the "ultimate driving machine"? Before buying my cls, I was seriously considering buying a bimmer (325, cause i dont truckloads of money ) My friends have driven a 330, and he says it rocks, because of the great handling, but is that handeling worth the extra $14000? Just wondering

Zapata

BOth are nice cars. CLS is a bit bigger more luxo than sport like the ci. 14k is for the name and the peformance. You can mod the CLS to handle better but it'll never be as good as the ci because of the different drivetrains. Straightline the cars are close. BMW has the edge with a GOOD driver because it's a manual. Even then it's close. As far as bang for the buck goes the CLS takes the cake hands down in most peoples opinion. Just remember they are different cars from the ground-up so the comparison isn't good.

JasonT

Don't know what 330I you drove, but I test drove a 2002 330CI with the sport, package, & it beat a stock CL-S in handling, 0-60, braking, & some other areas. Don't get me wrong, the CL-S is a great car I love it!!!!!!!!!!! But comparing the 2 like I did, the BMW just had more then the CL-S. I couldn't see the $40K for one. The Cl-S is the best value.

vicster

I was in the market for a 330 Ci myself about 4 months ago... The differences are marginal, mainly handling, the bimmer takes the curves a little better...Acceleration varies with the driver, transmission, etc. I don't know what options you wanted but I ended up with a $6,000 difference in price...and if you lease the difference in monthly payments was only $50 because of the Acura's pheonomenal resale value...

cmark

A good buddy of mine has the 330ci and though a great car, I can't see how it justifies the pricetag. For crying out loud, it doesn't even have an automatic seat adjustment to let people in and out of the back seat!!!

JZ

I hate to admit it but I built myself a 330 online last night. Came up to 40K.

Sometimes I get really sick of our lack of torque and boat-like handling. I think a nice Silver 330 debadged, with sports package and tinted windows might be a nice alternative. I actually might go and test drive on later today to see what it's like.

On another note, I drove in a loaner Mercedes C240 today and that is a damn nice car for 30K!! Great suspension, awesome quality and smoothness, nice interior--way more exclusive that our cars. Plus, while the small V6 didn't have that much punch to it it did move pretty well. I'm sure the 3.2L V6 would be much better but then you're up to 40K.

There truly is something to be said especially about the interiors of Mercedes and Audi.

BNut

I'm in the market for a new car and I've been looking at the IS300, the 330Ci and the S4.

I haven't been able to drive the IS300 yet because Houston's largest Lexus dealership only had single car I could test drive (even though there were 5 or 6 sitting out on the lot) and evidently one of the other sales people had taken it out. (Lunch, fun, who knows?)

I have test driven two BMW's so far... the 330i with SP and the 325Ci with sp. The 330 is simply an amazing car! The interior hands down (with exception to the sun visor) is fantastic even compared to the S4. The S4 is close for interior quality and design, but the 330's interior is absolutely amazing. The IS300 is fisher price compared to the S4 and 330 though.

Handling wise, the 330 with SP has more of a luxury feel than a sport feel. It feels kinda "floaty" like the car glides over the road rather than sticks to it. The S4's suspension/handling is amazing and feels like its stuck to the road with a magnet, yet it doesn't beat you death on bumpy roads.

If you know how to drive, the 330 with SP is a f'ing monster on the track! How do I know? 1st hand experience!!! BMW's LeMan's driver, Hermando(SP?) took me for a spin in the 330i at the test track located at the BMW Momentum dealership in Houston.

OMFG!!! He was RIPPING up the corners with that shia... Even with DSC turned on, the rear end comes around a little bit but prevents a full out Tiff Needle style corner drift. He did the slaloom as well as the full ABS 60mph emergency avoidance manuver, jerk the wheel right to avoid three cones, then jerk back to the left to avoid another set of cones all with the ABS pumping like mad.

Finally he did the wet skid pad, DSC demo... with the DSC turned on the car intially started plowing as he accelerated too hard, then the rear end begin to swing around... when the rear end caught up with the front end the car started doing mad crazy stuff to the brakes and stopped the rear end from coming around, so the car started sliding at a diagonal angle for half a second and then the car just came to a complete stop. He turned the DSC off did the same manuver and we damn near did a 90 degree spin and went into the grass before he finally let up off the gas and corrected manually with the brakes and steering.

My salesman was John Pham... if you have any doubts about the 330, go stop by the dealership on a weekend and see if he can arrange a test drive for you with BMW's LeMans driver.

I did get to drive the S4 is a nice big empty parking lot... the quattro is KICK AZZ!!! Busting U turns at 40-50mph and doing figure 8's the car never loses traction for half a second even though there is tons of loose rocks and what not in the parking lot. The auto tranny sucks SERIOUS balls though. Very unresponsive to down shift, but the power in that car is amazing! The tip tronic also sucks since it automatically shifts to second if you let up off the gas in 1st gear for half a second. The brake peddle is also positioned VERY high up and I practically had to lift my entire leg every time I wanted to press the brake peddle. The brake peddle also has a very spongy feel and requires a LOT of peddle movement to stop the car. The 330's brakes are amazing. The second you push the peddle in, the brakes start to work. It has a nice progressive feedback, that as the harder you press the brakes the more pressure it requires.

Both the S4 and 330 have a "rubbery" gas peddle feel. I guess its just the drive by wire throttle stuff. I prefer the old fashioned throttle cable myself.

All I can say, is if you are unsure, go take a BMW for a spirited test drive and if it doesn't make you say WOW, then it ain't the car for you.

Value wise, you can't beat the TL/CL for the money, but if you got the $$$ the 330 is definitely worth considering.

Type S

well..i personally think bmw sell the car at very high price as cls has all the technology that bmw 330 has but the price is about $15000 difference.do u guys think it is worthy?for me not.i will buy a cls still and spend the rest of money on somthing else.
and bmw resell price is so terrible.it is going to make u so sad once u sell driven 1 or 2 year bmw..:o

TypeSKid

You're comparing apples to oranges, and it doesn't make sense.


1) RWD vs FWD

2) Auto vs manual

3) $30K vs $40K


A BMW 330CI BETTER be WAAAAAY better than our cars, for gods sakes, its $10K more dollars.


I can't justify spending that much for a name. Its a small car.

If I wanted sportiness and handling, I'll take a spa yellow S2000, and tear a new asshole in any BMW C class.

mffdvr

Amen to that....

Beltfed

Not to bash the 330 and rationalize why my car is better......but I have driven the 330 a number of times and while I think its a better car, its not $8-$10k better IMO.

Plus, one is no more exclusive than the other- I see a ton of CL-S and a ton of Ci BMWs.

A comparo of the CL 6spd vs. the 330Ci sport should be interesting.

My feeling is if its not an M3, I'm really not interested.

nt5k

i think it depends on how you drive..
if you drive like an old man, you prob won't notice the difference..
if you want to do anything like autocross or like to steer the car rather than have it steer you then the bmw is better.. no amount of modding will give a fwd car weighing 3500 lbs better handling then a rwd one without a huge compromise in ride quality..

scalbert

List for list really needs to be compared as the area, etc. can vary the price of any given vehicle. Any equally equipped 330ci is more like 6k more, if even that.

The problem is that Acura doesn’t offer all of the options the BMW offers and many of the small features that also make a difference are not options. The Acura does not offer rain sensing wipers, auto leveling HIDs, auto up/down all windows, auto sunroof, the level of stereo sound quality(not even close), a Sport Suspension, etc. Even little things like the jumper cable points and external trunk lid switch (you have to open it to understand), make a difference.

I bought my E46 328i (damn BMW for bring out the 3 liter soon after...) for 5k more than my CL-S and it has all options except for the Nav. I enjoy driving my CL-S as much if not more than the Bimmer. But when I am taking it easy the BMW is better, the switch quality feel and materials are certainly better. But when we hit the turns, there is no comparison, the handling dynamics of the BMW clearly win...

carlsonho

Thats why I picked S2000 over 330CI

EZZ

And the S2000 is cheaper too However, I bet the M3 would rip you a new one

carlsonho

For $20-26K more, I hope so.

carlsonho

Anyway,



S2000 and 330CI are 2 "different" cars.

Both cars are about as quick.


One is a convertible and handles a bit better and cheaper in price, but no luxury.

One is a sports coupe, handles almost as well, lots of luxury and more expensive.


I had a hard time choosing between the two. As soon as I found out the 02' S2000 had glass rear window, I wrote my check to Honda.

Nicky Pass

If you have an extra 14K to spend, I think you'll still find that the CL-S is a better car. Besides...you can take half of the 14K and soup it up to where you will kill a BMW in a race and handling.

BNut

Does the CL/TL have tilt and telescoping steering wheel?

TypeSKid

I HATE YOU!!!!!!!!!!

:P

carlsonho

I hate you for your smooth and comfortable ride, with speed to back it up, and power seats and all the luxury stuff.

TypeSKid

About as quick?!


You must be kidding me.


I've seen a timeslip for a 2001 S2000 that ran a 13.8!!!!!!!


Plus, off the line, an S2000 would totally rape a 330CI.

Handling-wise, I won't even begin to go there.


Bottom line:


a 330CI is overpriced for what it is.

End of thread

TypeSKid

I forgot to add........a 13.8 in a BONE STOCK S2000.

nate'sCLS

Ya, well I get kinda used to the smoth "boat feel" on the low end but once you put your foot in to her... zzoooom!!

I love that!

Don't forget to price every option you have standard in the CL-S and you may want to have a few bucks left over for any mods so factor that in too... $$$.

bkknight369

Wow thx for all your input guys. All the points you have made about the 330 are about as objective as they can get (on a biased forum, that is =D ).

I completly love my cl-s, I am fuking glad i didnt spend $31k on a 325i instead of the $28k on my cls (the salesman treated me like shit, so i gave him the finger and just left, and it was one of the luckiest moments of my life ). HOWEVER, i think that if the 330 ci was more reasonably priced (like maybe 32k; totally unrealistic i know), I would definately have chosen that. First of all, the 330 ci has such as awesome body. The subtle curves...the lights...everything about it are just beautiful. True, it not as powerful as our cars, but with the new awd system (in the xi, i think) it really outperforms our cars in turns.

Ofcourse, thats the 330...the 325 is a comparitive piece of shit that doesnt even come with leather or a cd player at $28k I mean comeon!!!

carlsonho

Not too many people can manage a 13.8 or even 14.2 1/4 mile time. In order to achieve those times, you gotta drop the clutch at 7.5K.

Besides, I was talking about real life, everyday street encounter situation. Most S2000 drivers drive with the top down, and that would slow the car down a bit. As you all know, S2000 drivers have to downshift to the lowest gear possible, in order to get the "boost".

It really depends on the drivers on these 2 cars. A good driver in a 330Ci/CL-S can take a bad driver in a S2000, in real life situation, not a drag strip.

Boodies

which brings me to the next point, don't smoke crack. amazing what you guys say to keep your egos high. "Most S2000 drivers drive with the top down, and that would slow the car down a bit" um......... even with the top down, your cl has no chance. SO live WITH IT

"As you all know, S2000 drivers have to downshift to the lowest gear possible, in order to get the "boost".

riiiiiiiiiiight, who doen't downshift to the lowest possible gear to get the "BOOST"

i mean freakin listen to yourself guy

carlsonho

Excuse me, but FYI, I drive an S2000. What were you talking about? I was just being humble by saying that the S2000 does not win all the time.

carlsonho

Maybe you should cut down on the crack!

Boodies

don't act humble you're not that good

hahaha, jk


sorry I had a bad introduction in this forum but I love all cars period. And I promise you i'm not a freakin troll. I think I should word my posts differently


peace