gangzoom

The mods on my car have nothing to do with the break downs. If anything they actually help to reduce the strain on the engine, I've only ever run the car on an aggressive map on a few occasions, most of the time (95%) it's actually been run on a stock map. So no, I don't accept it's the mods on the car causing reliability problems. You might be right about Lexus not been any better but all I know is that in 15 years + of owning various Jap cars, I've never had so many issues as I've had with the 335. Infact I reckon ALL the issues from my previous cars combined still don't come up close to the amount of problems on my 335....and if you visit a BMW forum you will see nearly every 335 owner have experienced the same issues....unfortunately with 335s it seems to be a Monday-Friday problem

My local BMW dealer charges £150/hr+vat for labour, and the only time I've owned a car that's had to be towed to a garage is when my 335 broke down and refused to drive!! Our Civic on the other hand has been faultless, all our friends who own BMWs (120d to M3s) have all had problems with their cars. So the chart actually reflects my personal experience of the two brands perfectly, so why wouldn't I trust it to gain an insight into what Jags are like for reliability?? The XE sounds like a fab car, but this will be our main family 'hack', it needs to start every day, get us to work without any problems (currently we are averaging 15-20k a year just for commuting miles), and not end up been at the dealers once a month for repairs...which I fear a Jag would need.

Just like the idea every animal is equal, but some are more equal than others I can fully accept components break down but all the failures I've had on my 335i are 'known' problems, and many parts have been revised at least once by BMW. This shows that BMW clearly don't do much product testing, and happy to use badly deigned components. What's worse is that BMW simply deny any of these issues are as a result of a design/manufacturing fault.....But in the US when they were taken to court by unhappy owners they backed down and offered free extended warranties, showing clearly BMW knows about these issues. I'm certainly never going to buy another BMW again, or any other 'premium' German car, the 335 was the first German car I've owned and will also be the last. I don't mind paying for quality but there's nothing high quality about some of the components used in my 335. Would be quite happy shifting the thing off to WBAC and getting a Lexues ISF, but have sunk far too much £££ into it, so going to have to put up with it for a while longer.....just glad at least CS are so good at fixing the thing

Forgotten about Volos, so will have a look Shame Saab aren't around any more Not sure about the Accord seems abit too similar to the Civic. Probably will end up with the IS300h though, but the CVT transmission sounds awful, not sure I can live with it, suppose only way to tell is give it a test drive!! Ideally the XF would be the perfect replacement but reading around it does seem they are quite prone to electrical issues, and general consensus is that they are just about as reliable as BMWs, which given my personal experience with my 335i is the MOST unreliable car I've owned (including a Pegu 106), so I think a Jag is 100% rule out given we're going to run the car out of warranty for at least half of the ownership period

So after 6 years and 80k of ownership we're thinking of replacing my wife's diesel Civic with something abit more ‘premium’. The original plan was to get something like a XF or even the soon to be announced XE. The aim will be to buy new/newish (we have no interest in lease/pcp deals etc) and keep the car for the next 6-7 years, but after experiencing just how horrendously unreliable my BMW 3 series is, we are both very reluctant to spend £30K on anything German and unfortunately looking at the Jaguar the XF is no more reliable than the 3 series Which than leaves the likes of the Lexus IS300H or Infiniti Q50….However reviews for both are all mundane at best, with the Q50 getting some pretty negative remarks so am a little stuck as to what to get next for the wife. Budget is £20-30k, needs to be decent sized car (3 adults in back), preferably >50mpg, decent amount of gadgets,reliable and NOT anything with a German badge.....any more suggestions apart from Lexus/Infiniti/Jag ??

Was busy preparing the 335i for the planned Europe road trip; and found nice pool of oil by the oil cooler... First thought it must be a problem with the oil cooler connection etc(newly fitted/upgraded non-stock item), but closer examination shows lots of oil around the oil filter.....Quick look on Dr Goolge....and Yeaph most likely a oils filter gasket failure....just ANOTHER 'known' problem with the 335i. So going back to see Andy/Mitz at CS, for probably the 6-7th time this summer....No offence love visiting the guys as CS, but probably seen more of them than most of my mates this summer Father in-law than phone....been having problems with his E class Merc for a few weeks with uneven tire wear at the rear, £700 lighter at the Merc garage and they still haven't got a clue....Oh and their Mini is also playing up. They use to have a Toyota Avensis, 120k with no issues. The only conclusion I can draw is 'German engineering, what a load of B*******S'. Predictably our Civic (UK built) remains as faultless as ever, 81k now and still not had any mechanical failures. Now seriously considering leaving the 335 at home and taking the Civic for the Europe trip. Really don't fancy the idea of been broken down half way up a Swiss Alpine pass!!

Some of you guys must have great will power to resist all the snacks/nice foods , if you want to eat and loss weight I would seriously consider looking at swimming. Not everyone is can do a Phelps diet (12,000 kcal /day), but since I've learnt to swim I have honestly struggled to keep the weight on regardless of eatting the most horrible diet, cakes, chocholate, carbs etc. Previously I did quite a lot fo cycling/running, but swimming just burns through calories like nothing else, it seiourisly puts up your basal metabolic rate, so even when your not excerising your body is just burning through carbs. A plus point is swimming is a low impact sport, so even if your big your not handicaped compared to something like running. http://news.bbc.co.u...fic/7562840.stm

Dieting only works if it's sustained long term, I find doing more excerise the best way. In the last year have decided to train for a Triathlon, I do 3-4 training sessions a week before work (6am), and on some days burning up 4000kcal. More lean muscle also puts up your basal metabolic rate, so even though I eat like a pig these days (cakes at lunch, desert every night) am still loosing fat!!!

This Riccardo chap is rather good isn't he, and unlike the others don't winge constantly

Great pics!!! Really cannot wait for the 16th of August to start our trip, going to do the Furka pass, Grimsel pass, Ottardo pass, Susten pass, Stelvio, basically any thing that looks twisty between Berne and Stelvio Have even stuck a ugly GB sticker on already, I think am going to need a new hard drive in anticipation of all the photos am going to take

+1 Not been tempted by any of the new gen games so far but this sounds great. Next question will be which to get xbox or PS. Have both of the previous gen but neither have been touched for 6 months, and only ever played have one game on the PS3

Should really use the Civic for the 35 mile commute to work, but 730am on Sunday morning, empty twisty roads, lovely weather, who cares about 20 mpg ....Though I did end up at work 10 minutes early even with a few stops for photos

LoL there is no point....but much like everything else in life don't every one aspire to have the best car/house/phone etc regardless of need/usage I've got a set of lovely carbon Dura Ace wheels for my bike which have a RRP of £700, but I don't use them because I think they are too nice to be exposed to pot holes / rain ..... I know it's totally crazy, the 'problem' with bikes is you can buy lots of bits one at a time, the actual frame set for the bike in the picture is 'only' £3k which when you consider the total cost of a complete bike is a bargin, so you could buy just the frame set, swap over all the bits from your current bike and than slowly upgrade ....it's basically like modding for cars, but just as expensive and pointless!! Unfortunately I have a problem with both which means my wife is always amazed why my bank account looks so empty at the end of each month If you like speed I think your be surprised at how fun going down a 7% hill is on a pedal bike...I get close to 50mph, at that kind of speed a tiny pot hole is enough to send you crashing into cars/trees etc, and the only protection you have is your skin and a plastics helmet. Drafting a lorry/bus/car is also great fun, doing 30mph 30cm front the back of car equipped with 4 massive brakes, when the only brakes on the bike are made out of rubber, it really does make you focus on the road/sent the heart rate up. Stuff like that all makes doing 150mph (on a private road ofcourse ) in my 380bph 335i feel very dull and insulated in comparison!! Infact every time I get into a car after a ride it's amazing how little 'feel' for the road you get through the steering wheel compared to the handle bars....I would really love a motorbike but I'm pretty sure if I got one I'll be dead/broken something major within a week

Believe it or not £3k isn't all that much to spend on a nice bike these days, the current Electric Dura Ace group set is £2k by itself....if I had the cash I would love a Pinarello Dogma F8....but you wouldn't get any change from £10k!! Sadly even with such a bike I'll still be panting away on even a small hill

Sounds like an amazing trip so far

The likes of Audi have been sinking loads of money into pushing performance Diesel/Hybrid Diesels, after all who doesn't want amazing performance and excellent mpg?? The argument about diesels been more complex to fix compared to petrol cars just doesn't work any more, not when nearly every performance petrol car is now turbo/super charged and running all sort of complex cooling/fuel management system....But still at the end of the day when you pull up at a set of lights next to a lovely looking Audi/BMW/Merc its always disappointing to than hear the diesel lump rattling away Still I wouldn't say no if Audit can manage to transfer the performance/economy of their le-mans machine into road cars....Times are changing, hybrid diesel, full electric all offer the same performance of big petrol V8 for much less fuel/running costs, I can see big engined petrol cars pretty much been confined to tiny niche markets in the next 5-10years, if not sooner But its not a bad thing, at the moment I really cannot 'push/enjoy' my petrol 335 without thinking about fuel costs, 10-15mpg is realistic when driven quickly, that means £80 of petrol will return less than 200 miles. I cannot think of many people that can stomach those kind of fuel costs on a regular basis, I know I cannot....For me the sooner cheaper/more efficient performance come the better

The news in general recently has been rather depressing.....As supposedly the most 'evolved' life form on the planet, with technology to go to other planets, as humans we seem to rather enjoy using technology to kill each other I really hope there are more advanced lifeforms some where in the universe, because as a species we really are a total waste of time

You can argue it all you like, but as already said its your word against 2 police officers.....I'm sure though if you have enough £££ to hire a good lawyer your probably be able to get away with it in court....Not saying that our legal system is biased in anyways towards those that have money/power

If i have enough spare cash a Tesla S will be my next car....if I cannot got enough cash together (most realistic option) I'm going to run my 335i till it falls apart...though I could argue its already trying to fall apart

Decided on a last minute trip down the M1 to Northamptonshire today...It was wet, soggy, so couldn't play with the camera as much as I want :thumbdow But this lot made a lovely noise…..and makes the current cars sound/look a little dull

If someone really wants a car they will find a way to get it. Wasn't it a few years ago there was a spate of car jacking in London, where owners were literally pulled out of their cars, and some guy even got stabbed and died!? Personally I would rather they take the car off the drive and leave the house/people alone. Though sometimes it does seem far too easy to steal new cars....My BMW can be unlocked and started in about 30 seconds from its OBD port, and so can most Audis, including the new RS4

My 335i is not bad as a sleeper, pretty much identical to a 320d from the outside but 400bhp available at a touch of a button But recently came across a 15 year old, rusting Fiat Uno, not sure what it was running under the bonnet but kept up with me even when I was at WOT all the way through 2-3 gear!!!

Most expensive part of car ownership is depreciation, no idea how a VXR depreciates but cannot imagine it hold value, it's also newer than the Z, so whilst Z values are pretty static your bound to loss £££ on a newer VXR when the time comes to PX it....But your right, it's hard to swap and just drive a 'normal' car if your use to the Z.

The guys an idiot and animal, how he is not been charged with assault I have no idea

Real life mpg of 335d are mid 30s. My 335i will does upper/mid 20s, for the sake of 5-10mpg why would you buy a 335d over the 335i.