[bcl0328]

is this post for real?

[RPM90]

Originally Posted by tony20009

(New observations added to original post.)

You might be right. I don't really know.

Loaner -- PP, CWP, and nothing else I can discern. Beige inside.
My E92 -- Red leather, iPod hookup, upgraded stereo and heated seats. Those are the only options I bought on it. And I do love it just the way it is.
Dad's E92 -- Loaded to the gills!!
Cousin Cheryl's E90 -- PP, heated seats, navigation. Her's has wood trim whereas the loaner has aluminum, as does mine. Hers is the one I was comparing to the F30 loaner as both have the beige leather.
My daughter's E91 - Loaded. Black on Oyster
My F10 -- Loaded to high heaven. Black on black nappa. I wouldn't think it fair to compare any 3er to this car.

One thing I have noticed is that the 3er beige leather I've encountered seems different from my red leather or leather of other colors.

Crazy as it sounds, my seats feel like Dooney and Bourke pebbled leather (check your wife's/girlfriend's purses). The texture is quite nice. They look and feel like quality leather. Even the back seats feel this way, and they haven't been used more than 15-20 times since I got the car in '07.

My kid's oyster seats also feel nice, as do Dad's black seats. Cheryl's seats, however, feel downright crappy to me, like antique parchment or a paper towel. The seats in the loaner feel the same way.

Be that as it may, it was really Cheryl's car that to me seems, for all intents and purposes, only a tad cushier, but only because she a has a tab more wood than does the loaner aluminum. And that's really the basis for my thinking the F30 isn't as luxurious as the E90.

There is no question that for typical around town driving, the F30 offers a much softer/smoother and quieter ride than any of my family's E9x cars. And I noticed later today that at speed and during heavy acceleration, the car is quieter than the 328i E90, and the steering does get better feeling -- not by a lot, but better. Despite the lack of steering feel, the F30 does handle just fine, you just don't feel the expansion joints and manhole covers and surface scabs and divets through the steering wheel.

I suspect the greater quietude and lesser "feel" is what makes folk find the F30 more luxurious. One of those, I'd agree contributes to luxury; the other, not so much.

Unless someone knows different, the leather in all 3 series of the same series, sedan or coupe, use the same quality leather, which is ok quality, not the greatest.

Also, I don't know if BMW changes leather grade/quality for different series. The 3 still uses the "dakota" named leather, but I don't know if it's any different from the "dakota" used in the E90.

My 135i uses "Boston" named leather. I don't know if it's lower or higher quality in comparison.
I do know I was surprised, and impressed, that BMW used leather on the WHOLE seat, not just on "seating areas".

[tony20009]

Originally Posted by RPM90

The coupe may be different, but there is no reason to think so.
Maybe they will keep it more "sporty" and leave it with hydraulic steering.
That would be cool.

Honestly this whole light steering thing is getting old.
Look, all you need to do it put the silly beyond silly drive mode in "sport".
Then, the effort gets heavier and it's nearly as heavy as previous models.
It's not as heavy, but pretty close.

Saying it's like a Buick clearly shows you were not in sport mode.
Since it's so easy to correct, why bother with the complaint as if there is no way out of it.

I don't understand your worry about confidence in turns with this steering.
Everyone who has tested this steering comments on the lightness in non sport mode. Yet, everyone also loves how direct and accurate the steering is. Even if the effort is light, and electric assist dampens some feel, the steering is still accurate, meaning, as long as you're maintaining control of the wheel the car will go where you point it.

I've never had a car with an accurate fuel gauge.
I only use it to see when it's almost empty to let me know it's time to fill up.

The seat comfort issue is very important. You need to be comfortable.
The non sport seats suck, that's all.
I too like to put my left leg like you describe from time to time.
I find that I have to get used to every new car I get as they are built for the general public.
The new sport seats are very comfortable and for me, a MUST have.

By and large I agree with your points. And it would be beyond cool if they keep the F32's sporty steering feel, yet I know you are right that one has no reason to think they would. My sole source of hope that it feels a bit tighter is that the E92 I have does feel a good deal tighter than does the E90 328s my kid and cousin have, as well as the 335 sedan I got once as a loaner.

You are right also about sport mode and the steering. I didn't know this until spending a whole day with the car, driving where and as I drive in all three modes for a good long time period, but you are right. I really don't (didn't ever, really) take issue with the way the car actually handles. That too is fine and always has been.

The regular seats themselves, for me are fine; I genuinely have no objection to them, and I have the sport seats in my E92. It truly is just the placement of that driver's side door pull. That's really more my fault than the car's, but as someone on the thread noted, I'm unlikely to change how I position my left leg. But I damn sure won't buy a car that physically hurts me, regardless of whether it's my fault or the car's. But that's me, not the car so much, and I know that. That said, I've not ever in 30+ years had the same problem with any other car.

Today was my first time with the car for a protracted period of time that allowed me to really become familiar with it. I can say that an hour or two really isn't enough.

I recall that when I went from my '89 Accord coupe to my E36, it took 3 minutes to know I liked the feel of the E36 better. And when I considered an E46 while I still had my E36, I felt the E46 was too soft. Now when I finally did relinquish my E36 and got the E92, again, I knew in 3 minutes or so that I would love the E92.

Going forward, I would, to the E9x nay-sayers, suggest they spend a day with an F30, even a base model loaner, before passing final judgement. The car, as a driver's car, does acquit itself of the "hype," but not in an hour, probably not in two hours, and certainly not in the 20 minutes of the typical test drive a dealer will give. But in this day of errand running and just checkin' it out driving, I like the F30 enough to get one if I need to. It is a nice, pleasing car to drive. And like its predecessors, the base model is quite fine just as it is, although for myself, I would get the sport line (or if BMW offer Estoril Blue seats on it, the M Sport).

Cheers,
Tony

P.S.
I am, as I've said elsewhere on the forum, one who buys and keeps cars for 10+ years, provided they are still functioning well and in good order. However, if my e92 goes South for some reason, I won't have any reservation about getting a F32. (...pending the issue with my knee and the door pull, which may differ with the coupe...)

Also, in my own defense, I never, neither in my thread, nor others' threads, said the steering's less communicative feel is something I couldn't get past. I only said I don't care for it, and in every spot where I said that, I also said I could live with it. Indeed, the steering topic is by now hackneyed, to say the least.

I mentioned the damned steering because it truly shocked me that it literally was the very first thing Dad said about the car. The man normally drives a big ass S Class MB; I would never in a million years have guessed he'd have had that as his very first comment.