06 330i

just drove a friends new 330i, 6 speed with sport package...i was very impressed...while not as quick as an m3, the new chassis, tranny and steering are much improved....great clutch up take,quick reving engine, great steering feel and handling, and a great stiff chassis with a good ride- handling comprimise...the car felt suprising light and agile and quick...and it is was very comfortable and is luxury sedan quiet with lower revs..the styling is not as wild and offensive as the 5 and 7 series...overall an impressive package and it appears it is still the king of the compact sedans...i know there are faster and cheaper sport sedans, but the 330i has a great quality look and feel to that makes the premium price seem justified...just my 2 cents....

 

Ya I like them too. Nice write up.

 

Nice cars...

Till you see the price!

Seriously, for what they cost down here (~100k AUD), there are so so many other and better alternatives. But like i said, they are nice cars, and if you can look past the utter retail rape that is BMW pricing here is Aus, it would be a good buy.

But seriously, 100k for a german Taxi, you gotta be kidding me.

But its good for you guys over there!

 

In Malaysia, it's equivalent to USD 100k and you can get a 355 '95-'96 for that price!!!!

 

i've put ~5500 miles on my E90, and I gotta say its a blast to drive

 

wow, thats expensive!!!!....is the US, they list for around 40k with leather and a few extra options....my friend knows his local bmw dealer and bought one with several thousand dollars off list..closer to 35k $...a good condition 355 b will run 70-75k $.....

 

scycle2020

I agree with what you've said. I had the opportunity to drive both the 330 and the 325 in June with two BMW racing instructors (we were a convoy - 6 cars, instructors in the lead/end vehicles, 2 people per car in the other 4). The cars I drove were very smooth and very easy to drive. I didn't have the chance to drive a car with the Active Steering, but I think it would be interesting to see what the differences are between cars with and without this system.

The build quality in my opinion was top-notch as was the layout of the controls (with the exception of the cupholder on the passenger side, which seemed like an afterthought).

While I didn't fancy BMWs new styling at first, I have really warmed to the design. Even though my favourite BMW is the new 5-series (in terms of design), the 3 is still a striking car.

I'd like to have one, but maybe in the next life.