As alee posted, there were a few Festers that were lucky enough to attend the gala event on Wednesday night at the Javits Center. I have a ton of pictures too, that I'll add to that thread. I just wanted to start a new one for the purpose of letting you know what I saw and was able to feel.
There was a premium packaged, step, 325i (bread and butter car), and a sport premium 330i at the show. The 325i was artic, which looked like a cross between fern green, and gray-green. I didn't see that many blue hues under the Javit's lighting.
First, no pictures I have seen do the car justice. Pete Teoh's, alee's, (older pics) Alex Baumann, and my pictures are far better than I've seen so far, but even they fall short. The exterior car is really nice looking, especially with the 330i ZSP. The car is immediately recognizable as a BMW, and more importantly, a 3 series. It just plain looks like the next incarnation of the e46, given BMW's styling departures. The lines that look really flame surfaced in some pictures, are not that way in person.
The wheels look great, albeit heavy. I did check to see that the back side of those big blocky spokes were hollow, and they are. That may mean a PITA to clean, but it makes them a lot lighter than they appear, I'd assume. The tires on the 330i were Bridgestones. So, I know they weren't PS2's, as mentioned in other threads. I have pics of them at home, where I can make out the detail of the model of tire. I'll post later.
The front fascia looks not that bad at all, and the cut lines kind of make sense, in person. They do need to take into account world license plate sizes, and the front accommodates it well. I wonder about the little bubble like covers for the fog lights. They don't look that sturdy or ding resistant.
The tail lights still take some getting used to, but the view from the side is SAAHWWEEET! To be honest, the C-pillar cut line didn't even draw attention, and I didn't think about it until after I left the cars that I should have taken notice to it.
The interior plastic materials seem to be of a better quality than the e46, and the leather feels nicer.. almost nappa nice. The driving position seems to be very close to the same feel, and I closed my eyes to see if there was any visceral "I'm not in may car" feelings, and there were none. However, neither car had the nav/iDrive display, possibly on purpose, and I am not a fan of the slab dash direction they've taken. Controls are still very easily reachable by the taller driver (I'm 6'2"), but they are nearly as accessible to the passenger, who I think has no business futzing with my settings. The view from inside appeared to be on par with the e46, visibility-wise, and I did not notice and bad blind spots.
The switch under the armrest, in the console, does turn on and off a gate that cools the area. It just feels like it just opened/closed a gate, and didn't feel like an electrical type of switch.
I can't comment on the drive until Monday, when I go to the 3 across America...
So, in summary, I think that it is a nicely done next-gen 3 series. The interior of the 3 with nav (in pics) looks nearly identical to the e60 dash, which looks better to me than the non-nav e90, and I'm glad I ordered my configuration with the nav, solely on appearance. I was pretty mesmerized when I first started studying the exterior of the 330i sport. It was that good looking to me. I would take it over the e46 design in a second, exterior-wise, but the e46 interior is more nicely laid out, but the e46 has slightly less quality materials all around.
There was a premium packaged, step, 325i (bread and butter car), and a sport premium 330i at the show. The 325i was artic, which looked like a cross between fern green, and gray-green. I didn't see that many blue hues under the Javit's lighting.
First, no pictures I have seen do the car justice. Pete Teoh's, alee's, (older pics) Alex Baumann, and my pictures are far better than I've seen so far, but even they fall short. The exterior car is really nice looking, especially with the 330i ZSP. The car is immediately recognizable as a BMW, and more importantly, a 3 series. It just plain looks like the next incarnation of the e46, given BMW's styling departures. The lines that look really flame surfaced in some pictures, are not that way in person.
The wheels look great, albeit heavy. I did check to see that the back side of those big blocky spokes were hollow, and they are. That may mean a PITA to clean, but it makes them a lot lighter than they appear, I'd assume. The tires on the 330i were Bridgestones. So, I know they weren't PS2's, as mentioned in other threads. I have pics of them at home, where I can make out the detail of the model of tire. I'll post later.
The front fascia looks not that bad at all, and the cut lines kind of make sense, in person. They do need to take into account world license plate sizes, and the front accommodates it well. I wonder about the little bubble like covers for the fog lights. They don't look that sturdy or ding resistant.
The tail lights still take some getting used to, but the view from the side is SAAHWWEEET! To be honest, the C-pillar cut line didn't even draw attention, and I didn't think about it until after I left the cars that I should have taken notice to it.
The interior plastic materials seem to be of a better quality than the e46, and the leather feels nicer.. almost nappa nice. The driving position seems to be very close to the same feel, and I closed my eyes to see if there was any visceral "I'm not in may car" feelings, and there were none. However, neither car had the nav/iDrive display, possibly on purpose, and I am not a fan of the slab dash direction they've taken. Controls are still very easily reachable by the taller driver (I'm 6'2"), but they are nearly as accessible to the passenger, who I think has no business futzing with my settings. The view from inside appeared to be on par with the e46, visibility-wise, and I did not notice and bad blind spots.
The switch under the armrest, in the console, does turn on and off a gate that cools the area. It just feels like it just opened/closed a gate, and didn't feel like an electrical type of switch.
I can't comment on the drive until Monday, when I go to the 3 across America...
So, in summary, I think that it is a nicely done next-gen 3 series. The interior of the 3 with nav (in pics) looks nearly identical to the e60 dash, which looks better to me than the non-nav e90, and I'm glad I ordered my configuration with the nav, solely on appearance. I was pretty mesmerized when I first started studying the exterior of the 330i sport. It was that good looking to me. I would take it over the e46 design in a second, exterior-wise, but the e46 interior is more nicely laid out, but the e46 has slightly less quality materials all around.
