Totally agree, plus the transmission programming seems a little wonky, perhaps exacerbated by all those gears.

I have a 2002 330i, and I remember getting a Z3 3.0i as a loaner for a week way back when. The two cars have the same engine, and quite possibly the same automatic transmission. But the Z3 has a mechanical throttle compared to the 330i's drive by wire.

OMG driving the Z3 was like a revelation. It felt completely different and reminded me of everything I loved about my E36. Immediate, direct, and progressive throttle response. Especially from a standstill, it behaved exactly as you would expect without the odd laggy and twitchy E46 throttle tip-in behavior.

Our E53 X5 and now the X70 still have that weird artificial throttle tip-in. I would've thought after 10 years BMW would have it totally dialed in, but no such luck.