Guest

I went over to Stevens Creek Auto Mall yesterday after work (had to go to the mall and buy my fiance a gift), so I decided to check me out a gift. Decided I would test drive, for the first time, an Acura TL-S. As I'm heading there, I notice the BMW dealer and pull over to grab a brochure. My best friend is buying a 330, so I thought Id check it out.

Asked him for a test drive, and ended up testing out a BMW 330ci, a blue 2001 with an automatic and the 17" chrome sport wheels. Very nice. It was selling for 42K with 10K miles! He said they sell for the same price as new. Yeah, right. Anyway, I drove it.

My impressions: The car has a bumpy ride, thats that. I always heard they have a great ride, with a great compromise of ride/handling. All I'm saying is that it wasnt smooth at all, and it felt like it was lowered. The acceleration was nothing great, either. I liked the exhaust note, but it didnt have much when you were lightly applying the throttle. But a few times I did give it the gas and you could tell it moved, but nothing spectacular. Not impressed with the performance, but it is good. I guess I wasnt too impressed because I drive fast cars (Stang GT, S500, LSC). Anyway, took a turn pretty quick and it was pretty even. For stock, it had good handling. I'm really not convinced its THAT much better than a TL-S with springs/sways. I'm just not. So the acceleration was good, not great, and the handling was good, not great. Wasnt too impressed with the car, althought the brakes seemed very good. The ride wasnt as good as it should be.

The car is pretty small. I sat in the front like I normally do (im 6' 170) and then sat it in the back (what a pain in the ass in the coupe.) It feels like my mustang in the back, just with more headroom (a lot more.) Not much legroom, but you coudl put two people back there and its not the end of the world. The interior looked very nice, though, and I liked the wood. The fit and finish didnt seem out of this world, though. I have heard how great it is, and although solid, didnt seem expensive. I liked the wood trim a lot. The gauges were nice, too. Did not like the price!

I was glad after driving it because it really better than a TL-S for the same price, in my opinion (remember, just MY opinion, I value things differently!)

BTW, I also saw the new M3's, new M5's old M3 and all that. New M3 convertibles are pretty sweet, especially in red. They had a coupe going for 60K.

Saw an old M3 (99). I'm sorry, but I'll stick to what I have always said. Those are pieces of shit. I know, they are fast and handle great, but they dont look much better than an ordinary 3 series, and the old 3 series was bland, boring, and dull. The interior was nappy, too. Very ordinary, nothing was nice. I did not like the car one bit. thought the M stripes on the seat looked like shit, too. The new M's, on the other hand, look great and are a lot more different than the 3 series they come from. But the old ones are WACK.

OK... so I go on over to the Acura dealer. Nobody there, pretty dead. Guy tells me to come back on Monday cuz there are none to test drive right now. What the ****? Just cuz I'm brown and 22? I guess so. After telling him (to myself, of course) to eat a bowl of shit I checked out the one in the showroom again. It was the same aegean blue i saw last time. I actually LIKED the black wood this time for some reason. Man, it looked nice. I would probably still prefer normal wood with black leather, but I like this probably as much as the parchment combo. What a sweet car. Cant wait to test drive it. I'll hopefully be buying one in the next few months.

Got home and guess what had come in the mail? My TL-S brochure... very nice!

FlyingPig

It seems like even if you are smurfy color, they still wouldn't have one for you to test drive.

TypeSDragon

Yea, before I bought my TLS in NJ, I went to a NYC dealer in queens. Sat down with the guy and ask him if I can test drive. He said there aren't any available. I wasn't sure if he was bullsh*itting me because I was 24, but it was like 5:30 in the afternoon. So they might not want to let me drive that late. Just go back Monday and ask them if you can test drive. If they still say NO, tell them to f*ck themselves... hehee!!

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2002 Black on Black TL TypeS

VolkRacing

LoL!
I went to my local dealer...and at least they let me test drive it....but the guy goes...make a right...make a right....make a right, make a right, and turn right into that drive way....wow....now that really let me get a feel for the car let me tell ya...I just got outta the car and walked straight to mine and left....that was just retarded...I mean I'm 25 and look like i'm 18 but gee give me a break. I plan on going over there in my black/black TLS and buying some touch up paint (gotta slight scratch above my door handle ) and showing the salesman the sale he missed out on.

91M5

BMW's aren't supposed to ride "smooth". They aren't a Lexus. Also, a BMW's real handling advantage is at the limit. Very balanced and easy to control. It doesn't sound like you could tell the difference. Your hatred of an "old" '99 M3 pretty much proves that.

Maybe you should be looking at an LS400.

Louisiana

BMW isn't straight line car. Take it through some curves and therein lies the differece.

Skidpad.

TypeSDragon

I went to Montclair Acura in New Jersey. I told the sales guy I want to test drive a TLS. He immediately ask me to give him my driver's license and he made a photocopied of it. Then I waited less than five minutes and there was a TLS for me to test drive. He show me a couple of pointers, then I drove off the lot... ALONE!!! I test drove about 45 minutes, tried every single thing from the heated seats to the SS. Very impressed with the power and quality of the car. I drove back to the dealer and sat down and made the deal.

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2002 Black on Black TL TypeS

PeterUbers

iTrader: (1)

Back in April when I put down $1000.00 on the TL-S -- I only had the CL-S test drive vehicle to test. My saleman, Harvey, sat shotgun and told me to turn VSA and floor it -- I said .. ok, whatever, ain't my ride yet! Then, while crusing, he dropped into 2nd gear w/ SS for me and said, now punch it -- I'd never driven a car w/ SS before in my life and I thought that was pretty cool. Now that's the way to sell a car!

8ball

Any dealer who will not give you the opportunity for a comprehensive test of the vehicle you intend to buy does not desrve your business or your money. When I was shopping for a Maxima SE, the dealer gave me one with 400 miles on it to take home and said,"bring it back it a couple of days and let me know what you think." Sold.

Guest

OK, I got a couple of stupid responses to this post. No shit, I know the BMW has a handling advantage, but I was saying that it was not a smooth ride. The magazines always say that it has a perfect blend of smoothness/handling, and I was simply stating that on normal smooth roads at normal speeds, the ride was downright bumpy. It handled very well and I'm sure it handles great at high speeds.

And no, I dont want an LS400, jackass. But I want to get a car that supposedly is luxurious to actually be smoother than my 94 Mustang. Thats all.

And the old M3 is a piece of shit, still, in my opinion. Re-read my post, moron, and you'll see how I said the M3 is probably a great handling/performance/sports car, but it is UGLY, inside and out, in my opinion. Thats all. So relax.

Guest

Hey Jatlife-
Bumpy ride???...by your icon it looks like you should be use to that by now. Maybe you should consider a new Buick, I think the Regal would be perfect for you. If you get tired of going straight really fast, get the BMW.

Guest

Another brilliant response. Do you have your head up your ass? I said it was a bumpy ride, yes. Bumpier than I expected CONSIDERING WHAT THE MAGS AND OTHERS HAVE SAID! Thats what I'm saying.

I like a firm ride, i'm just saying that its not a smooth ride. The mags claim it is smooth with the great handling. And I have plenty of car experience, buddy... and the 330 has a rougher ride than most, thats all. For 45K you'd expect a bit of a smoother ride. Thats all. Use your brain before you make stupid comments.

Guest

Hey Jatlife,

I agree 100% with your review of the 330. Forget about the rest of those post. What type of response would you expect from someone (me included) that pays/paid 40k for a german car that never makes the top 7 in any reliability reports and falls apart in 5 years. Yes-I have owned 3 bimmers. Nice cars, but I would take a new 330 over a TL-s even if they were priced the same. Driving a Acura/Lexus instills confidence in the driver that no Bmimmer could match. I was always worrying in the back of my head when the damn head gasket was going to go again. Or the plastic water pump pulley. Or...Or.... I still like them. I like alot of cars. Except for Pontiacs, Buicks, and the like.

Guest

Hey, at least someone is honest! Thanks for the post.

3.2-TL

Why didn't u test drive the manual? U'll feel a lot more power. I agree, Its not nothing out of this world, but I would defenitely purchase one if it was in the same price range as the type S. I love rear wheel drive and a good stick.