Well, I drove an E90 on the official launch date a few weeks ago, but with the start of my 3rd year med school rotations, I haven't gotten a chance to post my impressions of it until now. I took lots of pictures of the car I drove, which you will see below.
I drove a 330i with premium and sport packages and 6MT with 21 miles on it ($41k sticker). My first impressions upon seeing the car in the flesh were that it does in fact look much MUCH better in person than it does in pictures. I know that others have said this, but I really couldn't believe how much better it looks in person. The exterior proportions seem to be spot on perfect. I think the front end is awesome - it looks aggressive yet elegant. While I think the side profile is a little plain (it could use a bump strip or something to break up the flat sides), again, it looks better in person than it does in pictures. I think it must be the overall stance and proportion of the car that your senses can only appreciate in person that improves the appearance of the side profile. The rear looks MUCH better in person, and I actually think it works pretty well with the rest of the package. That being said, the first thing my dad said when I showed him the pictures of the car was "Geez, the back looks like a cheap Asian car - something like a Hyundai." I agree that the pictures appear this way, but the rear does look better in person. The taillights do look kind of cheap up close, particularly the edges of the lenses around the reverse lights. When comparing the E46 taillights to the E90 taillights side by side, the E46 rear lights are higher quality. Overall, the exterior styling of the E90 really NEEDS the sport package. There was a 330i in sparkling graphite without the sport package at the dealer as well, and the stance is COMPLETELY different. The sport package makes the car much more low-slung and much more aggressive. The sport package wheels are beautiful in person and are VERY low profile. In comparison, the non-sport package 330i looks weird. The sport package makes the styling work.
The headlights are really cool. The angel eyes float in front of the headlight lenses. You can see this in the pictures below.
Now, on to one of the most controversial areas of the new car - the interior. As you all know, I have been resistant to the new corporate interior design that BMW has turned to. I have been very concerned that the new interior doesn't fit with what the 3er is supposed to be. First off, let me say that the interior materials are VERY high quality. There was nothing cheap feeling that I could find. The plastics seem to be top-notch quality, the switchgear is excellent, and the doors have a nice weight and "sound" to them. The back seat is noticeably larger/roomier than that in the E46. The lack of a temperature gauge is somewhat bothersome to me, but the gauges are otherwise wonderful, even if they are a little non-BMWish. The gauges are very easy to read at a very quick glance and are amazingly well placed - the angle and placement of the gauge cluster is much better than previous 3ers. The OBC is integrated into the dot matrix display between the tach and speedo. There are added functions in the OBC that didn't exist in previous generations, like a digital oil level gauge represented by a bar graph. This is a very important function, since the new engine does not have a dipstick - that's right!!!! The engine does NOT have an oil dipstick, so you must check the oil level through the OBC. The sport seats are wonderful, in the usual BMW tradition. The dash isn't as "driver oriented" as in the E46 and earlier 3ers, but it works. It has a very elegant appearance to it with the wood trim. The interior is more "upscale" appearing now, maybe at a slight expense to "sporty" feel, but not much. After sitting in the car and driving it, I actually really like the new interior (I didn't think I'd ever hear myself saying that!). I also can't believe what I'm going to say next - when I went from the E90 to a new E46 ZHP sitting next to it, I couldn't help but feel that the E46 interior felt dated.
Ok, so enough of that - how's the drive, you ask? Well, my service advisor let me drive the car for about 30 minutes on numerous very twisty backroads, interstate, and in town surface roads. Oh My God. I have never driven a car that felt like this before in my life. This car is simply astounding. The engine starts with a growl. I put the car in first and began to let the clutch out only to stall the engine. The clutch is very light, but light in a very very good way. The clutch engages VERY quickly and directly - it took some getting used to coming from my E30's relatively heavy clutch that grabs much later. Once I got used to the clutch, I absolutely fell in love with it - it is wonderful. The 6 speed gearbox is your typical BMW gearbox - that is to say damn near perfect. The new engine is absolutely phenomenal. Extremely smooth, and gobs and gobs of power. I was amazed at how quick this car is. The sound is intoxicating as you take this baby to redline (as I was encouraged to do repeatedly by my sales advisor). This new engine is simply amazing and will go down in history as the next great thing from BMW. The driving dynamics are incredible (this car did NOT have the active steering). This car is the most sure-footed car I have ever driven. You take corners and twisties very quickly with supreme confidence and come out of them upset that you didn't enter them faster. The handling is simply unbelieveable and of course, the brakes are excellent. The thing that amazed me most about the E90 is how quiet it is when cruising comfortably down the road at high speed. It is virtually silent inside - absolutely NO tire noise, and very very little wind noise. However, when you get on the throttle, all of the appropriate engine and exhaust sounds come right through to the interior, even with all of the windows up. I was amazed at how isolated the unwanted noises are, yet how well the desired "sporty" noises come through. The engine sound is phenomenal.
So what's wrong with the car? Well, the keyfob/pushbutton start system is a joke. This system seems like more of a marketing gimmick than anything, and it is extremely buggy. There are actually more steps involved to start the engine than if you just used an "old-fashioned" key. You first place the keyfob into the slot in the dash. Then you have to push the fob once to turn the ignition on. You can then push the engine start button to start the engine. When we first got in the car, the saleswoman started the car for me. She had trouble getting the ignition to turn on and had to remove the fob a couple of times before it would start. When the car finally started, the traction control, ABS, and Brake warning lights stayed on in the gauge cluster. The only thing that cleared them was to shut the car off and restart it. Not very impressive. When we got back from the test drive, I shut the car off, but it wouldn't let me remove the key fob. The sales advisor had to fiddle with the key fob for about 2 minutes before it would release it. I don't know if there was just something wrong with this car, or if the key fob system is just that buggy, but I wasn't impressed by it. The other thing that bugged me was that the back seat is very hard for a fully grown adult (like myself) to get out of. The rear doors are shaped kind of weird (the back edge is a straight edge), and it makes for an awkward door opening to navigate.
So, in summary, I am a fan of the E90. It looks better in person than in pictures, and the driving dynamics are simply out of this world. There may be one in my future....
Here are the pics:
I drove a 330i with premium and sport packages and 6MT with 21 miles on it ($41k sticker). My first impressions upon seeing the car in the flesh were that it does in fact look much MUCH better in person than it does in pictures. I know that others have said this, but I really couldn't believe how much better it looks in person. The exterior proportions seem to be spot on perfect. I think the front end is awesome - it looks aggressive yet elegant. While I think the side profile is a little plain (it could use a bump strip or something to break up the flat sides), again, it looks better in person than it does in pictures. I think it must be the overall stance and proportion of the car that your senses can only appreciate in person that improves the appearance of the side profile. The rear looks MUCH better in person, and I actually think it works pretty well with the rest of the package. That being said, the first thing my dad said when I showed him the pictures of the car was "Geez, the back looks like a cheap Asian car - something like a Hyundai." I agree that the pictures appear this way, but the rear does look better in person. The taillights do look kind of cheap up close, particularly the edges of the lenses around the reverse lights. When comparing the E46 taillights to the E90 taillights side by side, the E46 rear lights are higher quality. Overall, the exterior styling of the E90 really NEEDS the sport package. There was a 330i in sparkling graphite without the sport package at the dealer as well, and the stance is COMPLETELY different. The sport package makes the car much more low-slung and much more aggressive. The sport package wheels are beautiful in person and are VERY low profile. In comparison, the non-sport package 330i looks weird. The sport package makes the styling work.
The headlights are really cool. The angel eyes float in front of the headlight lenses. You can see this in the pictures below.
Now, on to one of the most controversial areas of the new car - the interior. As you all know, I have been resistant to the new corporate interior design that BMW has turned to. I have been very concerned that the new interior doesn't fit with what the 3er is supposed to be. First off, let me say that the interior materials are VERY high quality. There was nothing cheap feeling that I could find. The plastics seem to be top-notch quality, the switchgear is excellent, and the doors have a nice weight and "sound" to them. The back seat is noticeably larger/roomier than that in the E46. The lack of a temperature gauge is somewhat bothersome to me, but the gauges are otherwise wonderful, even if they are a little non-BMWish. The gauges are very easy to read at a very quick glance and are amazingly well placed - the angle and placement of the gauge cluster is much better than previous 3ers. The OBC is integrated into the dot matrix display between the tach and speedo. There are added functions in the OBC that didn't exist in previous generations, like a digital oil level gauge represented by a bar graph. This is a very important function, since the new engine does not have a dipstick - that's right!!!! The engine does NOT have an oil dipstick, so you must check the oil level through the OBC. The sport seats are wonderful, in the usual BMW tradition. The dash isn't as "driver oriented" as in the E46 and earlier 3ers, but it works. It has a very elegant appearance to it with the wood trim. The interior is more "upscale" appearing now, maybe at a slight expense to "sporty" feel, but not much. After sitting in the car and driving it, I actually really like the new interior (I didn't think I'd ever hear myself saying that!). I also can't believe what I'm going to say next - when I went from the E90 to a new E46 ZHP sitting next to it, I couldn't help but feel that the E46 interior felt dated.
Ok, so enough of that - how's the drive, you ask? Well, my service advisor let me drive the car for about 30 minutes on numerous very twisty backroads, interstate, and in town surface roads. Oh My God. I have never driven a car that felt like this before in my life. This car is simply astounding. The engine starts with a growl. I put the car in first and began to let the clutch out only to stall the engine. The clutch is very light, but light in a very very good way. The clutch engages VERY quickly and directly - it took some getting used to coming from my E30's relatively heavy clutch that grabs much later. Once I got used to the clutch, I absolutely fell in love with it - it is wonderful. The 6 speed gearbox is your typical BMW gearbox - that is to say damn near perfect. The new engine is absolutely phenomenal. Extremely smooth, and gobs and gobs of power. I was amazed at how quick this car is. The sound is intoxicating as you take this baby to redline (as I was encouraged to do repeatedly by my sales advisor). This new engine is simply amazing and will go down in history as the next great thing from BMW. The driving dynamics are incredible (this car did NOT have the active steering). This car is the most sure-footed car I have ever driven. You take corners and twisties very quickly with supreme confidence and come out of them upset that you didn't enter them faster. The handling is simply unbelieveable and of course, the brakes are excellent. The thing that amazed me most about the E90 is how quiet it is when cruising comfortably down the road at high speed. It is virtually silent inside - absolutely NO tire noise, and very very little wind noise. However, when you get on the throttle, all of the appropriate engine and exhaust sounds come right through to the interior, even with all of the windows up. I was amazed at how isolated the unwanted noises are, yet how well the desired "sporty" noises come through. The engine sound is phenomenal.
So what's wrong with the car? Well, the keyfob/pushbutton start system is a joke. This system seems like more of a marketing gimmick than anything, and it is extremely buggy. There are actually more steps involved to start the engine than if you just used an "old-fashioned" key. You first place the keyfob into the slot in the dash. Then you have to push the fob once to turn the ignition on. You can then push the engine start button to start the engine. When we first got in the car, the saleswoman started the car for me. She had trouble getting the ignition to turn on and had to remove the fob a couple of times before it would start. When the car finally started, the traction control, ABS, and Brake warning lights stayed on in the gauge cluster. The only thing that cleared them was to shut the car off and restart it. Not very impressive. When we got back from the test drive, I shut the car off, but it wouldn't let me remove the key fob. The sales advisor had to fiddle with the key fob for about 2 minutes before it would release it. I don't know if there was just something wrong with this car, or if the key fob system is just that buggy, but I wasn't impressed by it. The other thing that bugged me was that the back seat is very hard for a fully grown adult (like myself) to get out of. The rear doors are shaped kind of weird (the back edge is a straight edge), and it makes for an awkward door opening to navigate.
So, in summary, I am a fan of the E90. It looks better in person than in pictures, and the driving dynamics are simply out of this world. There may be one in my future....
Here are the pics:
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![[thumb]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_thumb.gif "Thumbs Up [thumb]"){kind=icon}
Gonna leave this as a sticky for awhile. ![[^]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_approve.gif "Approved [^]"){kind=icon}
![[hihi]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_hihi.gif "Hi Hi [hihi]"){kind=icon}
) When I was at the dealer there was a reason why I didn't testdrive it, as I knew the hideous thing's drive would sway me... and I currently intend on spending a few more happy anniversaries with my E46.![[nono]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_nono.gif "No No [nono]"){kind=icon}
It should not take it a great deal of time to like it ![[paranoid]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_paranoid.gif "Paranoid [paranoid]"){kind=icon}
![[:o)]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_clown.gif "Clown [:o)]"){kind=icon}
