I almost defected yesterday ;-(

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

Aren't backup cameras required in the US (or soon to be required)?

I would not be surprised if CA was standard too (as it is with many other brands).

You are correct. I had no idea this was coming:

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...cted-soon.html

Seems that event data recorders will also be mandated by NHTSA. I believe BMW was one of the few hold-outs for these:

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012...ata-recorders/

pointandgo...Had one for a loaner and just that start & stop thing alone was a major turn off,Really strange feeling huh?? Love the E90's handling/Styling so much more just less gadgetry which for me is just fine.

I have to say, when I was driving around in the F30 328 loaner, I was very surprised at the power of the turbo-4-pot. Getting back into my car (335i N54), I have to say my car isn't that much more powerful-feeling.

Originally Posted by galahad05

I have to say, when I was driving around in the F30 328 loaner, I was very surprised at the power of the turbo-4-pot. Getting back into my car (335i N54), I have to say my car isn't that much more powerful-feeling.

I believe the F30 is 0 - 60, 5.7 seconds...it felt better than that. I forget what the E92 is...should be faster. BMW doesn't want to "muddy" the waters ;-)

Originally Posted by pointandgo

Did I buy the car? I was tempted...spent many hours at the dealership. They only did a $2K "cap reduction" from the MSRP. I walked away...this car had too many options to lure me into a new car although I was quite impressed with it overall.

PS: It had nav...and as I explained to my sales advisor, BMW nav is TOO expensive on a
lease when you can get a Garmin for $380.

Resistance is futile.

BJ

Originally Posted by boltjaM3s

Resistance is futile.

BJ

I still think those are goats in the (photo) background and the later image of "geese" was photoshopped.

I once had an F30 loaner for a day and posted about my overall experience back then. To reiterate, I couldn't wait to get our E90 back. The exterior styling, in general, was great; save for the atrocious hood line running across just over the Roundel. Our GT has the same design and it drives me crazy to even look at it. I'm sure that the safety and water management aspects of it were well accounted for but, in my humble opinion, this has got to be one of the worst designs B!W could have chosen.

The ASS system behaved just like one.
I liked the HUD and overall interior design though that iPad-of-a-nav screen leaves a lot to be desired. All in all, I'd be perfectly content with skipping the current F generation of cars. What this means is that our E90 will essentially turn into a 10-year project.

OP - glad you liked the new model. Good luck and have fun, either way.

Originally Posted by CALWATERBOY

FYI -- That polarized windshield's what, $2k?

Originally Posted by pointandgo

Hmm, F30 folks said it cost $2,100 to replace. Better look into that State Farm '0' deductible policy.

Originally Posted by cwinter

I have a feeling they wouldn't replace it with the polarized windshield if it needed replacement...

They would - required for the Heads Up Display.

Navigation seems more and more expensive now with what is available on smartphones

Originally Posted by SpartanGA

Navigation seems more and more expensive now with what is available on smartphones

We could have a long discussion about the APPLE nav...It seems that my BMW dealer is located somewhere in the Pacific Ocean

FYI I believe A.S.S is standard of the F30.

Originally Posted by captainaudio

I have actually been working on a project that will help find available parking spaces. This technology can not work unless there is some way of determining whether the parking space is occupied or not. We were working with cameras and "pucks" that are buried in the pavement. This information would them have to be sent over the internet to a system that would send the data to navigation systems or smart phone apps. It will be a while before this becomes mainstream.

Two different parking structures in SoCal come to mind. Most recently I was in a couple of parking structures at a mall in Temecula, north of San Diego. Outside of these parking structures there was a signboard that showed how many spots were available on each level and how many in total.

At another parking structure in Santa Monica there was a similar system but there was also a green light above each spot that would indicate that the spot was available. As you were driving down the aisle you could see in advance where the available spots were.

Originally Posted by SD Z4MR

Two different parking structures in SoCal come to mind. Most recently I was in a couple of parking structures at a mall in Temecula, north of San Diego. Outside of these parking structures there was a signboard that showed how many spots were available on each level and how many in total.

At another parking structure in Santa Monica there was a similar system but there was also a green light above each spot that would indicate that the spot was available. As you were driving down the aisle you could see in advance where the available spots were.

There is one in Rockville, MD that has a sensor on each parking space and signs as you go in that tell you the first open space. If you pass it the signs then tell you the next open space.

Quite clever.

Originally Posted by CALWATERBOY

They would - required for the Heads Up Display.

BTW...is that a "personal" HUD in your avatar?

Originally Posted by SD Z4MR

Two different parking structures in SoCal come to mind. Most recently I was in a couple of parking structures at a mall in Temecula, north of San Diego. Outside of these parking structures there was a signboard that showed how many spots were available on each level and how many in total.

At another parking structure in Santa Monica there was a similar system but there was also a green light above each spot that would indicate that the spot was available. As you were driving down the aisle you could see in advance where the available spots were.

It is pretty common in Western Europe.

Originally Posted by lqaddict

It is pretty common in Western Europe.

So when is Costco going to catch on? BTW, join my petition to Costco: "WPSTPDD"

give us more inf on the engine ? was it noisey ? enough power ?? can you hear the turbo come on ?

Originally Posted by SK328xi

give us more inf on the engine ? was it noisey ? enough power ?? can you hear the turbo come on ?

1. No.
2. Yes.
3. No...it's seamless.

Based on my test drive, the N20 engine is magnificent.