VTEC_Junkie

i beg to differ. most e30s i encounter are pieces of crap. the conditions of used cars are dependent on how well owners take care of them.

VTEC_Junkie

they have a valid point. honda's vtec is dependent on rpm. the valvetronic's variable lift and duration is infinitely variable. the conventional vtec in the s2000 is antiquated at best.

on a side notes, by the look of the pics of the valvetronic components, those spring-like things look mighty flimsy and i suspect they would be premature problems for e90 owners after a few years of ownership.

VTEC_Junkie

then why are you driving an s2000 instead of a 3.0 z3/z4??

rai

C&D has exclusive test of the 330i w/6-speed MT

0-60 5.6sec
1/4 mile 14.3sec@98 mph

Note: this was tested on a "poor grip" test surface and was equal to the last 330i with PP a car which has "much larger rear tires". Also the euro spec car did 155mph while the US cars will be governed to 130mph.

Curb weight 3450 lbs.

Warren J. Dew

This seems a good point. It seems like I see as many 1970s BMWs now as I did in the 1970s. This isn't a lot, but it's as many as I see S2000s (other than my own).

dbjb

a seven year old Lexus is more reliable than a one year old BMW.

Look at the reliability reports in Consumer Reports and the BMW reports look like "black" is winning in a game of Connect Four.

VTEC_Junkie

i think a reason for this is because people find it more worthwhile to spend the money to keep these old bmws running because they are "bmws". in the public's eye, it's kinda cool to be driving an older bmw, whereas it's not so cool to be driving an older honda/toyota. heck, there are many people who would rather buy and drive a 6-8 year old bmw, than a brand new honda civic for the same price. so the fact that you still see a good amount of 70s bmw on the road doesn't necessarily mean that they are better built and more reliable cars. it could just be that people are more willing to spend the money to keep them running.

Carlson

Thats basically S2K's straight line performance..... Nice!

moff

I have got a 330 Ci Sport convertible (231hp), and on Saturday I drove the new 325i SE saloon (215hp). It was quite a nice car and there were some improvements over the E46. The engine had only got 158 miles on the clock so it was a little hard to tell how quick the car was, but I was a little dissappointed with the cars pull in 4th gear - 4k rpm. The IDrive system which is only availble in cars with SatNav is actually very good - so all the talk of the IDrive being crap is crap. The IDrive is nothing like the same system used in the 7 Series.

The car I drove had the active steering which is horrible. However if you are not a driving enthusiast and do a lot of town / city driving I can see the benefits. For me however it really spoiled the driving experience. The interior is nice and of good quality, better than the X3 and Z4 - both of which I thought were rather cheap and plasticky. The car is noticeably bigger than the E46 and looks like a better looking slightly smaller 5 series. I found it easy to mistake the new 3 series with a 5 series. I am not too sure about the rear lights but I think the upcoming coupe will look much nicer.

When looking at the performance figures of BMW's remember that BMW ALWAYS quote 0-62 mph and not 0-60 mph. This soemtimes involves an additional gear change. BMW also tend to quote slower times than the magazines actually achieve. I am sure that the new 330i will prove to be quicker than the current model since its up from 231hp to 256hp (in Europe) and is not much heavier.

New engines to be launched in Europe will be the current 3l diesel engine pushing 272hp and a new 3.5l 300hp+ engine to bridge the gap between the 330 and the M3. No dates have been set for these. The coupe and sport models is due to be launched in September in the UK with the cabriolet following in a further 6 months.

I am going to get a 330Ci sport when its released for a few days to have a good test drive and will report back with pics hopefully!

PLYRS 3

the spirit of my statement is obviously lost on you.

if it was a TOSS-UP between the S2000 and a Z3/Z4, then i would have taken the Z. however, it wasn't a toss-up....i wanted the S2000.