E90 Test Drive

[CorporalCarrot]

Hi Folks

Just thought I would post my impressions of the new E90 after my test drive on Saturday. Before I start I just wanted to say that before I went on this test drive, I had made my mind up that I would buy a new Three, the only issue being what type of engine to go for. I am saddened to say that I have come away unsure of whether I want a new Three Series at all, not because of any single particular failing but because the whole package left me feeling rather under whelmed.

Anyway the test took place on Easter Saturday, which was great because the weather was fine and the BMW dealership was empty. They had two test cars available, a 320i Automatic and a 320d Manual. The salesman suggested a quick spin around the block in each of them. I asked whether I could get a decent drive in them and we settled for quick spin in one, followed by decent drive in the other.

Since I am familiar with the 2 litre petrol engine from my 318ci, I decided the quick spin should be in the 320i, reasoning that I had less to learn about the performance of this car. Anyway, the car was fine and pretty much what I expected. The drive we went on was not long enough or on roads varied enough for me to say much but the engine is quiet, refined and probably a fine choice for people who don’t want/need major performance. I have to say though, it seemed far less lively than my 318ci. This is probably due to the automatic gearbox which I don’t think really suits an engine with as little torque as this one.

I took a much longer drive in the 320d covering a variety of roads including motorway, fast smooth A roads and some twisty little B roads. The car covered all of these with aplomb and there were no surprises. The handling is very good, body control is great (I think it corners even flatter than my E46), and the ride quality is (to me at least) perfectly fine. If I hadn’t been told I wouldn’t have known there were runflat tyres. In terms of performance I must admit, when it gets up to speed this diesel is frankly astonishing when you consider its just 2 litres. There is so much torque on hand it doesn’t matter what gear you are in just put the foot down and it takes off. Overtaking is a total breeze and I am sure this puts most petrol engines to shame. The 330d is going to be unbelievable. In fact, unless 0-60 or traffic light bragging rights are your thing, its almost hard to see why anyone doing major mileage would ever choose a petrol when this is available.

I say almost for two reasons. Firstly, taking off in first still sounds a bit like a tractor. Do not believe any of the reviews that say you can’t tell it’s a diesel without test driving first. You can. It still sounds chuggy and sluggish until it gets up to speed. The salesman said the diesel auto was much better in this regard but I can’t confirm or deny this. But it could be a problem for me because I do a lot of stop start driving in traffic so I could be hearing this a lot. Once you are in second or third however this disappears and its absolutely fine so if you do 20-40k miles per year of long distance etc its going to be perfect.

Secondly, the pricing. I don’t know about the UK but here in Ireland, the 320d is €3,500 more expensive than the 320i in basic spec, and €4,500 more expensive than the 320i in SE spec. Yes you read that right. I queried it with the salesman and he confirmed it with a rather sheepish expression. The 320d and 320i are the exact same spec of car except engine. Adding SE spec to both (yes I confirmed it is the EXACT same additional equipment on both) costs an extra €1k for the diesel. How fecked up is that? Talk about blatant BMW exploitation of what they know is going to be the volume seller. I would be interested to learn if the same applies in the UK.

So as you can see, if the performance doesn’t matter to you, the €4,500 you could save on the diesel could buy you a lot of toys so the 320i might be the better buy.

So anyway, performance, ride and handling are all as expected so why am I disappointed?

Well I must say, I absolutely HATE the new interior. Both cars I tried were absolutely manky and looked so low-rent it’s unbelievable. Audi won’t be quaking in their boots for another few years at least. I am one of those who loved the cockpit like feel of the old 3 series and the way the controls angled towards the driver. The new one looks so flat and uninspiring it just doesn’t appeal to me at all.

The 320i had the basic (non-brushed) aluminium/titanium? Trim with grey leather and it was putrid looking. The 320d had Walnut trim with black leather ( a combo I didn’t mind in the old 3) and it just looked incredibly dull and oppressive. Neither felt like places I would want to spend a lot of time in.

I also felt that the plastics have taken a turn for the worse, particularly those on the top half of the dash which have gotten harder and more of a stipple-like effect compared to the previous generation.

The best interior trim combination I have seen so far is the one in the brochure with the Walnut/Beige leather.

A few other annoyances.

Indicator stalk. A couple of times while indicating I found the indicator didn’t cancel when the steering came back to centre like I expected. Then trying to manually cancel it I found it difficult to find a neutral position and often found myself indicating in the other direction. After a while I asked the salesman if it was just me and he said a lot of people had commented on it, and he found it difficult to get used to himself. It was caused by the new “lane-changing” feature where a quick flick of the indicators not down as far as the détente point gives you a few quick flashes for motorway lane changes. He said you get used to it after a while.

Cruise control; Now on a stalk below the indicator. I don’t know what was wrong with the old system. Kept hitting it instead of the indicator but again I am sure this is something you would get used to.

Start Button. Talk about a complete and utter instance of “innovation” for the sake of innovation. If anything, this is less convenient than the traditional key.

Boot; while it has gone up in size a few new cubby hole dividers I think are going to prove to be a PITA when I am trying to load up a few sets of golf clubs. The 320d had the new laptop storage shelf in the boot and I reckon this totally obstructs the load area and will make things very difficult for people. Would not recommend it.

Overall, the new three is probably a fine car, but it just didn’t wow me. I probably expected too much and the fact that I found the interior totally uninspiring was a big disappointment. I am sure it will sell in bucketloads though, and over here we are already looking at September delivery. This totally takes the decision out of my hands for the time being because our reg plate system really penalises cars based on year of registration. A September car is effectively one year old just 3 months later so theres no way I am ordering one yet.

In fact, I think I shall wait and see how the coupe versions and the new Lexus IS250 turns out before making my mind up.

[NewNiceMrMe]

Firstly, a big round of a applause for a very well written review that you've obviously put a lot of time and attention into.

I've read a few such reviews on other sites and it's becoming increasingly obvious that the cars have a weak point, or at least I perceived weak point.

That is, the interiors are being torn apart by criticism for the quality of materials on the fake trims in particular, and pretty much overall.

I'm off to see one this afternoon because I have a few hours to kill!

I want to see for myself because I struggle to understand how BMW could make such a huge mistake as produce a crap interior on what are otherwise sounding like excellent cars.

Report back later!

[loddrik]

I've been banging on about the 'new' BMW interiors for months now, they are horrible!

[NewNiceMrMe]

Ok, well I've been to my local dealer who I have bought my last two cars off and spent well over an hour examining a 325i that had been almost fully loaded (total price of £34k).

I'm not going to go into great depth about the car overall because that has been done elsewhere. All I will say is that as a package it is very impressive.

The point though was about the interior. So here goes:

Firstly, the underwhelmed feeling - well I agree.

It's very underwhelming. However, I'm inclined to think this is because of one thing and one thing only.

iDrive.

It has removed so many buttons that the need for a cockpit angled dash simply doesn't exist anymore.

As a result I think that leaves the cabin feeling very sparse.

My regular sales contact said they referred to the new dash as the 1-series dash, because in essence that is what it is.

The 325 had the SatNav display in the centre which broke it up a bit more though.

The seats are faultless. I couldn't find any issue with them and the "Lemon" style trim on this one was very supple in feel.

I didn't find the quality of plastics to be poor though. They were at least as good as the E46 3-series if not better.

The aluminium trim on the one I looked at was proper brushed aluminium - so I don't know what was in the the 320/d that CC looked at. Possibly something different.

The movement of the Cruise function to the left indicator stalk is a big improvement in my opinion. It's location on the wheel has forever puzzled me, even though I don't use it and never have done except when experimenting.

So this all sounds very positive.

Alas no, please get rid of iDrive. It's bloody awful.

Give us back proper buttons and switches and the like.

You have to adjust your left arm when you want to use it - but in an awkward style. I just want to move my arm to a button that I know is where it should be, and press it.

Not too much to ask is it?

Flicking through menu's and nudging left, right, up, down, pressing here and pressing there on what looks like the bottom of an upturned pie tin, well it's just not right.

I think any underwhelming feeling is purely because the cabin seems too spare with all the buttons gone.

Everything felt quality though, although the 1-series definately has a more inferior type of plastic inside it.

Overall I'm not impressed because of the iDrive system as I say above. I don't like the flat dash either.

The fact remains that technically the new 3-series is a superb car and I'd have to say the interior probably wouldn't put me off if I was looking for a 320/d.

A finishing point though - I don't like the rear.

It looks as if a nice design has been poured into a funnel and compacted into a very odd shape.

I don't like the moustache either. Add a swastika instead of a propellor badge and you get rather unnerving connetations of the past.

Out of interest, the earliest date at which the dealership could get you ANY new model was end of July, and the waiting list was increasing by the day.

[CorporalCarrot]

M3me

Just a couple of points of clarification on my test drive.

Firstly, although I don't like the look of the new dash in general, it seemed to me to be as well screwed together as the previous version and I'm sure it will prove to be as rattle free for most people. I just felt the plastics on the top half of the dash (which is now sort of stippled rather than the old "worn leather" type feel) were a bit...well Japanese frankly.

Also, the 320i had I think a titanium trim (probably the default) and it looks very cheap. The 320d had the wlanut with black leather and it looked very dark and oppressive (even though for some reason I liked this combination on the previous three).

I think the point is that people need to be very careful choosing their trim combinations with this car more so than any previous three. The best I have seen is the brochure beige leather/walnut combo. I think its no mystery BMW are using this in most of the promo shots and it looks quite nice. Just looking at the brochure, the beige leather combo also gets you beige headlining which means there are less clashing colours. I seem to remember (although I can't be positive) the 320d had a light grey headlining which clashed.

I think the best combo with the black leather is the brushed aluminium trim which looks miles better than the titanium...they had this combo in a fully stacked 325i (which wasn't available for test drive).

Which gets me round to the iDrive. TBH, I hear what you are saying about the iDrive but both the 320i/320d I drove didn't have it and the dash looks even more boring without it. Sure there are a few more buttons here and there but BMW interiors were never really overloaded with them anyway. I think the iDrive actually adds something to the look of the interior, but this is an irrelevance for me since I absolutely hate the thing and if it ever became compulsory on BMW's that would be reason enough for me not to buy one.

Finally, I am sure the 325i you saw was the same as the fully loaded one my BMW dealer had. It had absolutely everything (electric sports seats with lumbar, sports steering wheel, idrive/nav upgraded hifi etc etc). You always need to be wary when falling in love with these since many peoples actual cars fall far short in spec with the showpieces.

I think two things are essential though; the sports seats (they really are that good) and the sports steering wheel. It felt great and the standard one is boring.

C

[CarMad]

Id have to agree about the dash looking even worse without the iDrive or rather should I say having Sat-Nav fitted as you can't have it without in the UK at least. In the 5 you can have it without Sat-nav.

As for your comments about the engines its a shame you haven't tried a stright 6 yet it might fire the soul a little bit or enough to get one.

Interesting that you mention the new Lexus. Having had an IS200 in the past with a stright 6 as good as the BMWs at the time its going to be well worth a look.

They have now taken the interior from the LS430 et al and move it down a good move in my opinion. Through in superb reliability and if you still want to look at a diesel a new 2.2 with 175bhp and 300lb ft of torque that will be the best in class and they might have a little gem on their hands.

I spoke to the product release manager at the BMW launch day and he said he fears Lexus more than anyone else. Well worth a look when its out, it might have an interior that is better than a BMW, and engine thats as good and reliability thats better than both, just have to keep fingers crossed on the handling

[NewNiceMrMe]

Well despite being a huge BMW fan I still think iDrive looks like an upturned pie tin.

[CorporalCarrot]

Hehe M3me I agree with you....kinda like those Mr Kipling's apple pie carriers.

But on the Lexus yeah for once I think it really could be an option. Having seen the pictures I think it looks pretty good and at least as good as the new three series. A friend had an IS200 and while I know all about the reliability etc it just didn't look special to me. I liked the dials in the interior but the rest of it was not inspiring. They look to have sorted that now and you know it will come with pretty much everything you could want as standard so it should be a compelling package.

If it drives well also, and knowing lexus the noise suppression on the diesel will probably be class leading, then it should be a winner. The torque figure on that 2.2 diesel looks unbelievable. Only thing is, from what they have said there wont be an automatic option for the diesel which will put a lot of people off.

Also, here in Ireland because we have an absolutely and utterly ridiculous Vehicle Taxation system, the diesel hops into a higher VRT bracket than the other sub 2 litre vehicles in the class which will load an extra few €k on to the price.

C

[Thorburn]

We had a new 525i on loan when dads E39 528i was in for servicing and I've gotta say I found it pretty easy to use (I AM a computer science student tho), but it was a little pointless on the car we had as it didn't have GPS or any other useful extras.

I does do a decent job simplifying the dashboard layout and from the manufacturers point of view its great, a £1000 GPS option just requires a GPS receiver (not very expensive) and an upgrade to the iDrive software.

[CarMad]

If you still might be interested in the new Lexus have a look at the post in the new Japanese section New IS250/350 information.