[GEP77]

Now I've put a few miles on my 335d I thought I'd share some of my thoughts.

I don't think there is much point in typing out a review of the car as this has been done to death I think, however I thought I'd touch on some pros and cons of the car so far.

Pros:
Very surefooted on the road, effortless point and shoot progress.
Fairly happy with the fuel consumption so far (see my fuelly sig).
The seats are excellent - mine are manual with adjustable lumbar (this should be standard in my opinion)
As many have said before the xenons with the dancing beams are very good.
RTTI on the pro media can be astonishingly accurate, I was initially sceptical of some of the reroutes (mostly due to local knowledge) but they are normally excellent.

Cons, mostly minor gripes to be honest.
The 'intelligent' systems (headlights and wipers) can sometimes be astonishingly dimwitted. This is either an annoyance or potentially dangerous depending on the situation.
The use of ordinary filaments in external lights. With all the talk of OLED lights coming in the future, and most manufacturers using LEDs, I'm a bit disappointed that BMW persist with incandescent lights.
I'd like a way to disable 'album art' when listening to DAB. I've never seen an image on it other than the standard POP, Varied etc and it just hides the text. (I always use split screen).
I'd like to be able to use Spotify through the iDrive.
Having run two different wheel setups, 18" Winter's with Continental TS830Ps all round and 19" Summer's with Bridgestone S001s all round the ride comfort is not substantially different between the two, however the road noise - especially on concrete motorways is awful on the Bridgestones (A really unpleasant drone). I will be definitely be changing them to a different tyre when the time comes - suggestions welcome.
The fuel tank is far too small. I'd quite happily sacrifice some or all of the underfloor space in the boot to get the capacity up to 80 or even 90 litres.

[Tengocity]

I'd agree with every single point!

Was just thinking the other day that can't see the track playing when listening to the radio.

Fuel range is my biggest annoyance.

Handling is good but not great. And not as good as could have been possible with that fundamental chassis.

[alex_chung]

Agreed on fuel range. My old E60 had a 70 litre tank and despite the pain when fuelling brim to brim it meant that I could get 600+ miles depending on the driving that I did.
Alex

[digitall.rebel]

How big is the diesel fuel tank?

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by billy.213

How big is the diesel fuel tank?

57 litres. Though the most I got in was 54 litres with a range of zero miles!

So I struggle to get 400 before the warning comes on, and can only just make it from herts to Perth, where my family lives, on the one tank. No one wants to have to fill up on the motorway network!

[....,,,,..,,..]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

57 litres. Though the most I got in was 54 litres with a range of zero miles!

So I struggle to get 400 before the warning comes on, and can only just make it from herts to Perth, where my family lives, on the one tank. No one wants to have to fill up on the motorway network!

That is a bloody small tank IMO for the size of car and engine.

Is this the same tank on S drive and X drive cars?

Being in Scotland or other 'rural' places and short of fuel can be a nightmare.

[Steven1077]

My petrol only has a 60 litre tank and I'm only getting 22mpg so I'd agree on it needing a bigger tank!

[dopper99]

Originally Posted by Steven1077

My petrol only has a 60 litre tank and I'm only getting 22mpg so I'd agree on it needing a bigger tank!

Ouch! Do you rag it, or is that just a lot of town driving with short journeys? That must be less than 300 miles to a tank?

[sweels]

Good point on the fuel tank size. Having come from an e91 320d where 600 plus was easy on a run, the 3 things of fewer mpg (but not too bad) and I beleive a slightly smaller official fuel capacity (unless e9x diesels also had smaller tank) and if I'm honest a more pessimistic fuel range indicator all conspire agsinst me.

I guess we should be thankful we don't have a german market new shape c-class as their standard tank on some models is now 41litres. All in the interests of lower weight on the official test (tank has to be a certain %age full) I believe.

[NISFAN]

Originally Posted by GEP77

Having run two different wheel setups, 18" Winter's with Continental TS830Ps all round and 19" Summer's with Bridgestone S001s all round the ride comfort is not substantially different between the two, however the road noise - especially on concrete motorways is awful on the Bridgestones (A really unpleasant drone). I will be definitely be changing them to a different tyre when the time comes - suggestions welcome.

My first F30 had Bridgestones S001, my second came with the Pirelli P Zero Run flats. The Pirelli are significantly quieter and IMO a much better tyre (grippier in dry and wet). I don't think they will last as long as the S001's by a few thousand miles is the only downside.

I now have Yokohama NON RF tyres on the rear. Not really any quieter (that you can notice, although still have RF on front), but definitely less physical 'rumble' on the rough tarmac. If you are willing to take the chance on a puncture mobility kit (compressor and glue) then definitely worth considering.

[Southern Jay]

The fuel tank size is poor on the 3 series, coming from a Volvo s60 rDesign with a 67.5 litre tank, if I took it relatively easy I could get over 700 miles from it.

In 2 days I have been to Leeds and back and Southampton and back and have about 40 odd miles left on the range so would be about 550 miles from full to empty. I also have a habit of filling up till I can see the fuel at the top of the filler, simply to squeeze those few extra miles out of the tank before having to fill up again.

[FSE23]

The Prof SatNav is a bit stupid sometimes. It happened to me a few times when it told me to exit the motorway than to take a second exit on the roundabout and join the motorway. I actually took the exit once somewhere in Switzerland when I did not pay much attention where I was driving and got caught, looking a bit stupid went back to motorway. Same things happened on M1.

[Spoonhead]

Good points, especially the tank size. Can't understand why the e90 had a 61ltr capacity and the f30 is only 57 ltrs (diesel). Currently my 320d (ED) can eke out 850-900 miles from a tank. Clearly the 330d is going to be les, but doesn't help by reducing the tank size.

[mynamesnotbob]

Agreed on the tank size, I was hoping for much more range far more than I cared about actual MPG. I currently get 500 - 550 miles out of a tank most of the time, which means I need to fill up twice a week much of the time.

As someone said it's probably linked to curb weights and official economy figures, but it's still a hassle. Maybe they could offer a bigger tank as part of one of the packs to get around the issue, as there surely is space for a bigger tank than a focus.

Nav I've found very good, but wish there was a way to easily see the traffic reports that are relevent. When I'm doing a reasonable journey the traffic reports, instead of showing me the ones that effect me, just seem to list every traffic issue in in the northern hemisphere...

[Floriank]

Originally Posted by GEP77

I'd like a way to disable 'album art' when listening to DAB. I've never seen an image on it other than the standard POP, Varied etc and it just hides the text. (I always use split screen).

The only DAB radio station that displays an artist's image for nearly every song on the split screen I've come across is Capital FM London

None of the local Capital FM stations seem to, only the London one does

[GEP77]

Originally Posted by NISFAN

My first F30 had Bridgestones S001, my second came with the Pirelli P Zero Run flats. The Pirelli are significantly quieter and IMO a much better tyre (grippier in dry and wet). I don't think they will last as long as the S001's by a few thousand miles is the only downside.

I now have Yokohama NON RF tyres on the rear. Not really any quieter (that you can notice, although still have RF on front), but definitely less physical 'rumble' on the rough tarmac. If you are willing to take the chance on a puncture mobility kit (compressor and glue) then definitely worth considering.

I've always had good experiences with Pirelli tyres so would certainly consider the P zeros. I'm not sure I'd be happy with mobility kit given that I tend to do a lot of miles and often in the middle of the night - read no tyre depots open.

[GEP77]

Originally Posted by Floriank

The only DAB radio station that displays an artist's image for nearly every song on the split screen I've come across is Capital FM London

None of the local Capital FM stations seem to, only the London one does

Can't say I've ever listened to Capital. Seems a high price to pay to get some visuals!

[Floriank]

Originally Posted by GEP77

Can't say I've ever listened to Capital. Seems a high price to pay to get some visuals!

Trust me, there's a much higher price to pay for NOT listening when you have two teenage kids in the car with you - winge, winge, winge, grump grump grump....