I just spent 3 days in a new 330 sedan while my X3 was in having an iPod system installed and a scratched door trim piece replaced under warranty. They had previously agreed to loan me a 325 for the day but when I arrived they couldn't find the 325 loaner car so the Service Manager got pissed off and took the only 330 demo from the sales department and gave it to me. They thought the two jobs on my X3 would only take the day, but over 12 hours of shop time on the iPod job alone (no, I didn't have to pay for any of the labour, thank God!)
The silver 330 with black leather and six speed auto is a beautiful car. It looks a lot like a new 5 series to me and that is a good thing. I haven't seen more than a handful of them on the road and boy does it ever attract attention. I had a lot of swivel heads checking it out and people asking me about it in parking lots and gas stations.
I found the car to be extremely fast. Off the line using the tiptronic, first gear is very low and hits redline in about two or three seconds forcing an automatic shift to second. From there the needle on the speedometer moves up to highly illegal speeds very very quickly. It took about 20 minutes for me to even realize that there was a sixth gear because in fifth you can cruise at 120-140 with the revs about 3000. When you are at 120 and nail the gas, the speed still climbs very fast and I could sense the OPP waiting for me so had to be very careful.
There is solid acceleration in every gear and on the highway in sixth you still feel a surge and can pass without downshifting. The transmission is extremely smooth and unless you have it floored you really can't feel the shifts.
Handling is excellent. Very balanced and great feel through the steering wheel. You can push this car through turns and never feel near the limits. I took a couple of on and off ramps at over 100 and felt totally composed. The ride is very firm and in a construction zone over some major breaks in pavement the suspension bottomed in a harsh manner. Apparently the run-flat tires are criticized for being too hard. The brakes are very powerful and precise, solid pedal feel and absolutely no fade.
The seats are very very comfortable and supportive and my 6'3" 250 lb beefy frame fit in there without feeling like I needed to visit Jenny Craig. This model did not have the sport seats so there could have been more bolstering for the corners. I love the four way lumbar support that you can adjust up and down as well as in and out. The turn signals took some getting used to. One light touch give you three blinks for a lane change and then shuts off. But press a little harder and they stay on. To shut them off you acutally press again in the same direction and a few times I was turning and struggling with them to shut them off.
You have to love the push button starter, at least at first. After three days the novelty wore off and I would just as easily prefer a normal key. The stereo is good and I liked being able to skip through all 18 presets using the steering wheel controls rather than just six at a time on my car. I did feel the sound was not as good as the X3. The sunroof feels tiny compared to the X3 and doesn't have an electric sunshade.
Overall I would highly reccommend this car. If they had a 330 with all wheel drive I think it would be the perfect Canadian sport sedan. I put about 400 kms on over three days so got really used to it. When I picked up my X3 yesterday I had to compare it and would say the following. The X3 is slower and could benefit from the extra 30 hp in the new 3 liter six. I prefer the seating position in the X3. The stereo sounds much better in the X3. The 330 sedan would win in a beauty contest for sure, it's a hot looking sedan. My new iPod system is awesome and I can control the main functions through the steering wheel controls while the iPod remains in the glovebox, hardwired to the stereo.
Now if only I could afford both... the X3 for winter and the 330, maybe a coupe, for the summer... mmmmmmmmm.
(Message edited by farleywilbur on July 01, 2005)
