This is a fun one. Not terribly fast, and not as fast as you’d think it would be claiming 300hp, but a jolly good time. A 335i has the same hp rating from the factory but that thing can pull a 5.2 0-60 time. The best you’ll ever see out of one of these is about 6 seconds. For those who are into numbers like that, you know there’s an enormous difference in feel between 5 and 6 seconds to 60. It’s a line in the sand between edging on true performance vs light recreation.
What I liked most about this bang-for-budget ride was the exhaust note. It was satisfyingly raspy and seemed to grow twice as loud above 4000 rpm. I was stuck with the automatic but it didn’t hesitate too much when you romped on the throttle.
My wife and I drove with the top down and the heater on full-blast down highway 1 to Santa Monica in November on a brisk night. Highly recommended. Hard to have that much fun in anything else for the money. Also driving by a group of kids and hearing one say “hey!! that’s bumblebee!!” as another retorts “no it’s not” and finally another – “yeah huh! totally bumblebee!” is some good stuff.