Even better then my last bimmer!

Having owned a 2003 BMW 325i for 3 years and now being the owner of a 2006 330i, I think I can give an interesting perspective on this car.

I would like to start off by saying that my epinions reviews are not about reciting dimensions and technological data available everywhere on the web and in my opinion should be read on the manufacturers website. What I do come to epinions for is opinions on the little things that are impossible to quantify.

I put in my order for my 2006 330i 6-spd with sport package and heated seats on 2/14/2006 and roughly 6 weeks later the car arrived at my dealership (that is much quicker then average). Coming out of a wonderful 2003 325i 5-spd sport package I wasn’t sure how this totally new bimmer would compare. Well the new car is everything I hoped for and more.

Let’s start off with the “likes”

The interior uses high quality materials and has a nice feeling of quality, there are a few knobs and such that look a little cheap but the interior is worlds ahead of the American car makers and maybe a little behind Audi. My 2003 was still rock solid when I got out of it and I hope this car is as rattle free.

Love the new sport package seats, they are both more supportive and more comfortable. They are a big improvement and worth the cost of the sport package alone. The 2003 sport package seats were much more firm and did not wrap around you as much as the new seats do. There is also increased lumber support which helps my back from getting sore on longer drives. I did test drive a non sport package 330i and I found those seats comfortable too but nowhere near the same support levels.

I wasn’t sure about the new thicker and smaller diameter steering wheel but they are now very comfortable to me. The wheel has those palm swells at 10:00 and 2:00 like my Saab aero used too and I find myself holding the wheel at 10 and 2 more because of them. The radio controls have changed on the wheel also and I prefer the older rocker controls on the 2003 and I prefer having the tuning button and volume button next to each other over the way they are now, volume on one side and tuning on the other.

I love the larger 18” wheels. They don’t seem to me holding as much brake dust as my last set but they still get dusty.

The ride is quieter and feels a little softer without really loosing anything in the corners. This one surprised me, I had read about the harsh run flats and I had concerns about going from 17” to 18” wheels but the ride is actually softer! I think that some BMW lovers may view this as a negative due to the separation from the true feel of the road.

While the new car is larger all around there really isn’t any more width in the interior of the new car but there is a hair more room in the backseat. It is surprising how much bigger it looks on the outside but still has about the same interior room. Someone guessed that thicker doors with more safety features were to blame for the interior feeling the same size as the e46 even though the e 90 is larger.

I love the new key fob and push button start, I wasn’t sure if it was a just a gimmick but I have grown used to it quickly. I didn’t get comfort access that lets you just leave the “key” in you pocket so I have to stick it in the dash and push the button which is no problem

I enjoy the computer and features on my non-navigation equipped car although I read that consumer reports found it to be more complicated then necessary.

Having an aux plug and 12v power source in the armrest is fantastic, you can plug in your ipod, hook up to the cars power source and if you use a wireless remote you can close the arm rest completely. Without the remote, or if you want to read the display, you need to run the aux cord out of the armrest to the ipod.

The adaptive headlights are a very nice feature that really work and look pretty cool with the factory “halos”.

While I’m still getting used to the 6-spd manual transmission I’m learning to like the extra gear. The weird thing for me about the 6-spd is if you are cruising on the highway you shift up into 5th to “downshift” which still feels odd to me. Also both 5th and 6th feel like highway overdrive gears and to really get the RPMs up on the highway you need to make a 6th to 4th shift which is awkward. I love both the armrest on the door and center arm rest, they are perfectly positioned for me. The clutch throw is very short and extremely light.

The new brakes are HUGE I mean HUGE, because of this they provide great brake feel and stopping power. This is also a negative for my because I have a set of 16” wheels with snow tires for the winter that will not fit over these brakes. I’m going to have to buy new 17” winter wheels and snow tires for this car. Sport package tires are useless in the winter by the way.

Now for what I like about the motor. The delivery of the power is very linear with no flat spots. It is my opinion that because of this, the car doesn’t feel as fast as it is. Step on the gas and the car smoothly pulls way and you don’t realize that you have blown away from the cars following you and that you are going significantly faster then the speed limit. It does not have the same seat of the pants feel of my old 9-5 aero which you could really feel kick in and tap out, or the feel of a car like a Mustang. This power plant has no abrupt starting or stopping, it just keeps pulling forever. I'm also getting about the same gas mileage as my last car, about 24.5, regardless of how hard I drive

What I don’t like about the car. I HATE the cup holders, my Saab had these same garbage fold out of the dash cup holders, F- on these. Not only are they flimsy they aren’t deep so you have to worry about tipping.

I don’t like the run flat tires and lack of full size spare. We are already starting to hear about $900 potholes with the run flats costing $300 + bent wheels + alignment and you are out big bucks! Also run flats can’t be repaired so if you get a nail you are out $300. If I could have ordered regular tires and a full size spare I would have. One other thing that I don’t like is that while wearing my polarized sunglass the display for the radio is impossible to see. I also miss having the window controls on the center consol and their current location is a bit too far away.

I really love this car and you just can’t get the combination of sport/luxury like you do in the 3 series, believe me I tried. I looked at the RX-8, S2000, IS, MazdaSpeed 6, Subaru Legacy GT, 350Z, G35. All of these cars did some things like the BMW but none of them could blend it all together in the same way.

Bmw 3 series is the only car that lets you bang corners like an S2000 and cruise the highway like a Lexus ES, THAT is why this car is great.