I now have a Titanium Silver E90 325i

[Kewl X5]

Don't worry, still have my silver X5....and still have my E46 M3, but it is now at the dealer for a scheduled oil service which is covered by BMW's maintainance service plan. Yes, the M3 has more miles than SuperGreg's X5 (right now, it is about 39K).

Anyhow, Crevier got me a E90 325i loaner which has the sports package and navigation system....but unfortuantely, they didn't leave the NAV DVD map disk in the car.

I have already test driven the E90 330i last year, but now I have an extended test drive.

First of all, of all days to schedule a service, we get a decent rain storm that came from NorCal. Out here in SoCal, when it rains, the freeways are a mess. As I was driving down to Crevier, listening to Sirius sat LA traffic, there was a new SIG alert every 10-15 min. Almost every freeway had a major accident. Fortuantely, the freeway I was taking was accident-free. Also, in SoCal, we do now have "toll roads" which are alternative routes that are usually more traffic-free! Took one of them today and it really cut my travel time in the OC by 1/2!

Anyhow, back to the E90.....the car is much bigger than the E46....definitely more wider as I noticed the width when I pulled the E90 into our garage. One thing is for sure, the E90 chassis is even more solid than the E46 which I already thought was much more solid than the previous E36 and E30.

The steering feedback was excellent (did not have active steering).
The iDrive was easy to use....really not much different from using the MKIV Nav system. Really, not an issue....I went to the Entertainment section and chose "ALL STATIONS" and the radio grabbed every single LA radio station and made a preset out of them (I think there about 16 or so presets). The great things about the iDrive is that certain car/key setting that used require a visit to the dealer, you now can do it on the iDrive. The monitor is in a great place.

The 325i handled well with the sports package with 17" wheels and sports seats. Even in the rain-slicked freeways, the car was steady as a rock. Now my wife is wondering when we could get a E90!! Very quiet and even with the 325i, the car was more than capable with 215hp (though it is no M3). The 330i with 255 hp is great and the upcoming 335i with 300 hp would be icing and then I can only imagine what the next gen M3 V8 400HP+ would be like. The N52 engine is really smooth. Pleasantly surprised with the E90!

[Kewl X5]

Also, kind of funky is how you start the car ala 7-series. Put the plastic "key" in the slot, and put your foot on the brake, tap the start/stop button.... I kind of like the old way....put in the key and turn it.

Also, at night, when you unlock the car with the remote, there are bright white lights illuminating underneath each outside door handle. Glad they extended that idea from the E53 X5 with having the bright white light underneath each outside mirror.

Also, the new Valeo wiper blades (the one with the infinite number of contact points) worked really well in the E90.

[Juanted]

I had an e90 330i for three days last week -- also as a loaner. (The X's tranny decided to stay in 4th gear.) I enjoyed it. Nice car. Very quick, very agile, and you're right, doc, very quiet. Tight chasis with little or no body roll. The one thing on which I disagree with Kewl is the steering, which I thought was "OK." I don't think it gives the driver enough feedback; it felt too "plasticky."

Mine did not have Nav or iDrive, so I did not get to play with them. Oh, and those cupholders! WTF were they thinking?!?!

Overall a very nice car, though.

Juan

[alpac]

Thanks for sharing your experience. The e90 sounds like a great car indeed. I still have to develop a taste for the new look of the 3 Serie though.

[michelito]

I wished my dealer loaned E90s out ... when I took my car in the other day, I ended up with a Grand Am... man that thing is big and drinks lots of gas
I can't wait for the E92 to be officially released, as I'm not very impressed with the way the E90 looks - although I'm sure it drives really well

[818Guy]

I had read recently that the E90 325i was just as quick as a E46 330i. BMW had squeezed some more hp out of the I6 2.5. Thanks for the write-up.

[Kewl X5]

Hmmm, maybe you had active steering?

My E90 325i with sports package steering was dead-on (NON-ACTIVE steering)....actually more feed back than my E46 M3. There was no dead spots and a very nice ratio, though still not as quick as my E46 M3 steering ratio.

Originally Posted by Kaefer

I had an e90 330i for three days last week -- also as a loaner. (The X's tranny decided to stay in 4th gear.) I enjoyed it. Nice car. Very quick, very agile, and you're right, doc, very quiet. Tight chasis with little or no body roll. The one thing on which I disagree with Kewl is the steering, which I thought was "OK." I don't think it gives the driver enough feedback; it felt too "plasticky."

Mine did not have Nav or iDrive, so I did not get to play with them. Oh, and those cupholders! WTF were they thinking?!?!

Overall a very nice car, though.

Juan

[Kewl X5]

Here is a pic of the 325i loaner!

[rayxi]

Originally Posted by 818Guy

I had read recently that the E90 325i was just as quick as a E46 330i. BMW had squeezed some more hp out of the I6 2.5. Thanks for the write-up.

The E90 325 has a 3 litre engine, same as the E90 330. The difference between the two are intake configuration and tuning. Confusing if you understand the naming convention but I guess you have to differentiate the models somehow.

[dkl]

Dr. Kewl, you are lucky to get to try out the new E90...how did you pull such string? I've always been stuck with the stripped down E46 325s from Crevier. I didn't even think they had any E90s in their loaner lineup.