More E90 Pics and 1st drive *Lots of pics*

[rumatt]

Doe the car really have a 7K redline?

[Jason C]

Originally Posted by rumatt

Doe the car really have a 7K redline?

E90 330i? Most definitely yes.

[lemming]

interesting.

because I thought the whole raison d'etre of keeping the individual throttle bodies and forsaking valvetronic on the new M motors is because valvetronic doesn't like to rev high and its response is too "slow" for the M division.

7k rpms is lofty for a straight six (that is a non M vehicle).

let me be the first one on record as saying that BMW is far too conservative and is going to need to bump up displacement, euro taxes or not on displacement, because its cars seem to get heavier no matter how much aluminum they put into them.

pretty sure the quoted figure for curb weight for the e90 330i is about 3380 or 3390 --i think bumping up (you know, like mercedes & audi just did) to 3.2 or 3.4 litres wouldn't be a bad idea. the motor is still pretty soft in the torque department.

[FC]

Originally Posted by lemming

interesting.

because I thought the whole raison d'etre of keeping the individual throttle bodies and forsaking valvetronic on the new M motors is because valvetronic doesn't like to rev high and its response is too "slow" for the M division.

7k rpms is lofty for a straight six (that is a non M vehicle).

let me be the first one on record as saying that BMW is far too conservative and is going to need to bump up displacement, euro taxes or not on displacement, because its cars seem to get heavier no matter how much aluminum they put into them.

pretty sure the quoted figure for curb weight for the e90 330i is about 3380 or 3390 --i think bumping up (you know, like mercedes & audi just did) to 3.2 or 3.4 litres wouldn't be a bad idea. the motor is still pretty soft in the torque department.

That's 100lbs more than an E46 330i (3280lbs).

Also, the ZHP revs to 6800, only 200rpm shy of the E90. Don't all E46 330i's rev to 7K with shark injector?

[lemming]

e90 330 CURB WEIGHT as reported by Car & Driver is 3450 pounds (or equal to the e46m3).

http://www.caranddriver.com/article....;page_number=3

read for yourself.

i am unthrilled by this.

[Jason C]

Originally Posted by lemming

e90 330 CURB WEIGHT as reported by Car & Driver is 3450 pounds (or equal to the e46m3).

http://www.caranddriver.com/article....;page_number=3

read for yourself.

i am unthrilled by this.

IIRC, the A4 quattro V6 gained 375 pounds when going from B5 to B6. How much did the 3-series go up? I remember it was cited as something like 75-100 pounds.

[lemming]

Originally Posted by Captain Morgan

IIRC, the A4 quattro V6 gained 375 pounds when going from B5 to B6. How much did the 3-series go up? I remember it was cited as something like 75-100 pounds.

for whatever reason, the a4 has always been portly, but in particular, the quattro --> but this obviously also reflects the weight of the AWD mechanicals, also.

[rumatt]

Originally Posted by TD

I just thought the clutch was among the worst I have ever driven. Period.

Revisiting this topic yet again, yesterday I drove the 330 for the first time in about 2 weeks, and I was unable to get the clutch right the whole freaking day.

So to some degree TD, I agree with you. But when you drive the car daily, most of the problem disappears because you eventually get used to the clutch and manage to get the shifts right (or mostly right).

So is it a weak point on the car? Definitely. But it's one of those problems that is minimized the more you drive the car, as opposed to the other way around.

[JST]

Originally Posted by rumatt

Revisiting this topic yet again, yesterday I drove the 330 for the first time in about 2 weeks, and I was unable to get the clutch right the whole freaking day.

So to some degree TD, I agree with you. But when you drive the car daily, most of the problem disappears because you eventually get used to the clutch and manage to get the shifts right (or mostly right).

So is it a weak point on the car? Definitely. But it's one of those problems that is minimized the more you drive the car, as opposed to the other way around.

Yeah, that's true. Going from the 330 to the WRX requires a bit of time to adjust--the 330 clutch throw is loooooong, whereas the WRX's clutch is pretty short.

I found and put in a UUC clutch stop last night. It probably makes the transition easier, going from this car to another car or vice versa, but I'm still not sure I like the overall effect. I'm going to live with it a few days and see.

[FC]

Originally Posted by JST

Yeah, that's true. Going from the 330 to the WRX requires a bit of time to adjust--the 330 clutch throw is loooooong, whereas the WRX's clutch is pretty short.

I found and put in a UUC clutch stop last night. It probably makes the transition easier, going from this car to another car or vice versa, but I'm still not sure I like the overall effect. I'm going to live with it a few days and see.

It took me a LONG time to get used to it, but it really is amazing how little you need to press the clutch for it to do what it needs to do. I made my own clutch stop, JUST shy of not letting me turn on the car, and there is still what seems like at least double the necessary travel.

How do you like the alcantara wheel? I'm debating on whether to get mine replaced with a new one, or try for a leather one instead.