[DeTomaso] NPC: automotive journalism and manual transmissions

[Garth Rodericks]

That BMW auto might have felt nice on a test drive, but having purchased a 2011 328i with the auto (a concession to the wife), I can tell you for a fact it SUCKS!!!!  I'm really sorry I bought this car!  I loved my 5-speed 328i that preceeded this one.  But the 2011 has not lived up to any of my expectations.  It's a beautiful car, handles great, and stops on a dime. But, it is not a pleasure to drive!  The throttle response delay in the drive by wire system is unacceptable and actually makes the car dangerous - you step on the gas to take off from a stop and nothing happens so you keep pushing the gas further, then the engine suddenly responds and the car lurches off the line - as my wife puts it, it's very "jerky" to drive. And the automatic transmission holds every gear several seconds too long, regardless of whether you're pressing the gas down to accelerate hard or just cruising at 30mph, or your in 'standard' or 'sport' mode!  And, in 'sport'
 mode, the throttle input rate is different - the same throttle input should yield the same rpm from the engine, regardless of whether in 'standard' or 'sport' mode!  Another dangerous situation as when it sport mode, applying a modest amount of gas causes the engine to respond like you've floored the accelerator - firmware updates have abated some of this issue, but not all of it.

Anyway, there's nothing the dealer can or will do about it.  It's not throwing any error codes, so there's nothing they can fix.  And they won't replace the transmission as "it's the number one complaint received about the cars," and they can't do any ECU tuning to correct these issues either.  The newer 328's and 335's now have a different transmission which doesn't seem to exhibit these issues on the loaner cars the dealer gives me when I take mine in. Sure wish I purchased the standard transmission!

This is my 2nd and likely LAST BMW. And hopefully I won't own it much longer.  Maybe it's time to find a nice used E46 M3, as I'll never by another new one.

-Garth


--- Original Message ---
When I bought my 6 speed 2011 335is the dealer only had the
dual-clutch auto on the lot for a test drive. It was actually very nice,
I can see my next sporty-ish car having something like that and
being perfectly happy. Since I buy new vehicles every 15 years or so, I've got time to see
how it shakes out. I was bummed when Dan Neil's writing was not available in the
LA Times any more, I do occasionally hunt out his stuff for a
good read. --mike
-------------- next part --------------
   That BMW auto might have felt nice on a test drive, but having
   purchased a 2011 328i with the auto (a concession to the wife), I can
   tell you for a fact it SUCKS!!!!  I'm really sorry I bought this car!
   I loved my 5-speed 328i that preceeded this one.  But the 2011 has not
   lived up to any of my expectations.  It's a beautiful car, handles
   great, and stops on a dime. But, it is not a pleasure to drive!  The
   throttle response delay in the drive by wire system is unacceptable and
   actually makes the car dangerous - you step on the gas to take off from
   a stop and nothing happens so you keep pushing the gas further, then
   the engine suddenly responds and the car lurches off the line - as my
   wife puts it, it's very "jerky" to drive. And the automatic
   transmission holds every gear several seconds too long, regardless of
   whether you're pressing the gas down to accelerate hard or just
   cruising at 30mph, or your in 'standard' or 'sport' mode!  And, in
   'sport' mode, the throttle input rate is different - the same throttle
   input should yield the same rpm from the engine, regardless of whether
   in 'standard' or 'sport' mode!  Another dangerous situation as when it
   sport mode, applying a modest amount of gas causes the engine to
   respond like you've floored the accelerator - firmware updates have
   abated some of this issue, but not all of it.
   Anyway, there's nothing the dealer can or will do about it.  It's not
   throwing any error codes, so there's nothing they can fix.  And they
   won't replace the transmission as "it's the number one complaint
   received about the cars," and they can't do any ECU tuning to correct
   these issues either.  The newer 328's and 335's now have a different
   transmission which doesn't seem to exhibit these issues on the loaner
   cars the dealer gives me when I take mine in. Sure wish I purchased the
   standard transmission!
   This is my 2nd and likely LAST BMW. And hopefully I won't own it much
   longer.  Maybe it's time to find a nice used E46 M3, as I'll never by
   another new one.
   -Garth
   --- Original Message ---
When I bought my 6 speed 2011 335is the dealer only had the
dual-clutch auto on the lot for a test drive. It was actually very nice,
I can see my next sporty-ish car having something like that and
being perfectly happy.

Since I buy new vehicles every 15 years or so, I've got time to see
how it shakes out.

I was bummed when Dan Neil's writing was not available in the
LA Times any more, I do occasionally hunt out his stuff for a
good read.

   --mike