The All-New 3 Series

sobamaS2k · Oct 28, 2004

This just urges me to go out and buy the E46 we have been planning on. The 5 has grown on me....a little. This 3 will certainly grow on me after time but I'm w/ the folks that don't think it shouldn't have to grow on me if I'm going to OWN one.

I'm also somewhat of an automotive minimalist, I don't want a gazillion gizmo's, I want a driving machine, what BMW has been renowned in for a very long time. Take away driver feedback (and NO, electronically programmed feedback DOESN'T count) and you take away the passion in driving.

BTW, I think BMW was listening to lots of us complaining about their ugly new butts, so they gave this one a nice butt but left us needing to bag (bra) the front end

.

Travis

peakpros · Oct 28, 2004

I find the design boring and the interior....

From the picutres I do not like the style at all. I find it boring and unimaginative. It also appears that the interior is somewhat cheap looking. I hope the car in person is better than the photos and video clips I am looking at now.

bmwrocks · Oct 28, 2004

Chesty Bonds said:

It is actually driver-saving s***, not driver-killing. I know I am playing with your words, but you may someday owe your life to your BMW braking system, if you don't already. My car has dynamic brake control, part of which boosts brake pressure during an emergency stop. I have felt it only once when I panic braked to avoid running into the car in front of me. The car stopped on a dime. The computer detects a panic brake situation by how hard and quick you press the pedal and boosts the brake pressure higher than normal. The anticipatory system just takes it one step further by boosting the system even before you press the brake pedal. This compensates for the time it takes for you to release the gas pedal and hit the brake pedal. What an amazing idea IMO. These BMW engineers are real thinkers. [hatchet]

Section_8 · Oct 28, 2004

Hey where did all the E90 haters go.. Hate, hate, hate, hate! Coulda held the 2004 Hater's Ball here from the way most folks were talking about this car not 9 months ago.

It does look better in darker tones. I shouldn't have to 'like' how a car looks based on it's color. that was a common theme around here 9 months ago too.

Kinda makes me think about this: Do you talk to 'ugly' girls? Do you look beyond their appearance to whats inside? If not, this car isn't for you. (Hah! The E90 is a ugly girl!)

All that aside, I will not judge it until I drive it. The thing could be covered in big bird feathers, I want to know how it drives dang it..

Oh and I want one, as long as it drives like BMW's do.

AIO · Oct 28, 2004

I like the long hood, the new headlights are nice and in harmony with the overall car design. They look quite agressive, too. I didn't like new dashboard, it's way too flat for my taste, also the design of the taillights is very questionable.

bmwrocks · Oct 28, 2004

I wonder if the same sort of negative comments were spreading around when other BMW model changes occured over the years. I am talking over 20 years ago till now. I guess it would not be as widespread or spreadable without the internet. I could never afford a BMW so of course I didn't follow all the chatter. I would bet your bottom dollar that this is just a rehash of the past. This car is following right in the footsteps of the 7 and 5 series changes. I think they are doing a great job of softening the radical style changes of the expensive bimmers for us 3-series lovers. The good thing is they are giving us the technology updates which IMO is a HUGE plus to these cars.

aNoodle · Oct 28, 2004

bmwrocks said:

I agree...it's a tremendous step in the right direction. I'm encouraged. I'm looking forward to seeing the new 3er. I will not however be signing up for first months production like I did when I saw an advance picture of the new E46 in 1998. I was prepared to do it again, cuz mine is now 6 years old with 125,000 miles and I could be talked into a new one. I'm holding off for now, seeing if the pictures grow on me, and see what it drives like. Haters ball....LOL....Sec8.

Section_8 · Oct 28, 2004

bmwrocks said:

O... My... GOD... When the e36 came out, there was almost a riot - the e36 was given such a bad rap by the 'enthuesists' at the time (I equate us forum dwellers, as enthuesists as well, of course). The e30 M3 was the epitone (and still is in many ways) of a true street racecar. Of course nowadays, 2 body styles later, the e30 set the milestone for BMW in america, and the e36 is seen as the car that launched the popularity of BMW's in america. You'd have people nowadays swear the e36 was better than the E30, and the same thing in reverse. The biggest arguments being the move to a i6 from the i4, heavier car, electronics, you name it, people said that it all sucked.. Hmmph, can't pry a solid e36 M3 from an enthuesist these days. My dad used to own a 2002 turbo, '74 or'75 I believe. He loved the e30, and would have bought one if he coulda afforded it at the time.. He rode in mine a few weeks ago when he was here to visit my wife and our baby, and he enjoyed - and at the same time, gave my car a bad rap for not being 'what a bmw should be'. He did give me props for my racing suspension though! [hihi]

Then the e46.. it wasn't given as such a bad rap as the e36, but it was still 'hated' on fiercely. So many things went 'electronic' instead of 'drivers feel', that it bugged the 'traditional' 'enthuesists'. The E46 M3? Well, the fact that it laid down the HP caused some skeptics to rethink things.. But the diehard fans still will argue the loss of drivers feel in the car, to all the 'electronic gadgets' the car now has. Alot of people at first didn't like how it 'softened' the edges that the e36 had (the first signs of bangle@bmw).

enter Bangle's full revamped series designs..

Please, let him leave soon! (I think?)

The soon to be E90? Who knows, it's getting the same press from the same type of 'critics' it always had (enthuesists no less!). Can't say I disagree with some of it myself(The lights do look fugly!), but I'm not going to write the car off, or the direction they are going because it doesn't 'jive' with me. That's what aftermarket kits were made for! (please intone *SARCASTIC REMARK JUST MADE* in your mind at this point please). [:D]

But seriously though, that also appears to be a trend in new car designs these days. It's mod-ability to look however the owner wants it to.. I know most of the folks here don't modify their cars any (That's for those 'other' forum boards), yet it's a HUGE growing trend in the youth these days. (and not so youthful!) [:)]

What the manufacturer puts out on the outside, isn't what some folks are concerned with these days, it's whats under the hood and inside that matters. The rest can be fiberglassed (ugh..) or kitted. Alot of which honestly, does look good, nice, and appealing. It's folks with no taste that we always notice, and draws the attention. (Usually someone would intone *RICER* here, but I hate that expression!).

Seriously though, I think bangle may have been on to something (Please, god, PLEASE let this be so!).. I bet all the other car makers will start putting their own 'flame' designs on the side of their cars to mark their differences (because all the body shapes look alike to my eye these days - all streamlined and aerodynamic). The only thing differenciating many cars these days simple IS, the badge, and now maybe a new thing - body 'motion' or 'flame' designs..

I won't buy the first year model either, but I'm pretty sure in 2006 I'll be shopping for a E90..

anoodle, you have to watch alot of Chappelle to catch the hater's ball reference.. [drinking]

This, is just my recounting of my various driving experiences, friends, mechanics, and life in general experiences with cars (me being a BMW nut since I was 14, took me 18 damn years to finally get one..) from when I got my license at 16, and finally hit the WOT pedal... When a E30 M3 came down the street, people stopped and stared, sorta different these days (fancy cars and imports being certainly more a part of the culture now than then).

Jesus H Christ what a long freakin' post!

sly · Oct 28, 2004

deutsch100 said:

I couldn't agree more. If you got a bunch of BMW entusiasts together, it's very likely that we would all reach consensus quickly as to what is acceptable in terms of design for the various BMW offerings. Now BMW hires these jokers and they come up with the most absolutely hideous designs imaginable, and I bet that BMW is paying these designers a ton of money for their "forward looking" designs.

The bizzare thing is that it wasn't necessary. I mean BMWs were selling well in the US and in Europe. If sales were falling, I could understand why BMW would try something radical to spur sales. Maybe Audi planted these guys in BMW to sabotage sales.

aNoodle · Oct 28, 2004

Sec8, I totally agree. When I got my E46 in '98 I was a little surprised by some E36ers distain for my "luxury" 3er. Oh, how they went on about how obnoxious my new xenon headlights were (a first in 98). They felt it had grown to big, too lush. They actually faulted it for having the lusher internior materials of the 5 series. These were the throw-backs to the 2002. They really wanted a 1 series again. They thought the new 3 was too flabby, too electro, too nice. They wanted harder plastics, less room, cuz a true sports car demands some sacrifices they thought.

So there's always gonna be some grubling, some comparison analysis. BMW owners are a discriminating crowd!

But the only thing different that's going on now it seems is the universal rejection of the new style direction in the press. It's gone so wierd whacky wrong that new BMWs are now falling to the bottom of comparison tests for their looks and ergonomics alone. The E46, despite the E36ers little grumbles, still won every single comparo it competed in from day one until almost today. It is the king of the road, the benchmark for it's segment. The same for the last 5er. The new 5er/7er/Z4 have not seen that sort of total dominance. In fact, they've been met with much scorn. But then, the outgoing 5er and now the outgoing E46 is a hard act to follow....many car fans and journalists consider them a pinnacle in automotive design and engineering. The E46 will be considered one of the classics, like the '66 Mustang. Guys will be fixing these up and keeping them going for decades!

Chesty Bonds · Oct 28, 2004

bmwrocks said:

Yeah I understand that BMW needs to be seen to be at the forefront of technology etc, etc and I can appreciate the engineering genius behind these gizmos but, please, i think i'm quite capable of stopping my car under my own steam. This is where it srarts to get murky. Car manufacturers add all these high-tech driver 'aids' in the name of safety and/or driver involvement when, in reality, they're nothing of the sort. Active steering?? If they make the 'Ultimate Driving Machine' then surely you can't substitute fancy electronics for a quick steering-rack.

Anothing thing. My mum's E46 has no throttle cable which means that it's reactions are super quick to my inputs but at the same time i feel a little detached from the car. I've turned off ASC before, downshifted to second gear, barrelled into a tight bend and nailed the throttle to the bulkhead... Nothing. Because of the lack of a throttle cable the car's electronics were STILL able to override my inputs! Is this what i want in a drivers machine? No f***ing way! To me, the new breed of cars are beginning to make the driver a redundant entity.

Fwu · Oct 28, 2004

i like it......way better than the new Audi A4

theBMWenthusiast · Oct 28, 2004

seen that 3 site, really cool [:D]

The All-New 3 Series

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