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!

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