Performance
The 335i is primarily personified by its incredible twin-turbo engine. The turbos spool up fast and provide breathtaking acceleration at will. Once above 4,000 RPM, the engine positively screams, launching you into illegal speeds. Large and effective binders haul you down fast. But the car truly comes alive carving up mountain roads. There is plenty of torque and engine flexibility to flog the car in 2nd gear going up your favorite road. Truly addictive, it is in its element on back roads and is likely an ideal track car.
With respect to measured acceleration times, other publications have cited 0-60 times in 4.8 seconds. Due to too much wheel-spin at launch, we were only able to muster 5.3 seconds. But this is dramatically quicker than the Ford Mustang Bullitt that sounds and feels quicker; we were only able to register 5.7 seconds for the Mustang.
Gas mileage was about the same as the Mustang; averaged 16.6 mpg. Not terrific in these days of $4+ gallon gas.
Handling
For the most part, the 335i was an amazingly great handling car. Dissecting mountain passes demonstrated the lack of body roll and tremendous power of the engine. The car truly dances through the curves, weighting and un-weighting perfectly while the ultra-responsive throttle guides you out of turns. Steering weight was perfect.
One nit-as with previous generation BMW’s, there isn’t a lot of direct feedback to the steering wheel of the road surface, but this is a small drawback compared to the overall handling excellence.
Styling
While the car has positive greatness in handling and power, the styling was neither here nor there for me. It wasn’t super attractive but it isn’t “ugly” either. It looks like a generic 3-series with no boy-racer mods to hint at the performance lurking beneath. In some ways that’s good – makes for a perfect sleeper car. But in other ways, it would be nice if it looked a bit more “sporting”. For instance, the new 1-series has a more aggressive stance which better personifies the performance potential.
Value
At $46,000 as tested, this is an expensive car, $10,000 more than a loaded Audi A4 and nearly as much as the sportier Audi S4’s. The Lexus IS 350 is also ~$10k cheaper but doesn’t have the power and handling. Both Audi and Lexus interiors might get the edge in quality materials but lack the handling, power, and balance of this car.
Drivers Rewarded
If you love to drive aggressively, the 335i will reward you with an incredible engine and fantastic handling that gets better the harder you push it. What other car seats 4, rips 0-60 in around 5 seconds, and handles as if on rails for less than $50,000? Given that criteria, it is hard to beat. And if you like the concept of a “sleeper” that can out –run 90% of the cars out there, it’s very appealing.
| Build | Interior | Performance | Handling | Styling | Value | Overall | |
| Rating | 4.0 | 3.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.9/B |
| EXPERT REVIEWS | |||
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2010 BMW 335d Review – Clean and efficient mpg in the ultimate driving package Rating:  By Anson Tse “The BMW 3-series is perhaps the best handling sedan on the market. I would best describe the handling as agile and firmly planted, but never bulky or overweight. “ |
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Jlevi Steetwerks BMW 335i project car – Enter the dragon Rating:  By Derek Mau “It’s a joy to drive, we love the volume, the bumpiness isn’t bad at all with the current suspension settings, and there are ZERO error codes.” |
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2008 BMW 335i Sedan Review Rating: By Twain Mein “Carving mountain passes demonstrated the lack of body roll and tremendous power of the engine. The car truly dances through the curves…” |
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 The official BMW of North America website – www.bmwusa.com |
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For the gentle person with the ’09 Audi a4 Quattrow could not beat the BMW xi in a test of traction. so I would park that junk.
@Pchan – since BMW has officially announced a recall on the fuel pump and injector problem, it shouldn’t be a problem getting the problem fixed on a certified pre-owned 3-series that is under warranty by the dealer.
Look at the service records for the 3-series you are planning to buy. If the fuel pump problem hasn’t been an issue up to now, then most likely it won’t come up during your warranty period.
I am considering buying a certified pre-owned 2008-2009 335i. Has there been any official or unofficial progress with the fuel pump and injectors. Are 328i suffering from the same fuel pump issue?
I have owned my 2008 BMW 335i since September of 2008. The recall issues with the high pressure fuel pump are well know, and I had my share of problems. Each time that I took the car in, I was told that the software needed to be tweeked. Finally, when the recall came out my service advisor told me that he had know all along what the problem was with my car, but that BMW would not pay for him to replace the high pressure fuel pump. Cold comfort to me. Even after having the recall work done I continued to experience problems with the car, so I took it to another dealership. They told me that the previous dealer had only changed the fuel pump and that the fuel injectors should have been changed at the same time. They proceeded to change the injectors. I continued to have problems with the car. Today I was informed that I needed a new “low pressure” fuel pump. However, according to my service advisor the part is not in existence anywhere in the world and will have to be specially manufactured for my car. I have now officially reached the end of my patience with BMW. This was once my “dream car” but now I consider it my nightmare.
Fantastic auto, Stage 2 Dinan as well. Is there a more fun car to drive fast? Quiet like a library at 270K/hr. Not even a hiccup with this auto. Not a fan of no spare tire idea but so far never had a flat tire issue. Only twice had the ‘low tire pressure’ warning and that gave me lots of warning (came in at 29 pounds) to refill/repair.
This is not an off the line car though, I think my ’98 GTP would take it for the first 100 yards.
I must be one of the lucky ones. Zero problems on my ’08. Even after doing the Dinan Stg II upgrade. If you thought the car was quick before, this will put an even bigger grin on your face.
I’ve always heard bimmers were expensive to maintain, but I had zero problems with my ’06 330, so I bought an ’08 and still no problems. Let’s just say this car see’s nothing but spirited driving.
My 08 335i has been bullet proof. I love it and am keeping it forever. Fastest, coolest, best handling car I have ever driven. Some issues with the HPFP but most don,t have any problems. For those that do there is almost a forever warranty on them.
I bought a brand new 2008 335i. After driving for about 20k it mysteriously started to cough and sputter in the middle of the road one night. I was a pretty scary experience stopping in the middle of the road with cars zipping by and you’re trying to navigate it to the side of the road.
Anyways, I have the car towed to my dealer, they fix the problem in a few days (they replaced the high pressure fuel pump) and sent me on my way. They did all this w/o disclosing that these particular models (2007 onwards) with the twin turbo are a known defect. I come home and google this issue on a whim and lo and behold there are thousands of others just like me in North America who suffered from this same issue. I read that BMW USA offered a 10 year 200K extended warranty on the fuel pumps. After reading this, I zipped down to my dealer to speak with a manager. I ended up ripping them a new one for about 2 hours on how they failed to disclose this to me and how they put mine and my wifes safety in jeopardy. Anyways, long story short, they contacted BMW Canada on my behalf to f/u on this issue. Now, I also have the same 10 year 200K warranty on my fuel pump.
I’ve had my high pressure fuel pump changed twice (3 in total including the original pump when bought the car) in about 6 months. The dude at the dealership told me quietly that they’ve had to change some ppl’s pumps up to 7 times! I will be unloading this car as soon as the warranty is up since its about $2-$3K each time to swap out a fuel pump with parts and labour! Outrageous!
Other than all that, they’re a dream to drive!
I purchased my 08′ 335i Sedan in Oct 07′. I love the car when it’s not in the shop but I’m starting to consider getting rid of it due to a number of problems I’ve had with it. First of all, the Bridgestone run flats that the factory put on the car were nothing but problematic for me. I’ve since replaced them with non-Bridgestone, non-run flats with no problems in over 15k miles. The factory tires seemed to constantly have nails in them and we all know they can’t be repaired. My water pump also went out at 44k miles, which is when I started having oil leaks also. They just replaced the oil pan gasket and less than a week after getting my 335i back, it’s already back in the shop with what appears to be a shot alternator or possibly an electrical problem. Bottom line is, the car is great for speed, handling and overall performance but has proven terribly unreliable. I never expected it to be as reliable as the Japanese competitors but I definitely expected more from BMW and German engineering than what I’ve experienced. I wish others on this post would be more specific about their problems with this car instead of just posting short reports blasting it w/o more details.
Ever try the 09 Audi a4 with sport suspension??? blows this piece of junk bmw out of the water!!
I wouldn’t go as far as calling the 335i a piece of junk, but the ’09 A4 quattro can drive the pants off of other sport sedans when the weather is anything but dry. Read my review for more details.
http://reviews.carreview.com/blog/2009-audi-a4-32-fsi-first-impressions/
To BMW 335I owners,
This model has a defect and you must bring it in to replace the defect part asap. The high pressure fuel pump has a defect.
My car stalled/stopped in the middle of the road 2 weeks ago. I am lucky that I am still alive. If it happenned on the freeway, I may not make it alive. I drive it at 75-80mph on the freeway. Imagine that it stalls/stops at that speed on the freeway and there is/are car(s) that follow my car. Boy, that would be FUN…
Folks who work at BMW dealership told me that it is a known problem!!!!! When I bought the car, the saleman at that dealership did not disclose that information to me.
Fix it as soon as you can!
Hummm….consumer reports
2007 335i Junk reliability
2008 335i Junk Reliability
I wonder about 2009; oh we know that answer. Don’t ask a BMW representative; ask a owner. We’ll tell you where all the good tow services are.
How bout those 2010 models; heard any good news on the web about these jewels? Oh …..bad fuel pumps. Injector issues….
As with most cars, people have experiences on both sides of the fence. I have close ties with a BMW service manager and two owners of (E92) 335i coupes. The two owners that I know have had zero problems with their fuel systems, regularly maintain their cars and haven’t had any bad experiences with service issues while logging an excess of 15k miles every year. I’ll have to check in with the BMW service manager to find out how pervasive the fuel system problem is with the E90/E91/E92 generation of cars.
I would not recommend the 208 335i. BMW North America just repurchased mine because it could not be repaired. There are known problems with the fuel system on these cars and BMW has been aware of it since the model was first released. After only 15 months, mine started bucking, coughing, and sputtering. It spent 29 days in the shop, and then BMW called and offered to buy it back from me. I loved the car, but wouldn’t buy another BMW, especially not a 335i.
My new 2008 spent over 30 days in the shop. 50K and being towed twice; huh…the ultimate “towed” machine. I would not recommend this car to anyone. Complete nightmare.
It will be a dream to have BMW 335i for me. I LOVE THIS CAR more than myself!!!!:((((
Amazing from handling to acceleration this car is a rocket, I have a silver titanium 08′ 335i that I just bought and I love it. It is not a beast like the M3 but it has a much smoother ride. I am parking the Toyota and ROCKIN the BEEMER!
I would not recommend another BMW. I have a 2007 BMW and had nothing but recurrent tire troubles. Every few weeks I have to fill in air in one of my tires. The same damn tired. Brought to the dealer 4 times and they just filled the tire and reset the button and said, everything is fine. THEN, one guy had the galls to tell me that I should check my tires every 2 wks anyway and fill as needed. Come on, I have had cars before and never had to fill up the tires as much as this one. Seems to be a problem with the run flat tires and my dealership is not admitting to such but just filling it up and telling me how special my tires are on my on 335i. Special alright, a special P.O.S. I will never, buy or lease another BMW. I’m going back to lexus and toyota.
Nice work! Amazing how performance speaks for itself. It really is an amazingly well-rounded car.
I ordered my 08 335i in Novenber of 07, and took delivery in February. When I told my wife how much I’d spent, $53,000 plus, her words were “you spent that much? I don’t get it” Note: We live in Hawaii, and prices are a little higher here. I also added a bunch of extras.
After about a week, my wife decided to take it to the store by herself. When she returned, she was grinning from ear-to-ear and said those three litte words that warm a car lover’s heart, “I get it.”
This is the most amazing car I have ever driven. It is scarily fast, and corners like a go cart. I have a few minor gripes about the car such as no dip-stick and the rain sensing wiper switch being a little hard to locate the first time, and the window switches are a little too far forward for my taste.
I would not hesitate on recommending the 335i to anyone.