Feb. MT Comparo: 1) 330i, 2) IS350, 3) C350
01-04-06, 11:29 AM
#16
Rookie
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Michigan
Posts: 84
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by CK6Speed
I too am kind of shocked with the C350 performance and price. I expect the IS350 to be the fastest of the bunch, the 330 to drive the best, and I would have thought the C350 to be the heaviest and worst handling of them all by far. The C350 turned out to be the 2nd fastest, nearly as light as the BMW, and the cheapest 
I've got to agree with the BMW boosters here that it steers and handles like no other sedan right now. On the other hand, it feels less quick than it actually is. The powertrain of the IS provides more thrills--except I'd want a stick. I drove the IS 250 with a stick, and was disappointed.
The C-Class in sport form handles much better than it used to, but doesn't approach the new BMW in this area. It's also beginning to feel like an old design. A manual is offered with the big six, but good luck finding one this way at a dealer. You better be sure it's what you want, because if you want one you'll have to order it.
06-19-06, 05:47 PM
#17
Luxury Sport Sedan Comparison Road Test
2006 BMW 330i vs. 2006 Lexus IS 350 vs. 2006 Mercedes-Benz C350 Sport
The Players
Armed with 255 horses, the 330i steps up to the firing line all new, ready to play the dual roles of assassin and target. Not only does the new E90 330i make 20 more ponies than its most powerful predecessor, the E46 330i Performance Package, but it does so with a heavily updated suspension, a stiffer body, and extensive implementation of lightweight materials--an aluminum/magnesium engine block, hollow steel camshafts, aluminum front brake calipers, to name a few--and new-to-the-3 technology, including run-flat tires, Xenon adaptive headlights, and dynamic cruise control. Moreover, to accommodate Americans' growing needs, the 3 has expanded accordingly: 2.2 inches longer, 3.0 inches wider, and a 1.4-inch-longer wheelbase that contributes to an additional 2.2 cubic feet of interior volume.
For this battle, BMW lent us a perfectly equipped 330i--in other words, one without active steering or the iDrive multimedia controller. The former, although functionally better compared with the system in the 5 and 6 Series, still falsifies an otherwise natural experience in our book. As such, the $42,390 330i arrived with the requisite six-speed manual and a bevy of options: a $1600 sport package (18-inch alloys, front sport seats, a leather-wrapped three-spoke steering wheel, a 0.6-inch-lower ride height, and firmer dampers and springs), a $2200 premium package (leather upholstery, auto-dimming mirrors, digital compass, Bluetooth cell-phone interface, and BMW Assist in-car telematics), a $1000 cold-weather package (heated front seats, headlight washers, and fold-down rear seats), and $595 satellite radio.
At the Track
With the lowest horsepower figure and the highest weight-to-power ratio (13.5 pounds/horsepower), the BMW was unsurprisingly the slowest in acceleration tests, ripping off a still-respectable 0-to-60 run of 5.8 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 14.5 at 96.7 mph. Respectable enough, in fact, that those figures put it on the heels of the last E36 M3 four-door sedan we tested in April 1997. With 262 fewer pounds, the 240-horse M3 recorded 0-to-60 and quarter-mile times of 5.5 seconds and 14.0 at 99.2, respectively. In that test, we also ran a 276-horse Mercedes C36 AMG through its paces, logging runs of 5.9 seconds (0 to 60) and 14.4 at 97.7 (quarter mile).
Back to the present, the C350, unlike its BMW counterpart, handily smoked its high-performance forebear, registering a 0-to-60 blitz of 5.4 ticks and a quarter-mile sprint of 14.1 at 99.1. This baby Benz has some firepower! Numbers aside, the C350 simply seemed way quicker than the Bimmer, despite having a clumsy shifter that felt like a rubber chicken. On his first acceleration run in the Benz, senior road-test editor Chris Walton missed the 1-2 shift, proclaiming over the radio, "Very notchy--this isn't a BMW shifter." Unlike the BMW's 3.0-liter, the Benz's 3.5, whose 38 additional pound-feet are realized 350 rpm sooner, has the low-end grunt to pin your ears off the line as well as the high-rpm horsepower to pin your grin as you chase the horizon. As Walton noted about the Teutonic sixes, "The BMW I-6 is, indeed, smoother than the M-B V-6; however, it takes what feels like twice as long to reach the redline and only begins to make power above 4000 rpm." The Lexus 3.5, similar to the Mercedes's, has power on hand throughout the rev range--just a lot more of it.
Burdening each one of its 306 horsepower with just 11.7 pounds, the IS was the quickest to 60 (5.2 seconds) and through the quarter mile (13.8 at 102.9 mph), and it felt every bit as brawny in the real world, where editorial assistant Scott Mortara exclaimed, "The power is awesome! Enough to reel in the others on a straight." Furthermore, the Lexus six never came across coarse or strained in any way, only mechanically refined and melodiously pleasant, thanks in part to the raspy note from the dual stainless-steel exhausts. And while we yearned for the opportunity to row the IS's six gears ourselves, the automatic--especially in paddle-shift mode--proved an able motivator, spurring the powerplant quickly and seamlessly, although downshifts in ECT Sport mode were often more abrupt than we would've liked.
The Road
Surprising. The one word all three drivers uttered after exiting the Mercedes. "One loop, and if I hadn't known this was a C-Class, I never would've guessed by the way it devoured Angeles Crest," said Walton. "The biggest surprise of the bunch," declared Mortara. Take this Benz for a spin, and you realize how fun and able a C-Class can be. While softer than the BMW and the Lexus--the C displayed more pitch, dive, and body roll--the Benz nonetheless chewed up and spit out curve after curve, inspiring confidence with each turn of the wheel. Moreover, the C's softer legs afforded it the most compliant ride, smoothing out even the bumpiest roads. Though saddled with a subpar shifter and a brake pedal a bit too high for ideal heel-and-toeing, the Mercedes featured light, linear steering, communicative and strong brakes, and a soft spot for mild understeer, which made spirited driving easy and predictable, not to mention more fun--especially with Mercedes's unobtrusive ESP, which didn't rob the car of what it was capable of doing. A set of 18-inch wheels and grippier tires would undoubtedly help performance, not to mention aesthetics. As it stands, the C350 looks identical to its entry-level stablemate, the C230. All said and done, the Benz came across as quick, capable, and subdued. A sleeper. Did it just not wake us up? When the ballots were submitted and the votes counted, there were two cars ahead of the Benz--the winner and the biggest threat to the winner.
While the IS was the most rewarding on the dragstrip, the same couldn't be said for it out on the open road, be it straight or twisty. Compared with the ride of both German cars, the IS's bordered on harsh, transmitting every nook and cranny in the pavement, leading us to believe the sport suspension had been tuned more for track purposes than for public roads. The IS did make up for some of the harshness with its plush, luxurious cabin, which featured the softest leather, the highest-quality plastics and wood, and the most euphoric audio system.
A session of tight and high-speed turns through the mountains, based on our 8/10ths driving, proved the IS wasn't the ideal weekend hot-lapper, either. It exhibited needless understeer, continually pushing and sliding the front end beyond our intended arc. Yes, part of the blame can be attributed to your scribe and the other testers, but much of the culpability goes back to the IS, which has a numbing effect on the pilot. Sure, from one side of the mountain to the other, the IS is arguably the quickest car--0.85 g on the skidpad, 60-to-0 in 121 feet, and 306 horses is a strong recipe--but it'll take the checkered flag with the driver at arm's length, minimizing his involvement, mostly because the Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management system is too meddlesome, too often interfering with the driver's throttle and brake inputs.
Walton opined, "There's not much feel in any of the controls [steering, throttle, brakes]. I felt a sense of distance when I drove this car. It's good, but it's a transistorized performance that can't ever be as involving as the other two's." It was simply too difficult to know how much was too much or how much was left when it came to pushing the IS or dialing it back. In a sport sedan, that's not the sort of feel that wins tests. At the end of the day, it was that artificial flavoring that placed the IS behind the most organic of the group.
Come on, BMW, light my fire.
Here's a result:
1st Place 2006 BMW 330i
Benchmark, standard, yardstick, epitome, quintessence--yeah, all of that.
2nd Place 2006 Lexus IS 350
Look in your rearview mirror, BMW, Lexus is coming fast - very fast.
3rd Place Mercedes-Benz C350 Sport
Fast but not so furious--the perfect Benz for the furtive drag racer.
Test Data
Acceleration to mph
BMW Lexus Benz
0-30 2.0 sec 2.1 sec 1.9 sec
0-40 3.2 3.0 3.0
0-50 4.4 4.0 4.2
0-60 5.8 5.2 5.4
0-70 7.8 6.7 7.4
0-80 10.0 8.3 9.2
0-90 12.4 10.4 11.3
0-100 15.7 13.0 14.3
Passing 45-65 mph 2.9 sec 2.4 sec 2.8 sec
Quarter mile 14.5 sec @ 96.7 mph 13.8 sec @ 102.9 mph 14.1 sec @ 99.1 mph
Braking, 100-0 mph 330 ft 335 ft 348 ft
Braking, 60-0 mph 116 ft 121 ft 120 ft
600-ft slalom 67.5 mph avg 66.1 mph avg 64.6 mph avg
Lateral acceleration 0.89 g avg 0.85 g avg 0.83 g avg
MT Figure Eight 26.5 sec @ 0.68 g avg 27.0 sec @ 0.67 g avg 27.2 sec @ 0.65 g avg
Top-gear revs @ 60 mph 2175 rpm 1900 rpm 1950 rpm
Wow! BMW 330i sedan won another.
The Players
Armed with 255 horses, the 330i steps up to the firing line all new, ready to play the dual roles of assassin and target. Not only does the new E90 330i make 20 more ponies than its most powerful predecessor, the E46 330i Performance Package, but it does so with a heavily updated suspension, a stiffer body, and extensive implementation of lightweight materials--an aluminum/magnesium engine block, hollow steel camshafts, aluminum front brake calipers, to name a few--and new-to-the-3 technology, including run-flat tires, Xenon adaptive headlights, and dynamic cruise control. Moreover, to accommodate Americans' growing needs, the 3 has expanded accordingly: 2.2 inches longer, 3.0 inches wider, and a 1.4-inch-longer wheelbase that contributes to an additional 2.2 cubic feet of interior volume.
For this battle, BMW lent us a perfectly equipped 330i--in other words, one without active steering or the iDrive multimedia controller. The former, although functionally better compared with the system in the 5 and 6 Series, still falsifies an otherwise natural experience in our book. As such, the $42,390 330i arrived with the requisite six-speed manual and a bevy of options: a $1600 sport package (18-inch alloys, front sport seats, a leather-wrapped three-spoke steering wheel, a 0.6-inch-lower ride height, and firmer dampers and springs), a $2200 premium package (leather upholstery, auto-dimming mirrors, digital compass, Bluetooth cell-phone interface, and BMW Assist in-car telematics), a $1000 cold-weather package (heated front seats, headlight washers, and fold-down rear seats), and $595 satellite radio.
At the Track
With the lowest horsepower figure and the highest weight-to-power ratio (13.5 pounds/horsepower), the BMW was unsurprisingly the slowest in acceleration tests, ripping off a still-respectable 0-to-60 run of 5.8 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 14.5 at 96.7 mph. Respectable enough, in fact, that those figures put it on the heels of the last E36 M3 four-door sedan we tested in April 1997. With 262 fewer pounds, the 240-horse M3 recorded 0-to-60 and quarter-mile times of 5.5 seconds and 14.0 at 99.2, respectively. In that test, we also ran a 276-horse Mercedes C36 AMG through its paces, logging runs of 5.9 seconds (0 to 60) and 14.4 at 97.7 (quarter mile).
Back to the present, the C350, unlike its BMW counterpart, handily smoked its high-performance forebear, registering a 0-to-60 blitz of 5.4 ticks and a quarter-mile sprint of 14.1 at 99.1. This baby Benz has some firepower! Numbers aside, the C350 simply seemed way quicker than the Bimmer, despite having a clumsy shifter that felt like a rubber chicken. On his first acceleration run in the Benz, senior road-test editor Chris Walton missed the 1-2 shift, proclaiming over the radio, "Very notchy--this isn't a BMW shifter." Unlike the BMW's 3.0-liter, the Benz's 3.5, whose 38 additional pound-feet are realized 350 rpm sooner, has the low-end grunt to pin your ears off the line as well as the high-rpm horsepower to pin your grin as you chase the horizon. As Walton noted about the Teutonic sixes, "The BMW I-6 is, indeed, smoother than the M-B V-6; however, it takes what feels like twice as long to reach the redline and only begins to make power above 4000 rpm." The Lexus 3.5, similar to the Mercedes's, has power on hand throughout the rev range--just a lot more of it.
Burdening each one of its 306 horsepower with just 11.7 pounds, the IS was the quickest to 60 (5.2 seconds) and through the quarter mile (13.8 at 102.9 mph), and it felt every bit as brawny in the real world, where editorial assistant Scott Mortara exclaimed, "The power is awesome! Enough to reel in the others on a straight." Furthermore, the Lexus six never came across coarse or strained in any way, only mechanically refined and melodiously pleasant, thanks in part to the raspy note from the dual stainless-steel exhausts. And while we yearned for the opportunity to row the IS's six gears ourselves, the automatic--especially in paddle-shift mode--proved an able motivator, spurring the powerplant quickly and seamlessly, although downshifts in ECT Sport mode were often more abrupt than we would've liked.
The Road
Surprising. The one word all three drivers uttered after exiting the Mercedes. "One loop, and if I hadn't known this was a C-Class, I never would've guessed by the way it devoured Angeles Crest," said Walton. "The biggest surprise of the bunch," declared Mortara. Take this Benz for a spin, and you realize how fun and able a C-Class can be. While softer than the BMW and the Lexus--the C displayed more pitch, dive, and body roll--the Benz nonetheless chewed up and spit out curve after curve, inspiring confidence with each turn of the wheel. Moreover, the C's softer legs afforded it the most compliant ride, smoothing out even the bumpiest roads. Though saddled with a subpar shifter and a brake pedal a bit too high for ideal heel-and-toeing, the Mercedes featured light, linear steering, communicative and strong brakes, and a soft spot for mild understeer, which made spirited driving easy and predictable, not to mention more fun--especially with Mercedes's unobtrusive ESP, which didn't rob the car of what it was capable of doing. A set of 18-inch wheels and grippier tires would undoubtedly help performance, not to mention aesthetics. As it stands, the C350 looks identical to its entry-level stablemate, the C230. All said and done, the Benz came across as quick, capable, and subdued. A sleeper. Did it just not wake us up? When the ballots were submitted and the votes counted, there were two cars ahead of the Benz--the winner and the biggest threat to the winner.
While the IS was the most rewarding on the dragstrip, the same couldn't be said for it out on the open road, be it straight or twisty. Compared with the ride of both German cars, the IS's bordered on harsh, transmitting every nook and cranny in the pavement, leading us to believe the sport suspension had been tuned more for track purposes than for public roads. The IS did make up for some of the harshness with its plush, luxurious cabin, which featured the softest leather, the highest-quality plastics and wood, and the most euphoric audio system.
A session of tight and high-speed turns through the mountains, based on our 8/10ths driving, proved the IS wasn't the ideal weekend hot-lapper, either. It exhibited needless understeer, continually pushing and sliding the front end beyond our intended arc. Yes, part of the blame can be attributed to your scribe and the other testers, but much of the culpability goes back to the IS, which has a numbing effect on the pilot. Sure, from one side of the mountain to the other, the IS is arguably the quickest car--0.85 g on the skidpad, 60-to-0 in 121 feet, and 306 horses is a strong recipe--but it'll take the checkered flag with the driver at arm's length, minimizing his involvement, mostly because the Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management system is too meddlesome, too often interfering with the driver's throttle and brake inputs.
Walton opined, "There's not much feel in any of the controls [steering, throttle, brakes]. I felt a sense of distance when I drove this car. It's good, but it's a transistorized performance that can't ever be as involving as the other two's." It was simply too difficult to know how much was too much or how much was left when it came to pushing the IS or dialing it back. In a sport sedan, that's not the sort of feel that wins tests. At the end of the day, it was that artificial flavoring that placed the IS behind the most organic of the group.
Come on, BMW, light my fire.
Here's a result:
1st Place 2006 BMW 330i
Benchmark, standard, yardstick, epitome, quintessence--yeah, all of that.
2nd Place 2006 Lexus IS 350
Look in your rearview mirror, BMW, Lexus is coming fast - very fast.
3rd Place Mercedes-Benz C350 Sport
Fast but not so furious--the perfect Benz for the furtive drag racer.
Test Data
Acceleration to mph
BMW Lexus Benz
0-30 2.0 sec 2.1 sec 1.9 sec
0-40 3.2 3.0 3.0
0-50 4.4 4.0 4.2
0-60 5.8 5.2 5.4
0-70 7.8 6.7 7.4
0-80 10.0 8.3 9.2
0-90 12.4 10.4 11.3
0-100 15.7 13.0 14.3
Passing 45-65 mph 2.9 sec 2.4 sec 2.8 sec
Quarter mile 14.5 sec @ 96.7 mph 13.8 sec @ 102.9 mph 14.1 sec @ 99.1 mph
Braking, 100-0 mph 330 ft 335 ft 348 ft
Braking, 60-0 mph 116 ft 121 ft 120 ft
600-ft slalom 67.5 mph avg 66.1 mph avg 64.6 mph avg
Lateral acceleration 0.89 g avg 0.85 g avg 0.83 g avg
MT Figure Eight 26.5 sec @ 0.68 g avg 27.0 sec @ 0.67 g avg 27.2 sec @ 0.65 g avg
Top-gear revs @ 60 mph 2175 rpm 1900 rpm 1950 rpm
Wow! BMW 330i sedan won another.
06-19-06, 06:18 PM
#20
Super Moderator
Originally Posted by magneto112
Why do I feel like this has been posted awhile ago?? 
Last edited by Gojirra99; 06-19-06 at 06:34 PM.
06-19-06, 06:26 PM
#21
Speaks French in Russian
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
