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  #1  
Old 05-31-2007, 06:34 PM
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The chances of me getting a 3 convertible are now zero

IIHS released convertible safety testing.News Release
Status Report
My car, the Saab 9-3, which came out in 2004, did perfectly.

The BMW 3-Series did HORRIBLE
It did worse than:
Volvo C70
Saab 9-3
Mitsubishi Eclipse
VW Eos
Chrysler Sebring
Toyota Camry Solara
Ford Mustang
Audi A4

It did better than:
Pontiac G6.

So no way am I going to get a 3er converible, and I'm not going to recommend it to anybody.
The Saab 9-3 also got a top rating from EuroNCAP.

(I recommend you read this article to gain a greater understanding of the importance of vehicle safety).

Major thumbs down to BMW.
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  #2  
Old 05-31-2007, 09:05 PM
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If you look at other NCAP entries, they will do one fast revision and have that fixed for 09/07 production.

don't fret and keep dreaming of rwd
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Old 05-31-2007, 09:31 PM
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One of my Geezer Buds, in our FLA Joint area, has his
deposit in and, is getting one any time soon.

He's a BMW nut, though w/o a BeamER at the moment...
He will not care a lick about the rating. He's 77, runs 5 miles
a day, chases the ball 5 days a week, (walking 3 of them),
and is a crusty retired contractor from "Cape Kahd".

He will not give a glance at the "ratings", but I understand
that some of us give some thought to the next meteorite.
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Old 05-31-2007, 10:26 PM
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lol, I didn't mean to sound like I was getting a 3er anytime soon...I was just playing with the idea of getting a 328i in a few years...but I'm gonna hang onto the Saab for atleast another three. I know BMW wants to be perfect, so it's a safe bet that it will get a perfect score in 2008. It's just dissapointing considering the badge, price, and reputaion, that's all.

(ps: I still think it's one of the most beautiful cars on the road)
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Old 06-01-2007, 03:50 AM
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It got the exact same score as the A4 cabrio... So it didn't get worse.

In respect to the 9-3, the torso is the only score where the 3 series did worse... Its a sad trend that now most car manufacturers release a car, then tweak the safety just to pass these tests... BMW will be doing this as someone said for 9/07 production... By then it should have flying scores... Which doesn't necessarily make it more safe, just shows that car manufacturers can manipulate safety testing...

In terms of frontal impact it did score high... Truth be told, in a side impact with a convertible you're royally f***** either way... If you really want to be safe, you shouldn't be in a convertible, period.

Interestingly enough, I think the new 3 cab would shine above its competitors when faced with a side impact with its roof raised. The structural integrity of a metal top should be somewhat higher than a softop, no?
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Old 06-01-2007, 06:28 AM
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MD, love the post
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Old 06-01-2007, 10:28 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Meiac09
If you look at other NCAP entries, they will do one fast revision and have that fixed for 09/07 production.

don't fret and keep dreaming of rwd
+1. I remember when BMW revised the head restraints on the E90 3-series mid-year 2006 starting in like 02/06 production. (I didn't mention this to my friend who bought an earlier production one off the dealer lot)
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Old 06-03-2007, 02:34 PM
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A Review of the 335i Vert...

From Sunday's NewYawkTimes, so it's not a Car&Driver
treatise for the car intelligentsia, but a good read...
BR,mD

Behind The Wheel | BMW 335i Convertible
A Grand Opening for BMW’s Quick-Tanning Machine


BMW's first power hardtop goes into hiding in 22 seconds.


By LAWRENCE ULRICH

Published: June 3, 2007

DRIVING a BMW 3 Series after some time away is like being reunited with a favorite band. The in-line 6 sounds its opening notes and you think, “Hey, I remember that song.”


The car picks up the tempo and glides through a tricky two-lane passage, and your hips shimmy right along. As the performance approaches a lighter-waving climax, you’re reminded that, among sport sedans, the 3 Series is like Dylan or the Clash: the one you can always come back to.

Of course, a company doesn’t keep a car on top for 30 years by rehashing the past, but through regular reinvention.

The Bangle school of styling that so provoked BMW purists (their motto: forever square) with its restless kinks and bulges, has grown into a mature, often-imitated style that can no longer be casually dismissed. The look definitely flatters the 3 Series. It was liberally applied to the fifth-generation sedan for 2006. A coupe soon followed, along with a welcome rarity, a wagon as fun and shapely as it is practical.

On an unreasonably cold spring morning, I pulled on a wool hat to avoid spoiling my first date with the luxurious 335i convertible. Starting at $49,875, it is the most expensive and style-conscious of the current 3 Series lineup. (A new limited-edition 420-horsepower M3, featuring the first V-8 ever installed in the series, will top the range later next year).
Having failed for years to outhandle and outfinesse the BMW, the competition has been trying to hammer it into submission. The best of the budget alternatives is Infiniti and its recently redesigned G35. A more powerful G37 coupe — on sale in August, with a sedan version to follow — will develop a class-leading 330 horsepower from a 3.7-liter V-6.

Such V-6 engines take up less space than in-line sixes of the same displacement. And BMW could no longer stretch its smaller, 3-liter in-line 6 and still fit it under the 3 Series hood. So to keep the sport-sedan stalkers at bay, it had to whip out the automotive version of pepper spray: a pair of quick-spooling turbochargers boost the direct-injection 6 to a nice round 300 horsepower and 300 pound-feet of torque. Even the burly new M3 with the V-8 will produce 5 less pound-feet of torque (295) than the turbo models.

That makes the 335i the first turbocharged gasoline-powered BMW sold in the United States. The engine makes a vocal argument to being the best turbo powerplant this side of a $130,000 Porsche. Free-spinning and seamless, it evinces none of the power lag or spiky peaks you expect from turbochargers, achieving peak torque at a low 1,400 r.p.m.

The result is a 3 Series that feels roughly as quick, but less high-strung, than the current-generation M3 (rated at 333 horsepower). For the new convertible, BMW cites a snappy 5.5-second run from 0 to 60 m.p.h. when equipped with the terrific six-speed manual transmission — only two-tenths of a second behind the 335i coupe. If you don’t want to pump a clutch pedal, the $1,275 six-speed Steptronic is among the fastest and smoothest automatics around; don’t forget to throw in $100 for paddle shifters.

Trusty brakes feature every imaginable technology, including a self-drying feature that ensures that they are always ready for action on a puddly day. The brakes automatically keep the car from rolling backward when you’re starting off on an uphill slope, a feature every luxury car should consider.

Blessedly, the 3 Series can be ordered without the iDrive systems interface and its dreaded rotary control knob. And the Active Steering — which adjusts steering ratios to make for easier parking and supposedly better handling — is another option whose price, $1,400, isn’t justified by the benefits.

For style, speed and handling you can see and feel, choose instead the $1,300 sport package. It adds a firmer suspension, sport seats with power adjustable side bolsters and handsome 18-inch wheels with sticky run-flat performance tires. It also raises the top speed limitation to 150 m.p.h., compared with just 130 m.p.h. without the package.

During my blast north of New York along the Hudson River, the BMW’s mad turbocharged rush was a new thrill. More familiar was the unity of power, steering, shifter and brakes that no other car in this class can quite reproduce. The suspension is supple when you want it, firm when you need it, and the car will cruise or command any road, depending on your mood.

With the day warming and my hair whipping, I tried and failed to think of a hotter combination of four seats, open roof and excellent performance at this price. The 3 Series defies the stereotype of convertibles as fair-weather toys, and that real men and enthusiasts must do their serious road hunting from inside a closed-roof cave.

The 3 Series also addresses a longstanding bane of convertibles: the combination of tender thighs and searing-hot seats. The seats, armrests and shift knob feature BMW’s so-called sun-reflective technology. The leather is treated with pigments that BMW claims will reduce surface temperatures of dark-leather seats by up to 36 degrees on sunny days or 27 degrees for lighter-colored leathers.

Count the power hardtop as another first on a BMW. On the plus side, the top powers down in a fleet 22 seconds, and it takes just one second longer to click shut. The side and rear glass areas are together more than 30 percent larger than those of the prior cloth-top convertible, minimizing blind spots, letting in light and greatly improving visibility, including the view from the back seat.

But as with most folding hardtops, the roof adds weight and complexity, and seriously reduces the trunk space when stowed. At 3,946 pounds, the Bimmer weighs about 400 pounds more than the coupe. About 300 of that is because of the top, the rest from the stiffened structure that convertibles require to keep tremors at bay. Watching the top’s stacking, origami action is breathtaking, but so is the thought of how much it might cost to fix after a decade of use.

With the top down, trunk space drops from 12.3 cubic feet to 7.4, though it seemed smaller. With the roof open, I tried and failed to stow two wheeled carry-ons. A clever $500 Comfort Access option lets you open or close the top with the key fob, or to partly raise the roof for easier access to luggage.

As ever with BMW, the phrase “You get what you pay for” is both a compliment and caveat. My beautiful bright-blue 335i checked in at $54,540. Worth every penny, I’d say, but that’s still a whole lot of pennies.

So allow a word of praise for the 328i versions, whether sedan, coupe or convertible. (The 328i convertible starts at $43,975.) The starter Bimmers used to feel like something you settled for, with smaller engines and well under 200 horsepower. But the latest 328i models get a robust 230 horsepower from a 3-liter aluminum-magnesium 6, and the engine is so flexible that you’d swear it had 30 more horses in reserve.

Yes, a twin-turbo 300-horsepower BMW convertible is the stuff of summer dreams. The 328i model helps to keep that dream more attainable.
INSIDE TRACK: Solar power.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/au...=1&oref=slogin
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  #9  
Old 06-03-2007, 02:55 PM
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nice review
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Old 06-04-2007, 11:35 AM
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See I'm a safety nut and I wouldn't buy one JUST because of this rating, It's pathetic that a 60k convertable could have a rating that poor, totally unacceptable, doesn't BMW crash test these vehicles before???? I remember reading about their new state of the art facility for crash testing. Looks Like I'm going to have to have to get a C70, which btw I test drove and LOVED, the car in my opinion looks better then the new BMW, has a better sound system and is cheaper, but If I got one I would wait until 2008 when the turbo makes 230hp vs 218
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