[evanescent03]

that is all. just wanted everyone to know that!

okay fine i'll give my impressions, some are good, some aren't so good.

it was a dark and rainy day and i had both of my kids with me in car seats (wanted to see how bad it would be if i had to put them in there for shorter trips in a pinch). far from ideal test driving conditions, to say the least but i was on dad-duty. the dealership is the same place i bought my M3 and X3 from so i arranged a meeting time and when i got there, my salesman gave me the keys to an M235i and 228i MSport (- THP).

visual/functional comparisons:

m235i was a white convertible which is a big "no thanks". didn't like the contrasting rag top, i'm sure it's fun with the top down though. hard top convertibles i can handle.. rag tops all look terrible to me including the f430 i saw not long ago. it also felt much darker and more cramped inside in comparison and visibility more poor. probably all "duh" things for a convertible but this may have been the first i've ever been in and certainly the first i've driven. sacrifice visibility/space while the top is up but make up for everything when the it's down? perhaps.

black 228i coupe with msport pkg and black kidneys looked awesome.

the interior of the convertible seemed tighter when placing the car seats in (the big bulky style seats, one front facing, one rear) but seemed slightly more accommodating with the coupe. am i nuts? i could swear the front seats were all in their forward most position but seemed like an extra (crucial) inch in the coupe. similarly it seemed like both front seats had more legroom in the coupe. (i sat in passenger seat to try it out as well) i didn't measure, of course, i had more important things to do and time is limited doing these types of things when you have a 2 year old and 11 month old.

settings

both had the 8AT and the sport/econ buttons similar to our x3. i have never liked these settings as it seems it goes from too wimpy to too harsh with no smooth-aggressive setting. the sport setting seemed like the sweet spot in these cars. i need to look more into what exactly that DOES - obvious throttle map, shift points, possibly damper adjustments? not sure what it does to the suspension. as far as throttle response went, i liked sport. i did most of the shifting myself because i didn't really care for the shifting when done by the 8AT ... i know this is slightly unpopular and i'm sure it's my fault for not "using" it correctly, but it just seemed to not shift exactly when i wanted it to. i've gotten pretty good at feeling out my DCT so i'm probably just spoiled by that. shifting manually was fine but again, still noticeably slower/different vs. the DCT in my m3. i know it's not a fair comparison, but for these reasons i would absolutely get the manual transmission. i know some people say the 8AT is quite good and even watching some reviews it seems like it's a great sport-driving auto (even compared to the cla45's "dct"), but just not for me. The car, to me, seems like it's sportier overall than the transmission is allowing it to be. In a straight line, straight acceleration, it seemed quite nice... it was the up/down that i didn't like.

POWAAAAA

i drove our x3 28i to the dealership to try and block out some of my f80 m3's obvious power advantage. i went into this knowing the cars would be peppy/quick but also i've read plenty rave reviews stating how strong the motor in each feels ... my expectations a little too high, i think. maybe it was just too much going on for me to be fair, too. the 228i felt nice on short, low speed bursts, the power delivery was very smooth compared to the m235i, but the power on the highway (60-80) seemed a little on the light side when passing (granted up a moderate incline, but not the rockies). it felt like the power was there, but just had to really be wanted to get after it. the m235i felt a good bit stronger, as expected, but not as big of a difference as i expected compared to my 335i cars i've had ... i was thinking "small car, n55, rocket ship" ... sure it's quick but once again, i think i had the bar set REALLY high! am i saying the 228i is slow? no, definitely not, but it just needs to be driven a little harder to get that push out of it. the m235i is what i was expecting out of the 228i... darn all of you for talking so highly of these cars! haha.... and i don't mean that you or the internet reviewers OVERhyped them to me, but i just was expecting a bit more.

Conclusions

- Coupe for sure.

- Manual for sure.

- even bulky carseats fit in the 228i coupe and m235i convertible! (albeit compromising driver/passenger position unless you're really short, i'm 6'2''+)

- 228i or m235i ?? almost for sure the m235i but i would want another drive in each to solidify this choice and a MT would be more helpful. i'm not a HP junkie, but it does have its advantages. the 228i being more balanced was tough to evaluate with kids in the car and the whole vert/coupe discrepancy but i'm willing to bet the only way i would realllly feel a difference is if i drove them back to back on a road course/autox the same day. power is more immediately noticeable, especially in a day-to-day setting than weight distribution and it'll be a 99% dd.

- LSD? neither car had one and i didn't care in this setting. if i order a 2er, i'll be ordering without the LSD so I can at least give it a try on the track first and see what i think. if i decide to get an aftermarket unit installed later, i'll only appreciate it more at that point. plenty cars on the track without an LSD so i've removed it from my "must have/will have" list for now. i at least want to prove to myself that i need the thing.

i don't do many reviews so hopefully this wasn't painful. all in all, a very fun hour of driving around in some neat little cars. gotta see just how much i'll lose my @$$ upon getting rid of the m3 to see if this is happening or not.

*ps i normally capitalize more but my kid ripped them off my keyboard so it makes it way harder to type, let alone correctly...

and because everyone likes photos even though we all know what a couple of 2ers look like :

[Rus.K]

Nice review thank you for sharing

[Cal]

Perhaps the M235i coupe (with MT), being lighter than the convertible you test drove, will meet your expectations in terms of power. In any case, good review and hope you end up with one of them.

[evanescent03]

Originally Posted by Cal

Perhaps the M235i coupe (with MT), being lighter than the convertible you test drove, will meet your expectations in terms of power. In any case, good review and hope you end up with one of them.

I think the auto would be great for cruising and acceleration runs ... and maybe it just takes a little getting used to because I have heard sooo many good reviews of it that I'm sure it's partly just ME. I'll admit that. I'll take another drive sometime and update if I figure something else out. overall I would be happy and lucky to own either because they are both very nice in many ways. just need to figure out what's best for me. lucky that we have so many good cars to choose from but it's tough picking!

[midwest 340xi 6sp]

Sounds like you should wait for M2 before pulling the trigger on anything...

[MikeT]

IMO, it doesn't seem quite right to compare a coupe to a convertible. As mentioned above, convertibles are heavier. Also, the cabin noise is considerably different.

[evanescent03]

Originally Posted by MikeT

IMO, it doesn't seem quite right to compare a coupe to a convertible. As mentioned above, convertibles are heavier. Also, the cabin noise is considerably different.

it is what it is, Mike! that's what they had so that's what I drove. from a pure performance standpoint of course it's not fair. but I also discussed more than the performance differences. this wasn't meant to be a "let's make all the parameters identical and setup a perfectly fair contest comparison" (no matter how fair, at some point there is a difference that makes it unfair again... if they were both coupes then it wouldn't be fair to compare a car with a bigger engine to a smaller one, or the tires were different, or... you get the point).

this was a comparison of the two vehicles I had available to me at a given time and my opinion of how it went. too bad you didn't like it

[evanescent03]

Originally Posted by Midwest M235i

Sounds like you should wait for M2 before pulling the trigger on anything...

seeing as how some people are pegging it to be low $50ks, that's not a bad idea. I figured it would be mid/high $50ks.

[DBinOC]

Originally Posted by evanescent03

seeing as how some people are pegging it to be low $50ks, that's not a bad idea. I figured it would be mid/high $50ks.

I think your idea will be closer. Consider that you can option out a M235i up into the low 50s, I doubt an M2 will sticker at anything less than $56K...if you can find one at MSRP for the first year.

DBinOC

[Cyberdemon]

You put the top down in a 235i and suddenly you realize "oh this is why the roof is retractable".

Wind + exhaust noise + good weather = amazing experience.

Also the rear headrests in the convertible suck and dangerously compromise the visibility. Yank them out though and you have a Z4 with better proportions, more storage space and a much lower price tag.

[sstarrx3]

Matter of taste I guess. I think the Z4 looks great...2 series vert not so much. The interior is mu h nicer in a z4 too...hence the big price tag.

[nike001]

A lot of level-headed guys who have M3/4's usually end up giving the M235i very high ratings. I know a few myself that lit up that when we were talking about their M3/4, I brought up how I have an m235i.

They're fun cars, just not as M-ey as it's big brother F8x's are.

Curious though, why are you looking to get out of your M?

[evanescent03]

Originally Posted by nike001

A lot of level-headed guys who have M3/4's usually end up giving the M235i very high ratings. I know a few myself that lit up that when we were talking about their M3/4, I brought up how I have an m235i.

They're fun cars, just not as M-ey as it's big brother F8x's are.

Curious though, why are you looking to get out of your M?

they're in the same family of "BWMs made for drivers" ... even though the m235i isn't a true M car, it definitely has the right idea.

the m3 really is perfect, just pretty darn pricey. entering a residency next year and my wife may or may not be working as much so i want to be set up so we don't have to worry about it. the M3 has been awesome but i have a ton of other stuff i could use the extra few hundred/month i'll potentially be saving for a lot of other things. additionally, i'm not "bored" but i do like changing cars often. that's definitely a factor.

i would definitely recommend the m3 to anyone. awesome car.