I ran over to the dealer at lunch to check out the demos. Unfortunately, they were in an overflow lot surrounded by other Bimmers, plus the salesperson (a friend) was really busy (end of the month), so driving was undoable - next week! Instead, I just played around inside for 30 mins.

Here are a few quick thoughts people might find of interest:

1. It was a cloudy day. Arctic looked like dark silver/light gray with undertones of green and blue. I neither liked nor disliked it - it was just . . . odd. SG looked fine, though quite dark - no discernible purple tint. The 330 sport wheels are quite attractive!

2. Proper views were hard to get because so many other cars were surrounding them. However, I thought the fronts looked very nice, the sides good (a little more elegant but less sporty than E46) and the backs fair.

3. The sport seats are incredible glove-like wombs(I'm 6-0 and slender) - better than the E46 and I liked the E46 seats!

4. The manual shifter and clutch are smooth as silk, with nice short throws (of course, I'm used to a 5 spd Ford V-8 linkage!) - just right for my taste.

5. The room seems bigger than an E46, esp. in the back. The rear seat has a nice center fold-down armrest with cupholders. The front cupholders are solid and easy to access.

6. I couldn't listen much to the Logic 7 as I spent a while trying to figure out how to switch from AM to FM. Once I found a local rock station - it instantly displayed the artist and song. The sound was fine but I had to go and so couldn't really give it a thorough listening. There is equalizer access even without IPod.

7. None had fold-down rear seats, but the trunk space was quite useable in layout.

8. The door panels had leather on them and appeared more luxurious than the E46.

9. The plastic key insert felt more solid than I was expecting - I kinda liked it. The acessories came on as soon as it was inserted.

All in All -