New BMW Looks

I agree completely. I have a 2003 zhp and try as I might, I just cannot warm to the E90. Best I can manage is when looking at it from a distance it looks OK, but them I focus on the details like the stupid "flame" line on the side or the squashed bug look of the rear quarter or the awkward face and all appeal disappears. I walk up to my red 2003 and it's always a pleasure to look at it. With an E90 it would always be a shaking of the head getting more and more pronounced the closer one comes.

My advice, pick up a last year E46 equipped just like you want and keep it ten years. Eventually Bangle will be booted out and they will go back to handsome styling. The Germans are stubborn and slow to admit a mistake, so it will take a while. Just wait it out.

What a waste of good engineering.

- nopcbs

It is not faster. Check the buff book numbers on the new 330i vs. the E46 zhp and the zhp was slightly faster. The extra horses must be very small ponies indeed.

I've got to agree. I drive an '02 E39. When it came time for my wife to get a new car, she just couldn't make herself like the E90. She's now got an '05 330Ci convertible with the performance package.

That E46 puts any E90 to shame in the looks department. A pity.

Torque is the same even though efficiency and HP are up.

OTOH, compared to EVERY BMW introduced over the last few years (Z-series, 7,

6, 5, the half-truck/half-touring SUV's) the E-90 isn't half bad. Scary the when we talk of new BMW's that we remark, "Well, they didn't screw it up TOO bad."

When the new 5er was ramping up for production and I had to replace my totaled E39, I scoured the southeast to find an '03 530i SP 5sp. I managed to secure one of three cars that met my desires. Maybe by the time I'm ready to replace it, the Bangle era will have ended and we'll regain styling and ergonomics that befit the ultimate sport sedan.

R / John

I beg to differ, do your research. I said the the new 325i was nearly as fast as last years 330i, and it is. Not quite, but right there. 3.0L motor vs the 2.5 to start with.

This is really a silly argument, if you guys like the older model and the way it looks go for it. But to try and act as though it's somehow superior to the new model is just not accurate. Even though the new model is bigger it handles better. Not just my opinion, but virtually every reviewer (and all have tested both) agree. Many say the G35 caught and surpassed the BMW3 until the new model came out, and now they are easily back in the lead.

Once again. More power, more space, more refined, just a better car IMO. And, there must be many that agree with me, they are flying off the lots.

Already does. You guys like your old cars, cool, that's a good thing. However, I can assure you there are many loyal E90 drivers on the road. I say way to go BMW, the new 3 is absolutely awesome. Perfect and better in almost every way, including the mean looking front end.

Nicely put.

We can only hope. My future holds an M3. I shudder to think of it being an E90, and low-mileage E46's may be more scarce by then.

Even sillier would be to claim we said the E46 is superior. Mechanically it may or may not be, but it certainly IS better looking. Beauty being subjective, of course.

So did the Pacer and Chevette when first released. Mind you, I'm not degrading the E90 in terms of technical refinement. We would have bought one had we been able to get past the looks. But after five months of "letting it grow on us", it just wasn't going to happen.

SNIP

I've driven the E90 and rather like the looks. It's the first new bimmer I would consider purchasing. But I so love the E39, the only real drivers would be the more powerful engine (We'll hope the mag core block retains the BMW six cylinder's bulletproof nature) and 6sp vice 5. I'd love to have another 30 horses and an overdrive trans with a shorter rear end to add just a bit of performance. I think BMW will take the new engine to 3.5 liters eventually, if there's room between the bores.

R / John

I did do my research. I spend far too much time with my nose in car books. I repeat, the E46 zhp 330i is quicker than the new (higher hp) 330i. It's just reality. C&D got mid-5's out of a zhp. E90 330i's test out at 6 sec +/- a tenth or two.

Handling I will not argue since I am not sure, but I would be surprised if a zhp were not better than a E90 330i. But, I may be wrong. One of these days I'll drop down at a BMW dealer, close my eyes while I climb into an E90 and take it for a spin...just to see what there is to see. Also be interesting to see if the downgrade of interior materials is as noticeable as at least one reviewer has noted.

I don't know who the "many" you are talking about are, but it's not the car buff reviewers and no BMW drivers I am aware of. Maybe Infiniti dealers? The only time a G35 ever beat an E46 in a comparison test was if they had a price limit and a 325 was up against a 330i. That's overall. The G35 always beat the E46 3-series in acceleration...and still does with the E90 series. The G35 is up around 300 hp now and close to M3 country in that regard. It's in handling/fun to drive/styling (sedan)/and interior design that the BMW was always better. I tested a G35 sedan when I was shopping and it was a very nice sedan...almost as nice as an E46 as long as you were not serious about the "sport" in sport sedan, but not quite there. Plus it was homely by comparison. Thanks to Bangle the homely by comparison issue is not what it was.

Glad you like the E90. I hope lots of others buy them, too so BMW can stay profitable until Bangle disappears and a competent stylist replaces him. So some day I can replace my E46 with a new 3-Series that does not make me shake my head in disbelief when I look at it.

Cheers.

- GRL

From your mouth to God's ears.

Thankfully for some reason the E46 M3 has not been subjected to the front end treatment of the rest of the range got in 2003. I think they really spoilt the elegance of the car.

The E46 with the Performance Package has the same front end as the M3.

Thankfully.

Presumably equivalent to our "sport" in the UK. Here, unfortunately, it has the same front as the lesser models. Only M3's are as original.

It's the same in the US - I don't know what the other poster is talking about. epbrown

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2003 BMW 325i Black/Black 2003 BMW Z4 Black/Black

If I understand you correctly, then the answer is no. Our Performance Package has the M3 front-end. Our SP has the lesser model front-end.

The look is why my wife wanted it. She-who-must-be-obeyed, and all that.

Pretty simple, really. Our 2005 E46 convertible with the Performance Package has the M3 front end, sans the fender louvres. The grille, and all body work below and surrounding the fog lamps is identical on the PP and M3.

Slightly different headlights, but you get the picture.