Yes and No.

I came from a 98 540. It had On board computer, very nice leather seats, high quality dash, dual zone climate, dual power seats, power tilt/telescop wheel, very good sound dampening....

I miss those things, but my rx8 has nav, heated seats, in dash cd (vs trunk changer), and a few other creature comforts.

The two things i miss the most are my auto climate control with good a/c, and the quiet interior.

 

This is for mjones and anyone else who traded in their 3 series for the RX8. Can ou give some brief comparisons on interior space & driving characteristics?

I'm at the point where I want to trade in my Acura and these two cars are on my list.

TIA.

 

i actually decided NOT to trade in my 3-series after buying the 8. so, i still own both cars and love both of them. since u only asked about the 3, i'll focus on that.

the 3-series definitely has more interior cabin space and comes with a full-size trunk. the 4-doors, leather seats, premium audio, and other luxury amenities make it an overall better passenger vehicle. the 5-speed manual inline-6 gets decent gas mileage (21mpg), and it likes to be driven HARD while still keeping u in-touch w/ the road and feeling very smooth and fun to drive. (i usually shift around 4000 to 4500 rpms.) it's not as fast as it's japanese competition off-the-line. but, it handles well on the auto-cross, and holds its own extremely well as a daily commuter. if u find a good local mechanic/ service station (as an alternative to the dealer), it is also inexpensive to maintain- as is from my own experience. so, definitely a great car in my book, which is why i decided to keep it.

 

BMW 330i is a sports sedan.
Better passenger room, better luxury. Heavier steering, heavy feel to the car. Engine is powerful and torquey. It has more storage room and can be more practical with the fold down rear seat option.

RX-8 is a sportscar. lightweight nimble, sporty cockfit feel for the driver. Car feels snug around you. Engine is high reving and low torque but every bit as fast as a 330. Handling is precise, steering ratio is quicker. Handles and feels like a go kart. RX-8 is much more fun to drive and the smooth linear power delivery of the rotary is to die for.

I bought an RX-8 sports package so I didn't go for the luxury. In fact, BMW standard features like power seats, automated climate control, rain sensing wipers, automatically adjusting side mirrors, overly intrusive DSC, etc... are more of a nuisance to me than something I look for in a car.

The base stereo in the RX-8 is better than the Harmon Kardon option on the 330, IMHO.

BMW has awesome OEM xenon lights, and I like the ambiance lighting in the E46, especially in cars with black headliners.

I like paying $29 for a Mazda oil change vs. paying over $65 for a BMW oil change.

 

i pay $21 for a oil change! yay for mazda!

 

The Mazda dealers will charge you around $30 - 40 per plug and you need 4. You can do better on the Internet. Just fair warning if you don't do your own work and always depend on the dealers.

 

r u seriously kidding me? the audio quality of the bmw 10-speaker harmon kardon kills the bose on the rx-8. i'm sorry but the difference is night and day- unless of course u'r listening to country music, in which case, u need help in other ways... <LOL>

i pay about $30 for an oil change for my beamer at my local service place too. (i stopped going to the dealer after the warranty period ended.) some dealers charge more than $65 for an oil change.

 

I've never heard the bose stereo in the RX-8 so I can't say how that compares. I listen mostly to hip hop or techno so I can't comment on how country music would sound.

The HK isn't that bad, as I think about it, I guess I was exagerating but the base RX-8 stereo definitely blows away the base BMW system. A Ford Focus has a better base stereo than the base BMW stereo.

One cool thing about the HK system is that it has dual subwoofers on the deck above the rear seats and if you crank the base the sound bounces off the rear window and hits your lower back and gives you a nice massage.

 

Well, most thing have already been said about the 330i, and I agree witht them. Mine was the '03 330i ZHP, which included the performance package. The 6 speed shifted very smooth, had great low end power seem to die out after 4k rpm. Handling was pretty amazing for a big 4 door sedan, steering quickness was close to my EVO VIII. It was a lot of fun to get on back roads and run it.(but,not as fun as the EVO was) The 8 is of course a lot smaller, a lot more cabin road noise, the exhaust note of the zhp was really nice, I'm very fond of the 8's stock exhaust will be replacing soon with the racing beat.(will that void my warranty). On a trip to Orlando Fl, last summer in the BMW I was able to get 30mpg running 85-90mph most of the way. This 8 is getting around 18mpg driving pretty easy on the why at 80mph,should have check into that more, but that's just part of it. Anyway, I'm glad I've found this group, great bunch of people here and very helpful.

 

I'm not a pro but I do feel that the Bose on my 8 is better then the HK system on my E46 M3.... Yes the Bose is somewhat lack of bass, but the HK system has sound distortion when you tune it up loud. I think everyone got different prespective. Well nothing (stock system) beats the ML system on the LS430 that I"m sure.

BTW, I don't listen to country music.