Bimmerfest is Live from the North American International Auto Show! Live Updates!

The North American International Auto Show is underway and we are live to bring you pictures and our take on everything happening in Detroit. The biggest stories for BMW enthusiasts involves the North American debut of the 2012 BMW 3 Series F30.

First Impressions

As in most cases, I definitely think the car looks better in person than it does in pictures. The lines are clean and there is just something about the way a new BMW shines under the lights at an auto show. The hood line is no where near the issue that people have been making it out to be and it certainly does not take away from the sleekness of the design.



The extended lights to the grill is probably going to take some getting used to -- I think it is a good, aggressive choice but it simply is not what I am used to when looking at a BMW.



Interior looks really good in person. I was particularly worried about the navigation screen looking "thrown in" but it works in this car better than in the E90 series. The steering wheel is a bit busy for my personal tastes but the trend has been to keep adding more buttons. The red highlighting in the sport line is a really nice touch -- not at all boy racer like you might have been worrying about.



Random thoughts include:

• The doors seem to take more effort to close than in the previous generation.
• Some of the plastic around the car lacks some fit and finish that I have come to expect. It isn't something you notice unless you are really looking but it is there.
• Weight savings was not an after thought for the F30; this was evident as other car manufacturers were gawking over some specific instance in the engine bay.
• Despite the increase in rear leg room, it doesn't account for taller individuals. With one of the front seats all the way back, you may have a difficult time fitting in the back.
• Buttons. There are a lot of them if you optioned up the car. This is good in some ways if you are not the biggest fan of iDrive and want some quicker control. The real test will be how easy it is to use these in real world driving experience.

Honestly, this car is exactly what I expected -- an evolutionary take on the outgoing E90 3 Series model. The car will certainly turn some heads on the street, especially in the Melbourne Red Metallic offering. I'm even more excited now about taking delivery of the Bimmerfest long term review 328i next month at the Performance Delivery Center!

Take a look through the 200+ pictures we have put up so far. More to come throughout the day!

http://www.bimmerfest.com/bmw-photos...IAS-Auto-Show/

WOW, the F30 sure makes the E9x look dated

It was really nice being able to see both of them side by side. The F30 is really more aggressive looking and it shows it!

I see brushed aluminum and it looks like a gray dashboard. Im assuming this is base or the luxury line. Just curious, because I did not see a black or red line. The steering wheel does not look like sport either.

Can you get a picture full instrument panel of the base 328i?
The ones you have so far have the steering wheel in the way and I haven't seen any clear pictures of the non-Nav/ZTP instruments panel.

Looks like even the base model has ZPP+Xenons. I see BMW could not bring themselves to put a car without Xenons on the show floor, so still not good view of what the halogens look like.

I see the dreaded license plate holder is in the trunk, but still do not know if the front bumper has pre-drilled holes since the show cars have Euro sized placards there.

BTW, thanks for all the pictures

Great pictures!

...

Originally Posted by jzcrna

I see brushed aluminum and it looks like a gray dashboard. Im assuming this is base or the luxury line. Just curious, because I did not see a black or red line. The steering wheel does not look like sport either.

Yes, that silver car with Olympic rings is a Base (no Line) 328i - No trim strip on the base. But it does have ZPP + Xenons.

The picture above showing the nav screen does NOT look like the same nav screen I've seen in multiple reviews/pictures. In those reviews, it looked almost exactly like half an i-pad sticking out of the dash. In this picture, it has tapered top edges and the screen size looks smaller.

Am I seeing a model with just an informational display and NOT nav? If so, it's the first time I've seen that screen.

The plastic parts in the interior are really looking cheap these days.

Originally Posted by JoeFromPA

The picture above showing the nav screen does NOT look like the same nav screen I've seen in multiple reviews/pictures. In those reviews, it looked almost exactly like half an i-pad sticking out of the dash. In this picture, it has tapered top edges and the screen size looks smaller.

Am I seeing a model with just an informational display and NOT nav? If so, it's the first time I've seen that screen.

I am pretty sure the non-nav comes with a smaller screen. I agree, if that is the screen in the base, non-nav car, then I am pretty disappointed. I am hoping the pictures are just not doing it justice. It looks like one of the screens you find buried in the seat back in front of you on an airplane. It was probably killer in 1999 when the plane was built.

Doesn't help that the interior of that car just somehow looks cheap compared to all the other pictures we have seen...

The interior of that car looks super washed out - I'm not going to judge anything (except how I dislike the shape of the nav screen) in that picture.

If you ever look at pictures of an e90 320d from Europe, alot of those look pretty chintzy too

I'm definitely curious as to the rear seat room. The comment about tall people and driver's side back is curious. I was just detailing my wife's 08 legacy gt, which has a more spacious rear seat than the e90. When I went to get in the back with the pass. seat all the way back, I couldn't even fit in. I'm 5'10".

As long as the car is more spacious than the e90, and closer to an e39, it's on my list for family duty RWD, manual-transmission sport sedans

Looking at some of the other pictures more closely, the screen is not as bad as I first thought. However when you compare it to the screen you get with the Nav, it just looks a bit cheap I guess. Would almost rather not have it since I can't stomach paying 2500 for a Nav and a HUD.

Interior of the sport line car looks nice though, especially the steering wheel.

We just uploaded another 100+ photos of the BMW booth in the original gallery. Go check out the rest of the pictures here:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/bmw-photos...IAS-Auto-Show/

I'll grab a shot of the 328i instrument panel in the next trip to the floor.

Originally Posted by pix335i

We just uploaded another 100+ photos of the BMW booth in the original gallery. Go check out the rest of the pictures here:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/bmw-photos...IAS-Auto-Show/

I'll grab a shot of the 328i instrument panel in the next trip to the floor.

pix, can you confirm that the m-sport is coming out this February as well... as per these sources in detroit auto show

http://wot.motortrend.com/2012-detro...ed-154001.html

http://www.bmwblog.com/2012/01/09/20...-bmw-3-series/

thanks

I notice the i-Drive screen is no longer looks like a i-Pad. Did BMW changed the design again?

Originally Posted by sunxnus

I notice the i-Drive screen is no longer looks like a i-Pad. Did BMW changed the design again?

Yea, i thought the 6.5" still had that ipad look, just a smaller size...the new one looks kind of dumb

The new look of the screen changed the whole perspective of the interior IMHO.

The reports about the M-Sport being available at launch are not correct. It will begin production in July for both the 328 and 335.

I couldn't get a picture of the instrument panel as that car ended up being locked and I ran out of time. Sorry!

Originally Posted by justinnum1

Yea, i thought the 6.5" still had that ipad look, just a smaller size...the new one looks kind of dumb

It's the same screen that's in the F20 1 series without nav.

I'm curious to see what the regular instrument cluster looks like without the "extended display"... hopefully someone can get a good picture of that from the base car.

hey Pix, did the brand manager mention anything about the m-sport prices?

Originally Posted by unintelligible

It's the same screen that's in the F20 1 series without nav.

I'm curious to see what the regular instrument cluster looks like without the "extended display"... hopefully someone can get a good picture of that from the base car.

That's what I requested. I found one halfway decent one from the pictures at f30post and adjusted the contrast so you can see a little better here and also have the extended panel. You can sort of see the LCD screen behind the panel that lights up is mostly under the tach, but extends across the area between the dials.

Is that active hybrid liquid blue?

Originally Posted by pcbrew

...

Yeah I saw that, not much to see there. I'm gonna go out on a limb here given the commonality between the platforms and say it's gonna look darn close to what's shown in the first photo from this review of the F20 (not that this is a great pic either):

http://f20.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=603664

Great pictures, especially enjoyed the F30 Msport.