Astral

The keyless entry is nice. Opening doors without a key is a very convenient feature and is not nearly in the same league of "kinda pointless" as keyless start and rain-sensing wipers.

griffe

BMW----good grief. Yeah they are known for their racing prowess, but also is Mazda. I remember one of my previous posts which discussed value. Value can be such a subjective thing. I have driven BMW's, Benzs, Audis and RX8's. I realized that the German cars cost more because let's face it....they're German! Yeah it's sounds snotty, but the German's have played that card for years. Back in the what?...70's and 80's when American cars were total junk mobiles, the Germans were building a better product. Like the Japaneese, they gave Americans a good quality automobile with nice features that American cars didn't have, but unlike the Japaneese, they charged us dearly for that 3-pointed star, propellers, and 4 rings. I remember first looking at an '85 Audi 5000 and noticing that it had rear headrests! I was so amazed by something like that cuz you wouldn't find them in a Caddy, or Lincoln? Then I noticed how Mercedes had them, BMW....

How about 4 wheel disc brakes on a luxury sedan? Please, you think Chrysler would do something like that? I remember those rear drums! Or how about an interior that had real leather chairs instead of something that was leather like or heaven forbid...VINYL! Back in the day, and sometimes even to this day...some American cars break down as soon as you make that last payment. But before then, they are shaking, rattling and rolling all along the way. Remember Cadillac in the 90's, they were RATTLACS!

Germans made better products. I know this thread is about BMW vs. Mazda...and to be honest I would rather have an Acura TL vs. a 3 series, but would never get one as long as it's front-wheel drive. I think the fit and finish of it is better or at least on par with the Bimmer and you get a greater value. In my opinion, I think Audis are superior to BMW and Mercedes automobiles when it comes to fit and finish...especially Audi's interiors. They have no equal, but again that's just my opinion. I had an '83 Mazda RX7 that was 12 years old when I let it go, and the only thing that rattled in it was somewhere near where the headliner met the windshield, and it had to be near freezing temps. for that to happen. Now fast forward to my '94 Probe GT, that has so many rattles it sounds like a box of Cracker Jacks, and it's around 11 yrs. old.

BMW is continuing to play the " Well it's a BMW...the ultimate driving machine " as long as a person perceives that....then they will more than gladly pay the premium price to have it in their driveway. Let's face it, a lot of people like labels....would you rather wear DKNY or the K-Mart blue light special? That depends on where your priorities lie. I just want a car that is sporty, built well, is unique and is a great handler. Mazda could have probably charged 5-8 grand more for the 8 than it does, but they have learned from the FD....too high of a price will kill yah! The eight meets all of my qualifications, so when April of '06 rolls around, you can best bet that I will be in someone' s Mazda dealership signing the dotted line for my Winning Blue RX8 finished over black leather. Good Lawd I'm tired...let me go an get some water!

Japan8

You do know that the Ford Probe was just a rebadged Mazda?

Gerael

lol

djgiron

Mugatu, you now know 5 people that will never purchase a BMW again.

crimson-rain

You know it's kind of weird that the 8 is so cheap. Considering it has an engine that practically no one else has (I'M FINE WITH IT'S CURRENT COST). The 8 is unique. The BMW is like worth the same as the 8 (and isn't very unique) but the rest name, status, and luxury. It's almost like sneakers. Add Michael Jordan name to a sneaker or T-shirt for that matter and see what happens to the price.

Astral

Shhhh! MNAO might be reading...

Nice save!

Ericok

I think one of the reasons that Mazda sticks with the Rotary engine is cost. It's no secret that with far fewer (and cheaper) components the rotary is significantly cheaper to produce than a piston engine. That might explain part of the BMW/RX-8 cost difference. It also explains why Mazda doesn't have to sell that many RX-8s to make a profit on them - the engine's so much cheaper to build that they make a ton of money on each car.

Astral

Actually, I think the RX-8 engines are hand-built and so are more expensive to produce than typical engines.

Frostee

Look at the history of BMW. They always used to be for the rich people, people with large amounts of money. Only the high-class citizens could/would have one. Nowadays that may not hold, but the brand still tries to reflect that 'prestige'...

And Astral is right about the engines being hand-built. I think Mazda does it because they are the only to have done it, and they made themselves a following after the RX7

RexApex

Germans get paid more than Japanese?
--R.

BTW: skidpad is more a measure of the tires than the chassis, not a particulary useful measurement, try slalom speed, it's not great, but it's the closest thing to a number of for handling.

crimson-rain

I wonder how much would a Michael Jordan edition Beemer cost?

MTLbroker

Conspicuous consumption. It's what the market will bear. There are plenty of people out there who will pay the extra bucks to let people know that they own it because they can.

iateyourcheese

Hmm... aren't we comparing apples and oranges here.

For me... I was actually wondering why the RX-8 was so expensive when you add the options. So I guess it's just a matter of opinion.

Consider this before you jump all over me:

2006 330i
0-60 5.6s
hp/tq 255/220
Mpg 21/31

2005 RX-8
0-60 6.6
hq/tq 238/159
Mpg 18/24

Remember people, it's a sedan! BMW has a family-carrier that is darn quick, handles well (not as well as the RX-8, given), and yet still gets decent fuel mileage. But to get this you have to pay the entrance fee.

Cheers.

ECHO1

i agree that this is an apples/oranges debate, but where are you quoting these numbers from? BMWusa.com lists the 0-60 at 6.1s for manual and 6.3s for the auto.

the redesigned i6 that they're using is quite a piece of work. the 3.0L diesel took international engine of the year honors and the other petrol variants all placed in the top three. lots of magnesium to reduce weight and improved valvetronic/double vanos make this engine pretty damn impressive.

Brandon

Hehee! you picked the fastest 330i 0-60 ever published and the slowest RX-8 0-60 ever published.

One difference is you can get AWD with the beemer (even more expensive). And I'd say the backseat and trunk are bigger.

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

beemer's backseat are pretty much about the same size as the 8's, minus the center tunnel, which will make it *seem* roomier than it actually is

griffe

Yes it is a rebadged Mazda, but.....the interior and exterior is of Ford's doing. The engine and tranny (by Mazda, yes) is the only good thing about it.

Slick8

Buy the RX-8, put the money you saved from not buying the bimmer into a few good stocks. After six years, you will be able to buy the future RX-7 (or bimmer if you must) in cash from the capital gains.

Expensive depreciating assets make you poor

All the people I know that own the 3 series (excluding the M3) live paycheck to paycheck and do not have any investment assets.

iateyourcheese

Whatever. I went to C&D and got their numbers. Check them yourselves.

The backseat and trunk are bigger in the Bimmer, there's no question of that.

The whole premise of this thread is silly. There's not a 15k difference unless you're comparing a fully loaded 330i (Nav., leather, etc.) to a stripped RX-8.

RX-8 GT -> $32k
330i with leather -> $39k

Slick8

Good luck finding a new 2006 330i w/ leather for $39K

Reactionary

The reason the BMW costs more is because it is more expensive.

Ericok

Brilliant! Most definitive answer in the whole thread.

Mikelikes2drive

they provide full maintanence for 4 years and is a dream to drive...
luxury performance

iateyourcheese

Ok $38k? I quoted full MSRP. There's no reason you can't get it for less.

Me, I'd forget the leather and for $39k have the sport package.