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2009 335i xDrive vs 2008 LGT... my review


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So, it’s been a few months since I bought my BMW and I thought I’d share some impressions/do a sort of mini-review.

 

First off, let it be known that I love Subarus and have owned a 2.5RS (still own), a Legacy, a bugeye WRX, a 9-2x and most recently a 2008 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT. I bought the LGT because it represented what I wanted in a car- a sporty sedan with awd, and good power, but a bit luxurious too. I thought it represented a poor man’s BMW 335xi. Well, eight months later, I went and bought the real thing, and traded in the LGT. For this review, I will compare the BMW to the LGT.

 

Car I bought- 2009 BMW 335i xDrive, Jet Black. 6 speed steptronic automatic, I know, failboat, other options include leather, heated seats. Sticker price $46k. The Legacy was an LGT with a manual transmission. Sticker Price $29k

 

Powertrain- In my opinion, the LGT shines in the engine department. It is smooth, has very little lag, and is quite powerful all the way up to the higher rpm ranges. The transmission was adequate, although the clutch was a bit heavy and creaky sometimes. The BMW seems to do everything the legacy does, but better. It has even less turbo lag, and even more power throughout the rev range. The BMW, quite simply, cannot be floored for more than a blink of an eye without fear of incarceration. The legacy seemed to be able to be floored from 2000rpm, where you’d get just a hint of turbo lag via less than frantic acceleration that would let you gather your thoughts and then a nice rush for you after which you’d let go of the throttle. The BMW is simply ready to roar at all rpms. There is no gathering your thoughts, no blinking. It doesn’t matter if you are in Drive or in the manual mode- it doesn’t seem to even need gears. You can easily drive the BMW around and keep up with traffic and NOT exceed 2000 rpms. It is low end torque heaven combined with mid and upper range power. Not so with the Legacy on the low end torque, but I would say the midrange of both cars feels similar, with the BMW accelerating considerably faster as it approaches redline. The Legacy gets a A- here, the BMW gets an A+.

 

Interior Quality- The BMW feels much more solid on the inside. The instrument cluster is basic- but high quality and clear, with an oil temp gauge and a nifty display for cruise control, fuel economy and other settings. The thing is though, if you don’t touch anything, the interior looks about as good as the Legacy’s. That is to say, it’s nice, but nothing special. The Legacy’s interior is visually pretty nice, but I think when you start pressing buttons and feeling stuff, it feels a bit less luxurious. The BMW wins in the feel of the leather, the textures of the door handles, the buttons give you good feedback, the vents are more solid. BMW turn signals will make your fingers hurt however- they require quite a bit of pressure to operate. The seats are not quite as comfortable as I had hoped in either car. The BMW gets a A- here, the Legacy a B-.

 

Fuel Economy- The BMW gets approximately the same mileage as the legacy in the city, and I believe it is about 2-3mpg better on the highway. My LGT city mileage was 19-20, Hwy was about 28-29. I do about 19-20 in the city and 29-31 in the BMW. The BMW gets a B+ here, the Legacy a B-.

 

 

Handling and AWD system feel- The BMW feels like a rear wheel drive car, despite it being classified as an awd car. I’ve read that xDrive puts 60% of the torque to the rear axle as a default, but that it varies that percentage 100% to any axle, with a heavy bias towards the rear. I can confirm that upon enthusiastic acceleration, it feels like 100% is on the rear axle. If you are taking a turn with your foot heavy on the gas, the rear end will sweep out predictably unless you have dsc enabled. Doing a quick U-Turn with DSC off will result in a textbook rwd drift around the median- except it doesn’t seem like you have to do much to stop the drift… the car simply pulls through- whether or not that’s because torque transfers to the front upon oversteer, I don’t know. The legacy had more body roll, but was pretty close to as stable… there was no oversteering in the legacy without trying really hard though, so it was a bit less fun. Overall, the handling of the two is comparable, and the BMW is just a bit more fun to drive due to it’s oversteering nature, the legacy a bit softer and rolly-polly. Note that any of this over/understeer happens at 9/10’s driving, and the only real noticeable difference in handling when driving normally is the fact that the bmw has less body roll. The BMW does feel heavy, a characteristic it can’t help given that it weighs over 3800 pounds. This makes it a bit less inviting to toss around. BMW gets a B+ here and the Legacy gets a C+.

 

Miscellaneous- The BMW is quieter, and more comfortable on the highway, than the legacy, albeit not by much. It does seem to have a bit more legroom than the legacy, perhaps due to it’s 3.6” longer wheelbase. The trunk is about the same size. The BMW’s engine sounds throaty and perhaps a bit rattly at idle, but you can barely hear it within the cabin. Push on the throttle, and the engine sounds amazing. At the highest rpm range you can hear the turbos wailing – it sounds glorious. The LGT’s engine I think sounds underwhelming until the mid-high range, but I love the boxer rumble at idle- which of course the BMW doesn’t have. The Steptronic automatic has a higher gear ratio range than any other car I know of, and the automatic is smooth as butter through it’s 6 gears. The steptronic manual mode is nice- but will downshift if you floor the car and automatically upshift at redline. I’d still rather have a manual.

 

 

Overall- I’d say that the BMW is considerably faster, quieter, more luxurious and better handling than the LGT. Was it $17k better? Arguable. I did drive a 330 before settling on the 335i- the 330 was not enough of an upgrade over my LGT to warrant buying it. The 335 feels like a different machine because the engine sounds, feels, and accelerates better throughout the rev range. I definitely do not have buyers remorse, because I smile all the time when I drive or think about driving this car. The LGT made me smile too, but every time I’d drive by a 335i, I’d start dreaming and wishing I had one. Now, that simply doesn’t happen any more. If I only get one car, there simply is no other car I crave, and that is priceless.

 

You all know what an LGT looks like, here's my 2009 335i xDrive though...

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/mmatheos/LGT/wIMGP5644.jpg

 

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/mmatheos/LGT/wIMGP5574.jpg

 

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/mmatheos/LGT/wIMGP5635.jpg

 

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/mmatheos/LGT/wIMGP5660.jpg

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Nice review. Like most i was a bit disappointed that the Legacy didn't win, however after reading the sticker price of the 335 I feel much better. BMW's are amazing machines and their "freshness" tends to last quite a bit longer than the average automobile. Congrats on the purchase, now take that thing to Vishnu and get it flashed!
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have fun with your bmw at 100,000 miles. subaru is a far superior car.

 

Which part? The cracking ringlands? Dangerous stock tune for the #2 cylinder? Insufficient oil feed to the VF40? Poor stock clutch?

 

Yeah, you are right, the LGT has no flaws.

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Honest review and pretty much what I expected. Car for car the BMW is superior.

 

On the other hand, you can buy a low mileage AP1 s2000 and the lgt for the same price. :)

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i never said it had no flaws. i just have never had good experience with bmw, i had an x5 and had nothing but problems with it

 

Which part? The cracking ringlands? Dangerous stock tune for the #2 cylinder? Insufficient oil feed to the VF40? Poor stock clutch?

 

Yeah, you are right, the LGT has no flaws.

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Honest review and pretty much what I expected. Car for car the BMW is superior.

 

On the other hand, you can buy a low mileage AP1 s2000 and the lgt for the same price. :)

 

 

+1

 

If a car that cost 50% more than my car wasn't superior in most ways, I'd be shocked too.

 

Even though they can be had for the same price now, your S2000 comparo to the LGT is less fair than the 4 door AWD sedans that OP was comparing.

 

I'd love an S2000 to bomb around on mountain roads (I can't fit in one though), but it's a pure N/A sports car, compared to a large, heavy turbo sedan.

 

But you know this better than anyone. You have a Miata. Arguably the purest of them all.

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Nice review. Like most i was a bit disappointed that the Legacy didn't win, however after reading the sticker price of the 335 I feel much better. BMW's are amazing machines and their "freshness" tends to last quite a bit longer than the average automobile. Congrats on the purchase, now take that thing to Vishnu and get it flashed!

 

 

thanks... don't get me wrong guys, I loved the legacy... and for the price it is a steal.

 

And I am tempted to get a jb3 chip- that gives the 335i another 80whp - up to 350whp for only a few hundred $. But I won't risk the warranty ... and it's plenty fast as is.

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Honest review and pretty much what I expected. Car for car the BMW is superior.

 

On the other hand, you can buy a low mileage AP1 s2000 and the lgt for the same price. :)

 

So when is low mileage AP1 coming?

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+1

 

If a car that cost 50% more than my car wasn't superior in most ways, I'd be shocked too.

 

Even though they can be had for the same price now, your S2000 comparo to the LGT is less fair than the 4 door AWD sedans that OP was comparing.

 

I'd love an S2000 to bomb around on mountain roads (I can't fit in one though), but it's a pure N/A sports car, compared to a large, heavy turbo sedan.

 

But you know this better than anyone. You have a Miata. Arguably the purest of them all.

 

i phrased it wrong.

 

s2000 + LGT for the price of his bmw.

 

if you need your handling fix, you're covered. if you need a superior awd system for crap weather, you're covered as well.

 

just wont be in the same car. but lets face it, you can only have 1 set of tires at once so you cant have both (crap weather capable and sweet handling) at the same time.

car for sale. PM me!
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I have to agree the 3.0 Twin turbo I6 in the BMW 3 and 5 (and 7 in uk markets) its really amazing. I drive them almost daily and am still never sick of what seems to be perfect endless power. The M5 to me doesnt even compare because the power on it is so peekey, where as the 335 just has balls all around.

 

Congrats on the purchase, its an exellent car and will last for a very long time with good maintenance.

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I have to agree the 3.0 Twin turbo I6 in the BMW 3 and 5 (and 7 in uk markets) its really amazing. I drive them almost daily and am still never sick of what seems to be perfect endless power. The M5 to me doesnt even compare because the power on it is so peekey, where as the 335 just has balls all around.

 

Congrats on the purchase, its an exellent car and will last for a very long time with good maintenance.

Check out the 3.0 twin turbo with just software and exhaust. They make great power from so little.

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The 3.0 liter twin turbo deffinetley has a more consistent, and predictible power band as all bmws do, However my mommies stock 335 convertible doesnt seem like it has too much of an advantage on my stg 2 especially at lower speeds, I dont really think the engine responds as well as people think, say all over the rpm spectrum, it deffinitley doesnt have turbo lag, but it doesnt really have neck breaking turbo pickup either, and it takes until at least 3400k to start wailing, but once you do there is no stopping it. though the convertible does weigh in at over 2 tonnes. with 9 inch rubber in the back and 8 in the front it is probly the most solid planted feel of any car iver driven, including my daddys old 645. P.S check out the vishnu Procede chip, and exaust, gives you a healthy 390 rwhp, and somewhere around 500 ft/lbs, it would be nice if they would put the m differential on that thing though or any differential for that matter.
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The 3.0 liter twin turbo deffinetley has a more consistent, and predictible power band as all bmws do, However my mommies stock 335 convertible doesnt seem like it has too much of an advantage on my stg 2 especially at lower speeds, I dont really think the engine responds as well as people think, say all over the rpm spectrum, it deffinitley doesnt have turbo lag, but it doesnt really have neck breaking turbo pickup either, and it takes until at least 3400k to start wailing, but once you do there is no stopping it. though the convertible does weigh in at over 2 tonnes. with 9 inch rubber in the back and 8 in the front it is probly the most solid planted feel of any car iver driven, including my daddys old 645. P.S check out the vishnu Procede chip, and exaust, gives you a healthy 390 rwhp, and somewhere around 500 ft/lbs, it would be nice if they would put the m differential on that thing though or any differential for that matter.

 

i thought vishnu's dyno was super happy. like beyond regular happy.

car for sale. PM me!
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