E90 @ BMW of Austin

[afshawnt]

Just wanted to let anyone know that I got a chance to finally see the new E90 in person. They had 3 of them at BMW of Austin. It looks awesome in person. Go check it out if you haven't seen it and have time. :thumbup:

[xspeedy]

I went yesterday after work. Garlyn Shelton has them in too. I'm going to drive up on Saturday to drive them.

[icemanjs4]

Are they letting people test drive them? I was planning on stopping by the service center tomorrow morning. Now Maybe I'll stop by the show room too!

[afshawnt]

no i couldn't get a test drive they were all 'sold'

[Mr. The Edge]

Are they letting people test drive them?

yes

[afshawnt]

I wanted to go for a test drive. :bawling:

P.S. When I went, none of them had i-drive.

[icemanjs4]

I just got back from test driving one this morning. My SA was about to put me in the dark gray 330 with step, then he said "Wait - you're a manual guy right? I might have one in the back". He came back 2 minutes later with a TiAg 330i 6 speed. (all of the sudden I really like me SA!).

I'll do a full writeup at night, but here's a quick summary of my feelings:

Exterior: Questionable -parts of it look great, other parts are very iffy. The rear looks like it's pinched off. Also the front headlights come to a point that I just don't like. I'll take the E46 corners thank you. And there's a funny crease that goes from the headlights to the fender that just seems out of place.

Interior: It's like a hand-me-down combo. It's got doors on one side from the X3, the other side from the 5. The dash is definitely reminiscent of the 5er. However the new Radio is nice as it has a multiline dot matrix display which is cool. The wood looks nicer quality - but the quality of the vinyl isn't as nice - it reminds me of the surface of a basketball in many places - go look at an X3 - its the same. I like the leather-like look on the E46 better.

Drive: NICE. They fixed the clutch stop problem. Takeup was smooth and I instantly adapted to it. The stick is also very short throw. They also fixed the armrest problem - so it's not in your way so much while shifting. (There's an indentation where your arm goes). The engine is smooth- the clutch is smooth, and the handling was tight. I only got to take one turn fast - but it felt solid. I'll go for a more extensive drive later.

[xspeedy]

ice,

Who did you work with? Was this at BMW of Austin? I want to drive one, but didn't want to deal with the sales pressure at this particular dealer.

You mentioned SA. That would be service advisor. Did you mean to say CA (client advisor)?

[afshawnt]

ice,

Who did you work with? Was this at BMW of Austin? I want to drive one, but didn't want to deal with the sales pressure at this particular dealer.

You mentioned SA. That would be service advisor. Did you mean to say CA (client advisor)?


Same here. I think the guy I was was just a lazy a$$ and didn't want to take it out. Let me know when you go and I'll come along.

[icemanjs4]

Hey guys,

Yeah sorry I meant CA. It was John Dickerson - I guess I've spent a lot of time talking to him already. He told me there's a signup list to take the car out. However it wasn't quite time for the next guy to go - and since the other guy hadn't shown up yet he could take me for a quick drive. We drove around for maybe 10 minutes, but we spent another 20 minutes just fidgeting with the car - looking under the hood, the trunk, playing with the radio etc. The Battery is a lot easier to access now.

Afshawnt, who did you work with there? The best person to get help from is Jess Roland.

ice,

Who did you work with? Was this at BMW of Austin? I want to drive one, but didn't want to deal with the sales pressure at this particular dealer.

You mentioned SA. That would be service advisor. Did you mean to say CA (client advisor)?