[the_stranger]

Love the design. Hate the whole sport/modern/luxury concept

Anyone know anything about the steering? Hydraulic or electric?

[southlight]

Originally Posted by the_stranger

Anyone know anything about the steering? Hydraulic or electric?

It's EPS, i.e. electro-mechanical steering.


Best regards,
south

[trfortin69]

the 0-60 time on the 335i is a shame compared to the 328i time it's only 4/10 of a second between the two. WTF

[Q4P]

Originally Posted by misterbeemer

That is probably because the car isn't equipped with a compass mirror or an alarm system? Or they took the clown nose out and put a flashing light somewhere more discrete.

No compass mirror in the 335i? It's the top non-M 3 and it does have leather so premium package would be equipped. Taking out the clown nose is moving further away from the heritage.

[Q4P]

Originally Posted by trfortin69

the 0-60 time on the 335i is a shame compared to the 328i time it's only 4/10 of a second between the two. WTF

0-60 only tells part of the story. Wait until you see the difference in mid range, top end, 1/4 mile and 60-130 times. No one does 0-60 driving day to day but they do take advantage of the midrange and with that there is a ~50 lb-ft difference of tq in which is huge.

[noro]

Originally Posted by LEDZEP

So, instead of a badge that says "Luxury", why not just a badge that says "Key Me"?

I'm not a fan of the verbose side badges as it is, and thought someone should have been fired for putting the "XDrive" side badges on the X's... but this is beyond absurd. I would be embarrased to have any of those badges on my car. I'd have to bring the dental floss with me take delivery.

+1. It's almost impossible to not look like a tool driving a car that says "luxury" or "modern" on the side. "sport" I can sort of... kind of... see.

[southlight]

Originally Posted by Questforpower

No compass mirror in the 335i? It's the top non-M 3 and it does have leather so premium package would be equipped.

Keep in mind that these cars are European spec, so options aren't necessarily tied as they are in the US with ZPP etc.

Originally Posted by Questforpower

Taking out the clown nose is moving further away from the heritage.

The clown nose is still available.


Best regards,
south

[EnI]

Originally Posted by Norsk

I'm all for choice, but when those choice are garbage or devalue the brand... I'm not.
Cheers,

If anything devalues the brands are the ignorant owners of the products of that specific brand. I hope you're not one of them.

Customers who think they are the only & most important customers ... Sure every customer counts, but not at any cost. If you don't like the Lines, don't get one of them. Are you saying preselected lines & packages can't be premium? Anyway - what bothers you really? The names of the Lines? Or the features themselves?

And I'm telling you too: people wanted that, and people is getting that - the exclusive preselected design features. Not everyone wants M-pack. Are wants to invest in Individual customization. And for those, there are the Lines.

What about M-B then - with Classic, Avantgarde & Elegance? Too "Asian" as well for you (that even sounds a bit racist, btw)? MB have been practicing that for years now and it's working - and now (especially in Europe) many BMW drivers demand similar customization & exclusivity @BMW as well. Ironically, because the perceive that as a premium.

So, it's nothing wrong with BMW & this decision about lines, but I guess you have a problem. And be sure Audi will also follow this formula MB & BMW now practice. What then? Will you switch to American cars thenž

[Memphis1]

i like the M package, but i hope the blue and red line across the dashboard is an option, cuz it's

[FstopBMW]

Just noticed that the Luxury Line and Sport line has different seats stitchings. I personally think the Sport seats are ugly. Abit plain... The vertical sewn pieces look very Infiniti looking. However, BMW decided to have them for the entire 3-series line so we'll just have to suck it up. The Luxury seats do however have some extra sewn lines on the bottom and top cushions which looks more appealing opposed to the single stitch. Check out the comparison

Sport- Black seats
Luxury- Caramel seats

[SkipSauls]

Overall, great job! I owned an e92 335i for 4 years before getting an e70, but still think that the e92 is one of the best BMW designs ever. The e90 LCI brought some of the goodness to that model, and the f10 continued with it. I have high hopes for the f32 (or whatever) given how good the f30 looks, and maybe I'l find myself back in one in a few years. I got into the e70 mainly because getting a toddler into the back seat of the e92 was just too difficult, but once he's a bit older he can climb in himself.

I'd guess I'll be looking again in 3 years when the e70 warranty is up, and by then I expect BMW to have worked out any kinks in the f3x series. What I'd like to see is a very efficient diesel or diesel hybrid offered in the USA, with 40+ MPG combined. I've owned the 335i and even faster cars, but don't really need all that. My X5 35d is closer to 7 seconds than 5, but it's fine 99.9% of the time. Stick a mild hybrid motor on the 25d engine (~6 seconds 0-60, ~40MPG city and ~50MPG highway US) and I'd bet that BMW would have a winner, in the USA as well as the rest of the world. I'd want AWD here in Colorado, so saying "BMW 330d xDrive ActiveHybrid" would be a mouthful.

[misterbeemer]

Originally Posted by EnI

If anything devalues the brands are the ignorant owners of the products of that specific brand. I hope you're not one of them.

Customers who think they are the only & most important customers ... Sure every customer counts, but not at any cost. If you don't like the Lines, don't get one of them. Are you saying preselected lines & packages can't be premium? Anyway - what bothers you really? The names of the Lines? Or the features themselves?

And I'm telling you too: people wanted that, and people is getting that - the exclusive preselected design features. Not everyone wants M-pack. Are wants to invest in Individual customization. And for those, there are the Lines.

What about M-B then - with Classic, Avantgarde & Elegance? Too "Asian" as well for you (that even sounds a bit racist, btw)? MB have been practicing that for years now and it's working - and now (especially in Europe) many BMW drivers demand similar customization & exclusivity @BMW as well. Ironically, because the perceive that as a premium.

So, it's nothing wrong with BMW & this decision about lines, but I guess you have a problem. And be sure Audi will also follow this formula MB & BMW now practice. What then? Will you switch to American cars thenž

@EnI. No buddy! Perhaps you don't share our sentiments. I grew up around these cars. They stood for something back then and they were not pretentious. We are not talking about what features BMW should have in their cars but we are just saddened by the fact that they are badging their cars in this manner when they really should not be. It is as if they are saying out loud: Hey we can be modern, luxurious and sporty. Which one do you want? Isn't that one of the first questions a BMW salesguy is going to ask you? "Sir, we offer this is sport, luxury and modern. Which would you prefer?" I would simply walk out. After decades of all this expertise and making great cars and being recognized as building great cars, it comes down to this. All these cars need is a BMW badge on them and that's it!

Back then, they had the regular cars that were great to drive and then the M series for the ones who wanted something really fast and even more crazy to drive. They were special. Now it seems like they are scared of smaller brands like Kia, Toyota, Hyundai, etc, because all those cars provide most of the same options at half the price and they are trying too hard to get a wider clientele.

I suppose we say what we are saying here because us guys are a bit too passionate about what we drive. You spend a lot of money buying these (and I never leased any of mine and neither did my parents). You get attached to these cars because they are driving machines built for a purpose without pretending to be something else or to suit someone's specific tastes of "lines". This is not about options or "lines" but more about emotions and sentiments. It saddens to see when people ask where the cup holders are. And when and if (if not already) Audi, Mercedes, Porsche, Jaguar, Aston Martin, et al go this route, I won't buy their new cars. I'd buy an old sucker that was built with passion even though it didn't have all these cup holders and navigation and satellite radio.

Just my two cents.

[ihavedrivenanm1]

I just noticed that the F30 now uses those cheap-ass goose neck trunk hinges.

That must have saved them a whole $20.

So where/when does the "value engineering" stop? And I thought that removing the cargo net tie-downs from the LCI e9x was bad...

[whn]

one question where you put key in F30? or is the comfort access standard option in F30?

[M3V10]

Great pictures! From the rear,it looks like a baby F10

[southlight]

Originally Posted by whn

one question where you put key in F30? or is the comfort access standard option in F30?

While comfort access is still optional, keyless start is standard on all F30 models.


Best regards,
south

[whn]

Originally Posted by southlight

While comfort access is still optional, keyless start is standard on all F30 models.


Best regards,
south

wow.. that's nice

[EnI]

@misterbeemer (post #150)

Asian markets are now dictating the tempo & trends! Especially Chinese one. BMW perception is a bit different there ... Brand loyalty is practically non-existing. Fluctuation is huge. And carmakers have to compete for that new customer pool. Even the premium ones. And since carmakers are global players, they offer globally appealing products - if necessary with sub-Lines etc.

Sport & Modern & Luxury ... Not compatible anymore. Luxury is still associated with chrome, while sport is not - sport is linked with aluminum, dark decorations etc. While modern is - due to Apple stuff - associated with light, white, glossy things. Or dark glossy - if you want.

So, for some sporty oriented customers too much chrome is killing the sporty atmosphere. But for those who want luxury, there's never enough chrome. How to incorporate that in a single car? OK, you can make a compromise that doesn't satisfy nobody. Or you can offer special designs for special tastes. What's wrong here?

Many people upgrade to premium from economy class car - where such special design features are available. Why not offering them in premium segment as well?

MB was also associated with elegance presence, classic shapes & avantgarde details & tech. And still is. But it offers Classic, Elegance & avantgarde lines - which differ in some design details. Are you trying to say, that's cheap & not premium at all? Just because you find such or similar customization in small economy class cars?

From your reading I can see you're very passionate & sentimental. With very clear & fixed idea about the brand & tho product. But times changes. It's inevitable. More & more people around the globe can afford the premium cars. And sometimes their needs, demands & tastes are completely opposite to the ones of old customer pool from 2, 3, 4 decades ago, when products were much more US & Euro centric. Today they are more & more Asia-centric. Not only BMW, not only automotive brands, but the whole industry is becoming Asia-oriented. Perhaps that's the reason why some from "old world" perceive new designs & offering from premium manufacturers "too ricey & too tacky recently".

That's the way it is. Globalization. The rise of the Orient. USA & Euro customers are not as important as once were.

Hurting the brand in the old markets? Not really. Otherwise all tunning disasters would already kill the premium brands. Imagine what eg. Mansory could do to the brand with this crap: http://www.modifiedcars.com/tuners/mansory ... But people don't really care. I don't know why you do. Taking the brand a bit too seriously?

[Ulrikgm]

Can someone who likes the interior of the new car please explain what it is they like about it? I am serious!

It is so messy in my eyes. So many lines that have no purpose at all. The old e90 was very clean and the fully loaded cars did not seem clutered and tacky.

[the_stranger]

Originally Posted by southlight

It's EPS, i.e. electro-mechanical steering.


Best regards,
south

Forgive my ignorance but does that mean that it's the same steering as the F10 5 series or is it something different?

[southlight]

Originally Posted by the_stranger

Forgive my ignorance but does that mean that it's the same steering as the F10 5 series or is it something different?

It's the same technology but BMW surely has tweaked it for the F30.


Best regards,
south

[MKParris]

those little fender badges look horrible....whoever thought that up...