Test drove an e90 today

[Sharp11]

Originally Posted by lemming

i thought the pedal travel on the e90 clutch is pretty short and very devoid of feel with respect to the engagement point. easy to stall the car because you have absolutely no idea where the clutch grabs.

Well, I'd put in a good word for the clutch in my car, but I'm afraid I'd get told my clutch sucks and I'm lacking proper smooth-clutch-detection ability.

Ed

[Rob]

It's not necessarily that I hated the light clutch so much, it's just really light compared to the e36 clutch and it's not what I am used to. I prefer to be able to feel what's going on with the clutch more then I could with my test drive, but I can't really feel what's going on with any BMW clutch. The e36 is generally better (imo) then it's progeny, but my clutch has 208k on it and it's tough to feel anything with it other than the car did actually start to move.

When I had the 2001 330 and was test driving e36 M3s, the first thing I did after every test drive was try and put the 330 clutch through the floor. It was ridiculously light in comparison.

We went back to the dealer today so my wife could try a test drive. As a passenger, it's just another car. The ride was nice and everything and there are vents in the back to play with, but I didn't get the same feeling of suprise and mild excitement that I did when I drove.

Oh yeah - considering how much crap I have shoved the e90s way in the past, I sort of posted this as an invitation to slam me for inconsistency. Like I said . . . I take most of the bad things back. The nav system and i-drive still suck though.

[TD]

Well, I am amazed at how little I feel compelled to complain about my E90. While it fails to inspire passion, it also very good at being what it is. It is a highly satisfying and comfortable daily driver/commuter car. I have a list of complaints, but they're all relatively minor.

[Optimus Prime]

Originally Posted by equ

Just got back from Vermont yesterday. Including that trip, I put 1350 miles on the e90 330xi in two weeks.

It's simply an excellent daily driver.

Sure the clutch could be better or the car could be a cayman or it could be a gt2. Whatever, once you get used to it, it just doesn't matter... It is very well isolated and cruises almost/just as well as an e39 while remaining as tight and even flatter than an e46. While I didn't think this whilst I owned an e46, I now think it's quite a leap past them (the zhp and some modified sports are still more fun, but the e90 is the better daily). Much more solid.

The normally aspirated 3.0 is a gem for daily driving, I got 29mpg on one all-highway tank and 27mpg on another (colder, more hills). Such a blessing after the s4. The xi gives up some steering feel, but I found the x-drive to be quite good (and I've had two audis and a subaru), much better than their last half-assed effort. It has a slight "delay" to it, hard to describe, but it still feels like a bmw. No worries on snow/ice and kicks the back if you gun it enough. Great for my ski trips, after 3 winters of rwd + snows, I'm enjoying not worrying about getting stuck.

The logic7 is the best car audio I've heard. Also it's quite simply controlled (non i-drive) and it took only an inexpensive monster cable/charger to hook up my ipod nicely.

The biggest con are the RFT tires - and even they are acceptable so long as you're not in the urban northeast (I didn't really notice them in Vermont). Some other minor cons are window button placement and of course, for the xi's, a certain lack of steering feel (but I'm willing to pay that price for awd).
The xi is a bit strange on turns, the car doesn't balance unless you're on the gas very early, so you have to turn in slow -but then so are most awd cars (and some famous rear-engined sports cars as well )

I "familiarized" myself further with x-drive soon after I took this pic:

I've been very pleased with the 3.0 NA motor. We have a 6speed RWD, and we get over 30 mpg highway very easily. I like the DCS in general. In snow I turn it "half off" and it works well. Replacing the wheels and tires was a huge benifit, and it is a very good daily driver IMHO.

Originally Posted by TD

Well, I am amazed at how little I feel compelled to complain about my E90. While it fails to inspire passion, it also very good at being what it is. It is a highly satisfying and comfortable daily driver/commuter car. I have a list of complaints, but they're all relatively minor.

[Jeff_DML]

interior quality

rwg, if you think a e46 clutch you need to drive something like a civic

[SCA]

No E90 complaints from me. Knock on wood.

[DamnYank!]

Originally Posted by SCA

No E90 complaints from me. Knock on wood.

you don't drive the car enough to really establish any complaints...

[SCA]

Originally Posted by DamnYank!

you don't drive the car enough to really establish any complaints...

Hmm... I have some sort of a comment, but since I am going on 3 hours of sleep I will have to get back to you on that one.

[zach]

Originally Posted by rwg

I am not exactly sure what happened, but I went to the local BMW dealer on the off chance they had a 330 I might be interested in with a CPO warranty (for cost comparison) and somehow got talked into test driving the 328. Followed by the 335.

I liked them. A lot. I didn't even mind the interior once I heard the sound of the 335 opening up. THe chasis is tight, the body roll is non-existent, the steering feel is much better then I expected - the only thing I really disliked was the horribly light clutch.

I take back almost all the negative things I said about them.

How would you compare the 335 to your old cts-v and e36 M3?

[JST]

Originally Posted by SCA

No E90 complaints from me. Knock on wood.

Same here. Just got back from an 800 mile round trip in ours. It slammed along through the mountains with aplomb, returned respectable gas mileage, and fit much more crap than I thought it would.

Also, it's really fast.