CEL be damned

steve remchak · **Posted:** Thu Dec 15, 2011 12:23 am

so after spending five days driving the most basic 3 series i have ever been in i think i might want one. manual seats, the seat adjustment lever looks like an egg spatula, and no sunroof. the heat didn't work for shit, and it was an automatic without sport package accoutrements. flat seats and no seat bottom tilt.

it runs like stink and handles very well even with Conti RFTs. bright blue but still feloniously quick. 2800 miles when i checked it out. i put 500 fast miles on this POS and when i finally brought my X5 home i looked at it with a crossed eye in the driveway.

i can't fathom how much fun an E90 M3 must really be. holy snake snot Batman......................... :lol:

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

at vir last weekend evan was instructing a guy with an early e90 sedan, 06 325 i think. he drove it a couple of times and came in raving about how well it did even bone stock. another guy from the group brought his e90 m3 sedan dsg, didn't track it but we took it to danville for dinner. man was it nice, and the transmission was like magic. i'd LOVE to get that thing on track.

RodneyWright · **Posted:** Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:11 am

Personally I'm looking forward to seeing the new F30 3 series car. From what I seen pic wise in Roundel and other mags, this is a great looking car. Only issue is no more NA motors. You either get at turboed 4 or 6 banger and mandatory auto stop/start. Not sure I dig that at all.

Considering the new black gold rush in N Dakota and we're now exported gasoline out of the country, why the hell are gas prices still out the roof?

I also think it's going to be a fun day when they kill the gas tax, but start taxing you on miles driven in order to get hiway maintenance money. Damn high mileage hybrid cars! :mrgreen:

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

RodneyWright wrote:

we're now exported gasoline out of the country, why the hell are gas prices still out the roof?

I'm sure that was rhetorical, but ... it's still expensive for all the reasons we're exporting gasoline. US demand may have fallen (a little) but world demand has risen (a lot). The gasoline export thing is interesting though, appears RoTW hasn't kept up witj refining capacity.

Jason Mauldin · **Posted:** Thu Dec 15, 2011 4:06 pm

RodneyWright wrote:

I also think it's going to be a fun day when they kill the gas tax, but start taxing you on miles driven in order to get hiway maintenance money. Damn high mileage hybrid cars! :mrgreen:

You think they will kill the gas tax in lieu of a hiway use tax?

I'm betting we're going to get hit with both.

Chuck Branscomb · **Posted:** Thu Dec 15, 2011 4:29 pm

RodneyWright wrote:

Personally I'm looking forward to seeing the new F30 3 series car. From what I seen pic wise in Roundel and other mags, this is a great looking car. Only issue is no more NA motors. You either get at turboed 4 or 6 banger and mandatory auto stop/start. Not sure I dig that at all.

I don't know Rodney...that turbo 4 with a nice fat torque curve coming very low in the rpm range seems like a sweet motor to me. The car is bigger in respects a bit compared to the E90 328i but it's something like 80-90lbs lighter (which would put it back to the E46 330i weight range). The factory rates it at 0-60mph in 5.7 seconds with the 6spd manual. I was imagining something like the F30 328i with the M-sport package and something like a Dinan stage 2 tune setup. Full warranty, probably ~300hp, upper 30mpg maybe close to 40mpg on the Interstate. Interesting.

I still love our my wife's E90. It will turn six in Feb, has 95k miles, super fun to drive to me, incredible gas mileage (~31-32mpg cruising at 75-77mph), 5.6 to 60, etc, etc. Most reliable car I've ever owned. We ordered it in Dec 05 and took delivery in Feb 06 as it was impossible to find a car with the options we wanted (and specifically a 6spd manual) from dealers.

steve remchak · **Posted:** Thu Dec 15, 2011 4:41 pm

there is a reason Rodney has an E30. he is one of "those" guys. you know, the type that write in to Roundel to bitch about time moving forward and BMW leaving its core beliefs in the dust. :twisted:

Sean O'Connell · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:12 pm

you guys are getting excited about the wrong powerplant. the m57 (3.0l diesel) is where its at. i drove a 335d for the last week and going back to my M3 has me missing that 425 ft lbs of torque.

steve remchak · **Posted:** Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:26 pm

Sean O'Connell wrote:

you guys are getting excited about the wrong powerplant. the m57 (3.0l diesel) is where its at. i drove a 335d for the last week and going back to my M3 has me missing that 425 ft lbs of torque.

60 to 80 is spooky fast. i was more entertained by the E90 platform but yeah, 335D rocks.

Sean O'Connell · **Posted:** Wed Dec 21, 2011 12:08 am

steve remchak wrote:

60 to 80 is spooky fast. i was more entertained by the E90 platform but yeah, 335D rocks.

so is the 80-100 or so on the highway, and pretty much everywhere else. except off the line but i guess thats due to turbo lag and gearing.

i've been doing some research on them because i enjoined driving that thing so much and have found people making nearly 600ft lbs with not much more than software. the only thing i dont like is the fact they are only available with auto transmissions. i know we make manual diesel transmissions, but even in europe the 335d is only available as an auto. the claim is that the n57 is just too powerfull for a manual but i'm not buying that. my hope is that they will have a manual option for the f30.

and yes the e90 M3's do kick ass i'd love to get the chance to toss one around on the track.

Chuck Branscomb · **Posted:** Wed Dec 21, 2011 7:55 am

With the 335d off the line all you need to do is a small amount of brake-torquing. With DSC off, you'll then be managing potentially massive wheelspin. It's definitely a torque beast and an absolute blast (until 4k rpm hits). Having driven some seriously fast turbo cars in the distant past, I was all ready for a massive surge once 4k hit (which of course I knew wasn't coming in the 335d but still).

The part I didn't like about the 335d was coming to a stop and smelling exhaust. Also waiting in a drive-thru line I felt sick smelling the nasty sweet smell diesel/bluetech fluid I suppose. Even with active charcoal cabin air filtering, "that smell" kept creeping in at times. It changed the smell of the garage too and not for the better. Glad it was just a loaner car.

steve remchak · **Posted:** Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:43 am

Chuck Branscomb wrote:

With the 335d off the line all you need to do is a small amount of brake-torquing. With DSC off, you'll then be managing potentially massive wheelspin. It's definitely a torque beast and an absolute blast (until 4k rpm hits). Having driven some seriously fast turbo cars in the distant past, I was all ready for a massive surge once 4k hit (which of course I knew wasn't coming in the 335d but still).

The part I didn't like about the 335d was coming to a stop and smelling exhaust. Also waiting in a drive-thru line I felt sick smelling the nasty sweet smell diesel/bluetech fluid I suppose. Even with active charcoal cabin air filtering, "that smell" kept creeping in at times. It changed the smell of the garage too and not for the better. Glad it was just a loaner car.

i love the smell of diesel fumes in the morning................. it smells like.............. work. :lol:

definitely an acquired taste Chuck. not to mention standing in a greasy puddle at the fueling station.

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