Blah Blah Blah! You are all probably sick of all these "I saw it andlooks sharp", "I saw it and I hate it" type of post so here you go. Another one to the collection.
Here's my 2 cents from tonight's 3 Series presentation at the Palace hotel in San Francisco.
I went there with an honest desire to like this car and I left with very mixed feelings. Mostly negative. The car looks good from the outside which is a surprise. It is Bangle's least ****ed up child but the rear is simply terrible. It will probably be the first facelift in a couple years. It is completely out of place. The lights look like they were taken off from a different car and glued onto the metal. It is tragic. Other than that the design is a pleasant surprise. The car looks (unfortunately) much bigger, longer and wider but when you sit inside it really isn't. Front room is the same, side room is the same. Yes, rear passangers do get a little more leg room. Now on to the worst part so we can have it out of the way quicker- interior. I just don't get those who say that the interior on par with E46. It is tragic. The only better thing is leather quality appears better and sport seat bolsters seem more resistant to wear. Other than that the quality of plastic (did you actually touch it and pull it and squeeze it) is getting dangerously close to American standards. It's not there yet but it is close. I'm not even talking about the whole idiotic "I'm on a yacht and not a car" design for the front dash but simply material choices. Plastics look and feel cheaper and more hmmm...plasticky!. Take a look at sides of the dashboard or plastic door panels. They are terrible, they feel like they are going to fall of. Some things are taken straight from E46 like window regulators (except are placed on the doors), blinker switches. Those look decent. Cupholders are simply ridiculous. That CD looking stuff coming out of the dashboard that looks like its going to break after 50 uses - pleeeaaase. They clearly seem like an afterthought added ad hoc for the american market. Dash display and radio controls seem very detached from the driver and unattractive.
Trunk seems decidedly bigger. It is visibly wider and longer and deeper. You can tell with a naked eye. Shifter, clutch and gas have a similar placement and feel to my ZHP. Shifter has touch longer throws but just as precise and positive.
Dash seems actually very short. Maybe it's so that you have an optical illusion that the car is not as long as it is. I don't know but I didn't like that. Adjustible side bolsers are a nice touch.
All in all I was disappointed. I will still consider a wagon when they bring one here especially if they bring a diesel in a couple years.