I turned in my Leased 2004 TL / 6MT / Navi a couple days ago. I was > < this close to buying it out but had the opportunity to try out another car for a few years and went for it. Time will tell if it was stupid or not, the TL had nearly 0 problems so it was definitely reliable and very, very smooth shifting the entire time I had it. Only problems were ECU software upgrade for CEL, and power steering pump died. And an insane amount of rattles which I was continually battling.

Anyways, I've visited this forum quite often over the last few years, and it has always been super helpful. Most recently was finding out what the whine noise was for the power steering pump, allowed me to get the service guys to fix it right the first time.

I still have a TSX that my wife mainly drives, so I'm not abandoning Acura! And I might be back in 36 months


My TL:



New car I just picked up 10 days ago:

 

Congrats! Great that you got a 335i. You will love it.

 

very nice choice! it's beautiful!

 

I'm curious to know if the Bimmer will have rattles or not, let us know

 

Sweet!!

 

Thanks!! Took 6 weeks to get since I had to order to get 6MT and it's impossible to find. I'm abiding by the break-in rules so I a haven't pushed it yet, but it definitely fast.

Some observations compared to the TL:

* Doesn't do the throttle-by-wire revmatching for upshifts that the TL does, I miss that.
* The clutch is VERY easy compared to the TL, engagement is very smooth
* Rollback assist is great
* Torque.. definetly has lots of torque.. 1700RPM's is already @ 300lbft.
* This thing feels very low compared to the TL.
* Technology: the USB interface is way better than what I had, but I read Acura will have that this year!
* I-Drive, its not as bad as I thought it would be! The screen is far higher resolutoin and updates quickly. The user interface for POI is far worse than Acura, but entering an address by just talking is nice.
* Bluetooth - the bluetooth interface is great, phonebook on the screen, dial any contact in your phone by voice (w/o having to deal with the handsfree link funkyness)


Ugh... there is one rattle by the drivers side dash vent! When the car is hot & the AC has cooled down the vent I think. I think sometimes a brand new car has these kinds of rattles that work themselves out.... but I need to zero in on it so I can get it fixed if I have to. Maybe I'm too crazy about rattles.

 

Definately a nice upgrade.

 

Congrats!
I'm in a similar situation, but my '05 has had 0 issues, with 2 very intermittent minor rattles/squeaks which lasted a short time and disappeared months ago. My TL buy-out is much less than the trade-in value, so I may end up buying the TL and keeping it, or selling it to lease- for business purposes- a similar sedan; the 335i is at the top of the list to try out and drive.

Post in the AZ Off Topic CarTalk subforum here as you get more experience with the 335i- there is a long-running thread on the 335, and it seems like half the posters there own BMWs; sometimes CarTalk is called "Bimmerzine."

 

Fixt.
by the 5 minute rule...