Yes, another post-test drive analysis.

The car: [1] 330i w/Steptronic in 'Titanium Silver Metallic,' PP, CWP and black/aluminum interior, [2] 330i w/manual in 'Sparkling Graphite', PP, SP, and gray/walnut interior.

Report: Colors

I have ordered my car in Deep Green Metallic with Comfort Access so I still have a four and-a half-month wait. I have been told that this color is the same as the Deep Green available on the current ‘7’ so I am satisfied that it will suit me.

For whatever reason, and with the exception of Corso Red on a Ferrari, dark green just does it for me; something about the wavelength of that color really appeals to some part of my brain. Dark green to me has the reserve and sophistication of black but more interesting in that it is an actual color instead of a combination of all colors of the spectrum [the definition of ‘black’].

Anyhow, my dealer had on his lot various ‘3’s in Titanium Silver, Alpine White, Graphite, Arctic, Sapphire Black, and Monaco Blue.

The Graphite looks great under certain lighting conditions but that color really does have a high degree of metamerism with the largest skew, in my observations, running towards an almost iridescent purple and to an ‘almost’ shade of brown; definitely not for me.

The Black looks good, nothing special in that there are a million black cars on the roads as it is, its black, but like all black paint it will be a chore to keep it in good condition. It does look quite sophisticated with a beige interior though.

I would say pretty much the same for Alpine white as well; nice, conservative, hard to go wrong with white, but a bit bland IMHO. It does look quite good with a beige/poplar interior, but definitely not a color for climates where ‘winter’ lasts for more than a month or two.

The Arctic displays a bit of metamerism as well but seems always to skew towards the kind of powder baby blue that Honda used for their Civics some years back; you know the color I mean. It is a so ‘in-the-middle' color between silver and blue that it doesn’t seem to have much character on its own.

Titanium can pretty much be describe as your garden variety silver. Looks good, goes well with all four interior color combinations, has a certain sophistication to it but is easier to maintain than either white or black.

Monaco Blue is really a very nice color. It is dark enough to not appear ‘da-glo’ and has a similar cool sophistication to both black and dark green. After Deep Green I personally would choose Monaco Blue and the Titanium.

Interior and Drivetrain

The interior is a tough one. It is not ‘bad’ but it aint ‘great’ either. I am consistently dumbfounded as to how Honda can use consistently such radically more sophisticated and richer interior materials in their Accord than BMW does in their ‘3’ and yet the Accord still costs much less. The quality of the plastics used in the radio and climate controls in the new ‘3’ are surpassed by Hyundai and equaled by Kia and no, I am not joking.

The Fuel Economy Gauge is, as it has always been, completely useless unless you are on an extended long distance trip using the cruise control. Under normal city driving that damn needle bobs back and forth so much that it is actually distracting. A coolant temp or oil pressure gauge would have been much more useful.

The headliner is actually a step forward. While it is not a rich camel hair like material used in, say the Jag XJ-8, it does look fairly well done and like it will be easy to maintain.

The turn signals are great! They were at first odd to use but after a few minutes they are completely intuitive to me. I say confidently that this is how all turn signal stalks should operate.

As for the seats they are a tale of two cities. The standard seats are quite nice and should fit most everyone well. They don’t have the same glued-in sense of the sport seats but overall they work quite well. For the sport seat themselves I would have to give them an overall ‘fail’ on a ‘pass/fail’ scale. I am 5’-11”, weigh 210 pounds and have about 8% body fat so I am neither too tall nor too heavy and I tell you that the actual seating areas of these seats are small, way too small for me. Yes, they hug you in the right places and keep you planted during spirited driving but during any other time they are cramped, restrictive, and not always comfortable. These are not seats suitable for any long distance driving.

The suspension that comes with the SP is interesting. It isn’t harsh exactly but you do feel pretty much every defect in the road as a type of movement, just with the jarring harshness removed; this is why a lot of people do refer to the SP suspension as being harsh, the whole car is so tight and so quiet inside that you feel and sense everything going on with the road. Again, this is great for the twisty bits but annoying for daily commuter use. The handling is textbook BMW and a back-to-the-future improvement over the e46. The run-flat tires are not a superior solution. They simply allowed BMW to save a few hundred bucks on production costs by not having to provide and warranty a spare wheel, tire, and jack. Runflats just exacerbate the apparent ‘harshness' of the SP suspension and cost a bloody fortune to replace.

The standard suspension is really quite nice. It performs every bit as well as the SP suspension, even in hard driving, but you do have to stay on top of it a bit more during hard driving than you do with the standard suspension.

This car looks its absolute best on the 18" ellipsoid wheels. The 17's just don't do the car justice. I will probably opt for the non-sports package and just buy the 18" ellipsoids from the parts department. Also, the SP steering wheel is [1] great in terms of its beefiness and smaller diameter but [2] awful in terms of the ugly and ungainly circular protrusion that is the cover for the airbag. I mean that thing sticks out a foot and right into your chest. It is ugly and obtrusive but the wheel itself is better than the non-SP wheel. Decisions, decisions...

The engine is great, just wish there was more of it. It is the same silky-smooth straight-six we all know and love yet this one is even more silky and more smooth. Too bad we e90 owners are going to have to learn to tolerate being blown away by every g35, m35, S60-R, GS300, Mustang, e350, etc, etc, etc. If Acura can get 300 bhp out of an equally smooth six then BWM should have been able to get at least 280. While the e90 is discernibly quicker and more powerful than the e46 it is unquestionably still a step or two behind the competition, some of which cost quite a bit less as well. There is no way that the e90 [with either transmission] is a 5.6 second car as R&T says. I doubt it even breaks 6 seconds but it is a legitimate 6.0-second car for most any driver, finally.

The six-speed manual is a great transmission. The throw is about perfect and the action is butter smooth. If 90% of my driving weren't in city traffic I would opt for the manual but as things are now it is just a PITA impracticality for me. Luckily the Steptronic is nearly as good. Sorry folks but while the auto does not have the romance of the manual it does have a good 95% of it's performance and the manu-matic is a nice substitute for a true manual when hitting the Mulholland curves and canyon roads at dusk.

Other Issues: Bad

The thing that really irks me about the e90 is how close to perfect it is and how easy and even affordably a near perfection could have been achieved. As the saying[s] goes: God and the Devil are [alternatively] in the details. Looking in the trunk for instance reveals how BMW has sloppily cut corners.

Whereas the Audi A4 has neatly arranged compartments covered in quality carpet with hard plastic edges that denote a certain solidity, BMW instead has poorly sewn panels of low-grade Astroturf thrown over bare openings such as for the tool kit and battery compartment. The quality and finish of many of the plastics used in the new ‘3’ is questionable at best and the fact that leather is an option on a $40,000 car is nearly unforgivable as is the lack of a power tilt/telescoping wheel.

Also, how much extra would it have cost for BMW to make the interior door pulls out of real aluminum instead of clear-coated plastic? How much would it have cost them to include high-quality floor mats like Audi does?

Other Issues: Good

For all of the ‘bad’ things BMW has done some ‘good’ ones as well. Free scheduled maintenance is probably the biggest one. The cost of dealer performed maintenance according to schedule [which everyone should do regardless of car make] can run a total of $2750-$3250 over the life/warranty of the car. That is serious money and kudos to BMW for keeping free maintenance when everyone else dropped theirs [though I do wish that they would allow for free oil changes more often than every 8,000 miles; that is just a bit too long, I don’t care how good then engine is].

Conclusion

At the end of the day the new e90 ‘3’ is still a very special car. It is as solid as a rock, has one of the best [if underpowered] 6-cylinder engines on the planet and communicates a truer experience to the driver that is unlike any other car in its segment [and even a few above it] and I have driven them all.

I personally like the exterior styling of the e90. It is unique and makes a statement. It is not perfect but then what body style [since the original Ferrari/Pinninfarina 308] is? It still has a discernable link to its great past and heritage [unlike the Japanese cars] and it is still just that much better that it’s German rivals.

No, it is not perfect and infuriatingly so at times given how easy many of its problems could have been solved but it is still the best driver’s sedan out there for under $55,000 and I cannot wait until mine finally arrives.