[dxb335d]

anyhow was an interesting day

it started with my mate a few days ago telling me about a csl for sale near his, and that there was an m5 there to (e60).. went down there to have a look in the rain and fell in love with the m5... went intially to test drive that today, but decided the m3 was more me (young and immature, against the more 'portly' m5)

so the 53 plate csl is was to be, but i didnt want to go on my own so my i drove to where my friend lives and met up with him... ended up going down a local duel and ended up with a e60 m5 a honda nsx and some v8 thing (god knows what it was, and with my mate in his 2.0 corsa) hairing down this road

the m5 was phoenominal:rocks: and the nsx coudlnt pull upto me so i was happy


m5 drivers car could not have been limited

he slowed and gave the thumbs up to me as i drove up the slip road!

so after that excapade the real deal was about to happen


THE TEST DRIVE


initial impressions was what an aggressive looking car, looked great if not slightly old skool with the e92 next to it

not driven an e46 before so opening, the rather clunky door was a bit of a shock... are they all so clunky??

few scratches here and there and a few interior marks annoyed me slightly but it was a 56k car but had one owner!

i noticed so much more this time than my first experiance of a brand spanker csl back in 04

the carbon fibre door cards and the gorgeous kevlar seats.. i am a real sucker for things like that and for me its so much more of a car than the 'general' m3
for me its what the m3 should have been all along... whose needs sat Nav when you have those bleedin seats

the steering wheel was gorgeous reminded me of my gillard steering wheel i had when i was karting... gorgeous suede soft feel..

on to the drive, i love the way it bangs so hard thru the gears, so awesome and the sound when blipping down is

un-f***ing-real


a great car, which for me would be a perfect track tool which in effect it was built for, shame it fails some noise tests at some tracks here in the UK

didnt try the launch control or anything but found round one corner whilst 'pressing on' well more that 'just' pressing on and the traction control was so intrusive it was crazy, thought the car had fucked up on me??

when we got back i was worried i would feel the 335d would not be upto the 'job' of getting home 'satisfactory' after driving such a dedicated track weapon but i was pleasantly suprised.. the 335d felt absolutely awesome on the way home, with even my friend saying the 335d felt quicker:rocks:

it cant be in all honesty for sure, not from a standing start, but i would nto bet all my money on a csl leaving a 335d for dead, deffo thru the gears 60-80mph the 335d felt quicker and even over the ton?? maybe its the torque that makes it feel quick?? and it is so much easier than the CSL to make RAPID progress, so effortless... BMW have done such a good job with the 335d!!!!

i know its just evolution in process of making decent bmws and that there a few years apart but the 335d i feel would stay with one to jus over the ton quite easily (from a rolling start), maybe after that the CSL would start making some space


im sure a re-mapped 335d would beat one

i actually beat a CSL at santa pod when i was there altho only be 0.1 tenth of a second but he had launch control etc so its surely not that hard to get a decent time out of one ??

i think it may have just been a slow day as many people were not equaling there best times!! let alone beating them, which also with my own personal feelings that the 335d could do a mid 13 sec quarter on a good day, which really is quite astonishing from a bloody derv!!

i really am soemwhat excited bout getting a re-map its just having the bollox to go ahead and get on with it.. i know many of you have and enjoying its benefits

think the NSX driver from earlier on the day was very very suprised


anyhow the m3 csl did blow me away with how well its focussed on what it was blessed to do, eat up a race track

im sure it very devestating round many tracks every weekend, and its a car i think would make a great toy for anyone with the exta 'wedge' laying about

but the biggest suprise to me was how good the 335d felt afterwards, around bends on straights, overtaking

absolutely EVERWHERE, the car is a very complete bit of kit with the re-map being the 'icing on the cake'


what a great day


Carl

[mikem]

Glad you had fun. Modern diesels are very quick (esp. once breathed upon) my remapped 325d is only slightly slower in a straight line from 80-150 ish than a standard M3(about 5-6 car lengths )

However take it to a tight, twisty, fast A/B road and its a different story (even `tho you`d assume the huge torque would give the advantage) its quite the opposite. A well driven M3/CSL will leave you wondering what the fcuk happened to all that power as it dissapears into the distance. The M3 was just over a minute quicker than my 325d around the `ring

The biggest problem I find, is that diesels just don`t feel quick, a bit detached really. You know your accelerating quickly but without the noise and the heightened revs it feels, well..........a bit dull. Which is prob. why people in quick diesels always seem to be up for a duel, they always seem to want to prove how quick the car is (myself included ) This ultimately was the biggest factor in me deciding to trade mine in.

Anyway 1 more week before the M3 cab lands and today I`m off auction bashing for a .....................DIESEL !!!

[1stKnight]

Originally Posted by mikem

...Which is prob. why people in quick diesels always seem to be up for a duel, they always seem to want to prove how quick the car is (myself included )

My sentiments exactly...when I had my DMS remapped 330cd 'vert I knew it was quick but nevertheless the nature of the power delivery had me wanting to test the car against other's far more frequently than in any other car I've had.

I find that powerful diesels produce more of a kick mid-range and thrust me into my seat more than my current petrol; giving me the impression of being more powerful. My 335i brings the horizon to me more rapidly than any diesel I have driven and even more so 0-60 but never produces that thrust sensation mid-range. The 335i comes alive above 4000rpm when my previous diesel was running out of steam. Two distinctly different types of power delivery - the diesels are great fun mid-range where they deliver that grin-inducing thrust and the petrols give their laugh-out-loud excitement from a standstill and at the higher end of the rev range. I guess I prefer the petrol delivery. Curiously though, I no longer feel the need to pit my car against other's on the road nearly as often.

Not that I don't try on occasion... Last week I found myself sandwiched between an E39 M5 in front and a Nissan 350Z behind. The Nissan was clearly pushing to have me move over so when the M5 moved over ahead I thought I would move in front of it, thereby allowing the Nissan past. But the two blokes in the M5 had other ideas and I saw a puff emit from its exhausts and off it went! I dropped down a gear and went after it. To my utter amazement I caught it and overtook it. The 350Z kept up for a few seconds and then dropped back. I headed off towards my turn off feeling quite good about my car's performance albeit I must conclude that the E39 M5 driver missed a gear or something.

I do look forward to getting something like Procede for my car - it'll transform it into the fastest car I've ever driven.

[dxb335d]

Originally Posted by 1stKnight

My sentiments exactly...when I had my DMS remapped 330cd 'vert I knew it was quick but nevertheless the nature of the power delivery had me wanting to test the car against other's far more frequently than in any other car I've had.

I find that powerful diesels produce more of a kick mid-range and thrust me into my seat more than my current petrol; giving me the impression of being more powerful. My 335i brings the horizon to me more rapidly than any diesel I have driven and even more so 0-60 but never produces that thrust sensation mid-range. The 335i comes alive above 4000rpm when my previous diesel was running out of steam. Two distinctly different types of power delivery - the diesels are great fun mid-range where they deliver that grin-inducing thrust and the petrols give their laugh-out-loud excitement from a standstill and at the higher end of the rev range. I guess I prefer the petrol delivery. Curiously though, I no longer feel the need to pit my car against other's on the road nearly as often.

Not that I don't try on occasion... Last week I found myself sandwiched between an E39 M5 in front and a Nissan 350Z behind. The Nissan was clearly pushing to have me move over so when the M5 moved over ahead I thought I would move in front of it, thereby allowing the Nissan past. But the two blokes in the M5 had other ideas and I saw a puff emit from its exhausts and off it went! I dropped down a gear and went after it. To my utter amazement I caught it and overtook it. The 350Z kept up for a few seconds and then dropped back. I headed off towards my turn off feeling quite good about my car's performance albeit I must conclude that the E39 M5 driver missed a gear or something.

I do look forward to getting something like Procede for my car - it'll transform it into the fastest car I've ever driven.

i doubt he missed a gear, i also have had a go with a e39 m5, stayed with him comforatably 4 times from hard acceleration

considering the33i is quicker than the 335d i would say its very possible you beat him


Oh yes im sure around a track the focussed CSL would murder a 335d/335i but i was still amazed how good the 335d felt straight after

it really does go thru the gears so quickly


Carl

[1stKnight]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

i doubt he missed a gear, i also have had a go with a e39 m5, stayed with him comforatably 4 times from hard acceleration

considering the33i is quicker than the 335d i would say its very possible you beat him


Oh yes im sure around a track the focussed CSL would murder a 335d/335i but i was still amazed how good the 335d felt straight after

it really does go thru the gears so quickly


Carl

I had a colleague who purchased a lovely red E39 M5 when I still had my 330cd. He moved on to another company just before I got my 335i - pity, I could have really tested it then.

Yeah, agree with you about the CSL; the M3 and CSL's are, by all accounts, very adept track racers unlike our less focussed machines.

For everyday motoring I reckon the M3/CSL would need to find track-like road conditions to pull away significantly otherwise the 335d/i would stay in touch. The standard M3 has seemingly no real-World advantage whatsoever - indeed, the greater torque available to the 335d/i may put the advantage in our cars favour. I haven't had the pleasure of dicing an M3 yet but my remapped 330cd kept up with one all the time so that implies the 335d/i would have no trouble at all and the 335i would probably even stay with an M3 from a standing start as well.

But the M Cars ours may be close to are still special driver's cars and in the hands of an expert would still prove devastating, I'm sure.

[peppernick]

The standard M3 has seemingly no real-World advantage whatsoever -

It has soul and character, the 335D lacks them, less so with the 335i.

[1stKnight]

Originally Posted by peppernick

It has soul and character, the 335D lacks them, less so with the 335i.

Agreed, they have a quality that is missing in non-M cars. I've not driven one but as a passenger I felt the urgency they possess and admired their superior handling.

I very nearly bought a Z4M - same colour as yours - but my chain was yanked and I was reeled in swiftly by my wife. My 335i is a compromise as she insists I need to keep 4 seats.

[dxb335d]

Originally Posted by 1stKnight

I had a colleague who purchased a lovely red E39 M5 when I still had my 330cd. He moved on to another company just before I got my 335i - pity, I could have really tested it then.

Yeah, agree with you about the CSL; the M3 and CSL's are, by all accounts, very adept track racers unlike our less focussed machines.

For everyday motoring I reckon the M3/CSL would need to find track-like road conditions to pull away significantly otherwise the 335d/i would stay in touch. The standard M3 has seemingly no real-World advantage whatsoever - indeed, the greater torque available to the 335d/i may put the advantage in our cars favour. I haven't had the pleasure of dicing an M3 yet but my remapped 330cd kept up with one all the time so that implies the 335d/i would have no trouble at all and the 335i would probably even stay with an M3 from a standing start as well.

But the M Cars ours may be close to are still special driver's cars and in the hands of an expert would still prove devastating, I'm sure.

yes round a track im sure the standard m3 and even more so with the CSL, would prove too much for the 335's

i have pushed 3 m3's down the road one pretty easily

and i just cant wait to come across a m3 CSL on the road as i feel that will be the same thing and come across one again after a re-map:rocks:


i do think your 335i would pull upto a e39 m5 quite easily.. considering i stayed with one in the diesel im sure you would beat one!


peppernick: your so right about soul tho. Man this CSL didnt just have soul, it was GOD


Carl