MBrown1003

I still drool when I see one , and I've HAD one for almost 5 years. (I also went to the 2-day driving school in SC that comes with the car. Imagine getting to burn up somebody else's clutch/gas/brakes/tires on autocross courses and on a wet skidpad. Woo-hoo!!)

Now that I'm considering giving up the M5 (the new one is too much $$ and too ugly for me), I'm concerned that whatever I replace it with has to be as much fun. I'm thinking that the Type-S for 'daily driver' + 335i Coupe for 'fun car' would be a nice combo. The 335i has performance numbers that aren't far off my E39 M5!

groovyone789

Took me 1 week after order for a NBP 07-Type s, automatic, no hp tires (winter's coming). Shop around at your dealers, you will find good time.

SouthernBoy

I worked with a man back in 2001 who had ordered an M5 and waited 16 months for its arrival. He kept it for all of two months, then got rid of it for a 3-series. Reason? Too large for him. He likes cars the size of the 3-series and he races one of his BMWs (his wife races his Ferrari). Yes, the buy's loaded and can afford pretty much what he wants and he was only 38 at the time I knew him. Really neat guy. Loved cars.

As for a "fun" car to take you other places you wouldn't or couldn't take a TL-S, how about the new Mustang GT-500? Price wise, it's right in there with the 335i and will blow the Bimmer's doors off. Talk about banf for the buck! Personally, I'm not a fan of turbochargers (had one once). Yes the GT-500 has a blower, supercharger, but that's different. And it flat gets it. In the corners, it should also do a job on the 335i. And then there's that sound of an American V8.

yukit

While I am still seriously considering TL type-S 6MT, I went to check out the competitions today.

We have Infinity & BMW right next to each other (Acura & Lexus are not too far either). I am hoping to be able to test drive G35, 335i & TL one after another.

Infinity is having a big sale on 06 G35s, but I am not interested.
I was lucky to find some 07 G35s just arrived, they were still in plastics, but a sales person was nice enough to take me to the back lot & have a closer look. Unfortunately, it won't be ready for a few days to test drive. It will probably be sold by the next weekend.

I walked over to the BMW lot next door to look at some 335i. They had a coupe & sedan in the showroom. It took me a while to get an attention of a salesperson. I finally flagged a guy to ask about test driving a 335i manual. He told me they did not have any manual cars to test drive. They get manual on special orders only.
This may be true, but maybe I was not taken seriously. Do people actually buy a manual car without test driving one?
I will try another BMW dealer tomorrow. There are several dealers around here to choose from.

Afterward, it occurred to me that I was not exactly dressed like a person ready to buy a $50k car. Maybe I will wear a polo shirt instead of a t-shirt tomorrow

MBrown1003

I stopped by the local Acura store today, hoping to drive a Type-S. He had ONE, already sold, so all I could do was look at it. I asked to drive an '07 TL, and the guy basically wouldn't let me. "It won't be the same as Type-S." My issue is that I want to see the nav, travel computer, hear the sound system, etc.

Anyway, he says that in a couple of weeks he'll have a black car with a stick and that he'll call me to drive it.

On the way, I stopped by a SAAB dealer and picked up brochures on 9-3 and 9-5. Anybody have any thoughts on how they compare with the Type-S?

Will Y.

Ugh!-- And I actually have a soft spot for Saabs!
The top-line 9-3 and 9-5 are underpowered even compared to a standard TL. Also, the dealers don't seem to carry many of the top of the range cars-- I tried to get the higher pressure turbo 9-3 to drive before buying the TL in 2005, but the dealer had only the base engines on the lot.
The 9-5 has been around for quite a few years without change.
I've heard that the Saab manuals are vague and not very precise, but haven't been able to try one in the past couple of years. The cupholders are terrible in the 9-3. Reliability may be an issue, too.

MBrown1003

I'm the originator of this thread. I suppose I should update my signature, 'cuz my thinking has shifted, and I'm not so sure there's an Acura in my future.

You may recall that I've got an '03 Volkswagen GTI and an '02 BMW M5, the leases on BOTH of which end within about 6 months. I want to still have a coupe and a sedan, but wasn't sure what to do. I'd been considering replacing the GTI with a BMW coupe and the M5 with one of the following: TL Type-S, Audi A4, SAAB 9-5.

My current thinking is this...

When the lease on the GTI ends in a couple of months, I'm going to replace it with a BMW 335i coupe (6-speed manual, premium + sport pkgs, nav, lots of other stuff).

When the lease on my M5 ends in May, I'm going to just keep it. Admittedly, it's a 5-year-old car, but I look at it, and think about all the things I'd miss like the leather-upholstered console, black alcantara headliner, the intake growl at full throttle, the exhaust burble at idle, and the stoopid grin on my face at WOT. Besides, what would I do with the "///M" flag hanging in my garage?

Nothing's cast in stone yet -- I haven't signed anything -- but that's prob'ly what I'll do.

I'm also thinking about taking delivery of the Coupe at the BMW Performance Center in South Carolina. I've been down there twice -- once just for a factory tour on a drive to Florida. The second time was for the two-day "M5 Driving Experience" which was AMAZING. (One day on a track in their M5 learning car control; one day in a Z4 following an instructor on highways and mountain backroads driving to Asheville NC + back.)

So, if you see a guy with a big grin in a 335i Coupe headed north on 95 sometime around March, wave -- it might be me!