exl_ent_v6

Hello,

Prospective buyer here...

I have narrowed my buying choices down to the BMW 328i x-drive sedan and the C350 Coupe and want your opinions (obviously you guys are a little biased towards MB but I still will value your opinions... gonna ask a Bimmer forum as well!)

I researched and found 0-60 on the C350 to be 5.5second and the 328i is listed 5.5 or 5.6 on some sites. This is incredible to be because the BMW has 240hp and the MB has 300. So this playing ground is fairly level.

I fully loaded both cars and got some aggressive quotes on a 3/36 lease. $0 cap reduction only paying 1st pmt and tax out of pocket. $544 for Euro delivery on the 328. Then my broker came back with a crazy $488 for US delivery on the C350 for a 24month lease. So now I'm torn....

Why should I chose C350 over the BMW... I'm very much on the fence. The only thing I have to say is that the nav/computer system was HORRENDOUS when I tested the C350, maybe I have to get used to it?


Why should I chose C350 over the BMW...

Please help as I want to make a decision this weekend.

Oh and WTH... Why can't I get leather interior on the C350 sport package??

dol4er

I won't discuss the design of the cars because it is subjective but a coupe always looks sportier and nicier according to me.

BMW is 2.0 liter turbo engine with 240hp, while the C350 is 3.5 V6 engine, no turbo. That's why they are both 5.5 seconds. Also, the BMW features an 8 speed automatic over the 7 on the Merc which also adds to the speed of the BMW. Of course, the sound of a V6 cannot be compared in any way to the sound of a 4 cylinder engine. If that doesn't mean anything to you - I4 is the better option in terms of fuel economy. Plus, a Brabus module for the Merc will give you at least 50-60hp while the BMW is pretty much squeezed out (240hp from a 2.0 liter engine seems a lot).

As to the navigation system, I personally like it very much - it is very convenient, pleasant to look at and functional.

Having in mind that the BMW is more expensive and the Merc is a V6 coupe - the choice according to me would be the Merc, for sure. Just go and test drive both cars and you will make an easy decision.

exl_ent_v6

Coupe is absolutely sportier looking I think I give the plus to MB on that.

I would be leasing so not sure that I would want to "chip" the MB, but the performance is equal. I think plus to BMW on the performance and efficiency, plus to MB on the sounds.

I compared the BMW and MB interface and just had a lot of trouble using the MB one. Everything seemed counter intuitive, where I turned on the BMW and it just worked well and was well laid out. Graphics were a lot better on BMW too, so plus there.

Drove them both and the pluses and minuses of each are strong so I'm still lost... the price difference isn't great enough to make a difference at this point especially since I'd be losing the back seats on the MB, no adult could fit there...

ralawren

I traded in my 128i Coupe for the C350 Coupe a year ago. I cross shopped the MB against a 135i and 335i Coupe. The MB was my final choice for the following reasons:

1) Non-turbo
2) More comfortable ride and interior
3) MB Tex (man made leather) was as good as standard leather in BMW
4) Price was similar to 135i and about $4k less than 335i (add $1500 for MB maintenance and they don't cover wear items which BMW does)
5) 335i has 6 speed slush box, same as my 128i; MB has 7 speed very smooth slush box but slow to down shift
6) The MB C350 sport had crisp handling and strong brakes. It is fine for public roads, you won't know the difference until you drive at 8/10ths+. Then the MB is a bit heavy and the brakes will fad after about 6-7 laps on a road course
7) Styling of MB was fresh, loved the panoramic roof, sport seats in front and back
8) Build quality is better, I have had nothing go wrong with my coupe except for a blown speaker
9) Includes a Harmon Kardon premium sound system as stock, option on BMW

dol4er

You can check this out with the dealer where you are located but here, a Brabus module won't terminate your waranty.

http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/cont...rformance.html

UCSD_C350

I think you would find yourself getting bored of the C350 pretty quickly. I've driven my friend's 328i coupe and despite the lower HP figures, it is way more fun to drive. Unless you like that smooth ride and slow shifting style which the C350 can provide.

I have a 750Li and the iDrive system is harder to get used to than the MB Command. That's just my opinion though.

gwi42

I test drove both of them including the A4 and theres nothing like the MB V6 it has a nice growl the turbo lag sucks on these 4cyl.
The BMW body style is years old and there are thousands on the road. You can barely tell a new one from an old one. They are boring looking.
On your way into work just count how many 328s you see on the road. The c350 coupe is a very unique car and you will probably never see another one other than yours on the road.

AV1

They are 2 very different cars even more so because there's still no coupe variant for the new BMW F30 3 series so your comparing a sedan to a coupe to begin with, maybe wait for the F30 coupe to arrive.

Also the F30 is new gen, the C350 and other current C Class variants are existing gen, you won't have a true comparo until the W/C205 is released, but if you need to decide and get something right now, just go with whichever suits your needs and ends up being better for your own reasons


[QUOTE=dol4er;5508778]

Plus, a Brabus module for the Merc will give you at least 50-60hp while the BMW is pretty much squeezed out (240hp from a 2.0 liter engine seems a lot). [QUOTE]

That above is not true at all, most if not ALL forced induction engines are much, much easier to extract alot more power and torque from than N/A engines.

For a petrol turbo 4 pot engine it's usually in the range of 15-25% with just a simple remap tune, ie. when the proper remaps or tunes become available, the strength and integrity of the engine is also already there because its been built for forced induction, you'll struggle to get even 5-10% with an average N/A engine.

The power delivery of a forced induction engine even the newer more linear ones is far more entertaining than N/A engines and they always feel quicker than a similar power N/A engine as well, there's not much lag at all at WOT with newer forced induction engines, the new BMW 2.0ltr turbo IL4 drives extremely well.

Regarding the BMW above it's already quick enough at mid 5's to 100km/h that's quicker than the previous gen E46 M3 coupe !

BMW always concentrate on making their cars go as fast as possible with good handling and sacrifice other things, MB bar AMG models focus more on safety, refinement, build and ride quality so it's a always a case of each to their own as to which they prefer

dol4er

Btw, the new E63 is 0-100 for 3.6 seconds which is far from safety and far from the M5

DameMD

I have to disagree with the BMW N20 engine being maxed out. Terry @ BMS is already tuning the N20 328i sedan and they are making magical numbers already. A stock N20 328i sedan runs around 0-60 5.4-5.5s 1/4 around 14.0-14.2. BMS tuning has lowered those numbers to 0-60 4.9s and 1/4 to 13.4's. There is no way in h3ll the current w204 3.5 v6 even with ecu upgrade can compete with a N20 tune, short of a turbo or super charger.

http://www.n54tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15536

The OP should wait until the 4 series comes out as there will be no more 3 series coupes. I think the MB c-class coupes look better than the current 3 series coupes. If you are shopping 2012+ 3 series sedans then you should be looking at c350 sedans.

AV1

Yes I did say 'bar' AMG models

And yes, it'll wipe out the new M5

dol4er

It's very nice that you can tune the BMW, however, you can tune a Mercedes without losing the waranty of the car

dewayne_dailey

Have a c350 coupe and 328xi. It's funny I lays loved the way the 3 drove but the new350 handles very close to the 3. People buy BMW for handling for the most part, but the 350 coupe in an awesome car. looks better, interior better, smoother ride but still very sporty. No comparision in my book. 350 all the way.

DameMD

Not true...Some dealers allow for tune and some don't depending how much a turd the dealership is regarding modifications. BMW has authorized tuners such as Dinan and AC Schnitzer, as with MB with Renntech and Brabus. BMS Jb4 for BMW and BMS JB Beta for MB can be detected by the dealer. It depends if the dealer decides to be an A$$ when it comes to doing warranty work.

Me = MB C250 with BMS JB Beta tune + other stuff, and my MB dealer in Bethesda MD doesn't care I have a tune installed unless it breaks something.

Best Friend = bmw 335 BMS JB4 tune goes to BMW dealer in Silver Spring MD and his BMW dealer doesn't care he has the tune as long as it doesn't break anything.

Some dealers care and some don't. My previous car was an infiniti with over $6000 in just pure performance mods and my infiniti dealer didn't care unless my performance mods broke something that needed warranty repair.

Igor1080

Dame knows I agree with him on this. F30 328i is just a better car overall than the C class sedan/coupe. Its faster, the interior looks better and its more fun to drive, believe me I've driven the 328i, the 335i and the c250(which I have) and a c350 which a close friend of mine has. Hands down the turbo and the drive on the 328 is better than on the 250. The NA engine on the 350 coupe isn't really all that fast, ESPECIALLY as compared to the 335i.

Personally if both the cars were equal in price I would have gotten the F30 in a heartbeat. But my car is over $100 less/month than the 328 so I went with MB. Which is not to say I don't love my car, I think its a LOT of fun to drive my slow car fast, sometimes even more so than driving a fast car slow.

dol4er

Who needs a warranty if nothing breaks? The interesting part comes when something breaks then you will see that the dealer cares that you have placed a Burger Motorsport $300 performance kit. A Brabus module costs $1500 but if something breaks - they will fix it (you buy it from your Mercedes dealer after all).

As to the "authorized" tuners of BMW - you lose the BMW manufacturer warranty and gain a Schnitzer/Dinan warranty which means that in case of failure you will lay on your local Schnitzer/Dinan dealer which, I think, is not good. If Mercedes-Benz dealers were awful, imagine what a Dinan dealer would be.

Btw, the only Scnitzer dealer in USA is located in California so I guess you will have to send your car to California from any part of USA while Dinan don't even offer BMW F30 performance kits at all.

Breitling65

It is like comparing apples and oranges, boring 4 door sedan and coupe are very different cars to me. Yes BMW making great coupes too, but looks like they are no longer making 3 ser. coupes and will instead 4 ser. which looks different/larger and most likely more expensive car. 4 cilinder should be compared to 4 cilinder etc and sedan to sedan. 0-60 not as important and tested by whom? torque and abilities to rev and pass on faster speeds is as important. I like BMW suspension tuning and handling but my C350 coupe does it as good with options I have. BMW 3 having much more complains and issues than MB C at this point (consumers reports) also latest auto magazines rating MB C sedan higher to BMW 3 sedan as well. All this effects my personal opinion about.

robertnjax

I bought my 2013 C350 last November and have only great things to say. Fantastic car and has a high degree of "cool factor." As someone else commented: you will not see a lot of C350 coupes on the road.

It will ultimately be your decision. Try them both before signing the papers.

capt_paul

I picked up my 2013 C350 Coupe in October and I have been very pleased with my purchase. Absolutely no problems with the car, gets good mileage with the eco start/stop, and has plenty of power.

dewayne_dailey

I'll say it again. I've owned both a 328xi and now have a c350 coupe. C350 is the better of the two. Handling near the same, performance same, looks c350 hands down. People drool over my c350. Trust someone who actually has both cars and not some so called experts.

J666

Are you kidding me? I too have an 750Li (FO2) and the iDrive is much simpler to use than the command system, and it's way more sophisticated. That's just bs, man.

jmt053

Having been a BMW owner for over 15 years, I just sold my 540 and picked up a C350 coupe 2 weeks ago. Why switch? Style was part of it. I don't care for the current BMW styling in the 3 or 5 series, but that is subjective. The other aspects of BMW are they don't have dipsticks any more. They rely on sensors to tell you if you're low on oil. Use your imagination on how messed up that can get if you are (or aren't) a quart low, but the sensor says you are. There are no spare tires in BMW as they rely solely on runflats. I am still a member of BMW CCA and the monthly magazine, which is very well done, has had probably hundreds of letters complaining how poorly the runflats handle. Lastly, my last BMW's quality was not like the first 2 I had. Lots of problems due to poor design. The e39 series was notorious for cooling problems. The 4.4L v8 had some very costly issues, so I bailed and went to MB.

Just my $.02

ZachB

Ok, I'm new here but I've been around the BMW forums for a while. I just got out of a 2009 335i xdrive coupe and purchased a 2012 C350. There are pros and cons to both. First, the 335 felt faster and I did the like the idrive better than my command system, but only aesthetically. I wish Benz would style the UI a little better. I miss the heated steering wheel in my BMW and the paddle shifters were much more responsive. The paddle shifters in the Mercedes aren't so useful IMO.

But, overall I'm very glad I made the switch. The Benz seems much more grown up and more refined than my 335i. The seats are better, the steering wheel feels perfect and the layout of the interior is beautiful. I'm a BMW guy and have been my entire driving life. But the Benz Coupe is too nice to want to go back. It's hard to compare the coupe to the sedan, in the end it's going to come down to what you like.

DameMD

We all agree that the current MB C Coupes look better than the current gen 3 Series coupe.

IMHO I think the BMW F30 3 Series sedans look better than the current C Class sedans. The F30 Bmw 335i with M Sport to me looks better than any AMG package equipped C350 or C250 sedan.

Breitling65

But AMG C63 Black Edition looks better than M3
Seriously "looking better" thing is very personal I believe.