BMW 3-Series 2006

mikeczy

A translation of the motor-und-sport web site using this free translation engine:
http://www.freetranslation.com/web.asp
says that the new 3 goes on sale early summer 2005

kyfdx

Nice job.. I guess that probably means September '05 as usual for the U.S.

dewey

"it could just mean they are going on sale in calendar year 2005 or they could be 2005 models IN EUROPE."

True, BMWs, VWs and Mercedes tend to sell in Europe earlier than in N. America. In fact the new VW Golf has been selling for quite a while in Europe and we N. Americans are not going to see one until sometime in 2005.

davidc1

Thanks for the pics. Don't wanna be a wet blanket but I am not happy with 1) iDrive and 2) start/stop button. Perhaps I am having trouble keeping up with innovation but I still prefer the old fashion key and buttons. I belive certain changes should/must be mandated by organizations such as ISO/SAE/etc...

shipo

Hmmm, seems to me that the "Old fashion key" is actually a newer fashion that the "Start" button. Once upon a time, pressing a button (with your hand or foot) was how you engaged the starter. Turning a key in the dash (pre 1970) to engage the starter was considered to be "new" technology. Go figure. ;-)

Best Regards,
Shipo

kdshapiro

"I belive certain changes should/must be mandated by organizations such as ISO/SAE/etc"

Heaven forbid. I actually like the idea of a push start.

m4d_cow

"You think? I really like the looks - clean, athletic, ready to pounce. No fat so to speak, unmistakeabley Bangle (good thing), a cross between the old E46 and the new. You know it'll mean business with the 333hp turbo. I'll even take it with idrive to go, but no NAV."

hmm i thought the new 3ers wont come out w/ any turbo. well otoh even though it looks darn ugly to me i agree that it looks athletic and agressive if i may add
as for the design id say go easy with the side creases and give it a different taillights, thatll improve the looks a lot

kyfdx

I think you only get this, if you get the Navigation?

307web

People are overly paranoid about it.

saugatak

iDrive is not standard! People are overly paranoid about it.

With good reason. It's fixing the electronic gremlins that can make German car ownership a horrendous experience.

BMW's straight 6 engine is actually not that difficult to fix. It's much easier to work on a DOHC straight 6 than a DOHC v6. Plus, BMW has used the same straight 6 with different displacement in several model lines for the last 9 years, so if you're familiar with the straight 6, you can fix cars from many different model years, generations and lines.

But fixing the electronics is real hard. You really can't fix it, you just have to swap out the defective part and replace it with another. Very expensive, and there's no guarantee that it'll work. You're basically relying on a machine that reads the codes from the car itself, and sometimes it's wrong.

The Germans still have a way to go with the electronics. I think they should just focus on getting rid of the "useless" extra electronic functions most people don't want and don't even want to use and up their reliability.

But getting German engineers not to overengineer something must not be too easy.

saugatak

My basic issue with the new 5's looks is that it has too many design elements, and they don't really mesh. I think it's fine to have a few avant-garde design elements, but when you combine them all, there's too many conflicts, no unity to the look.

When I want to wear a loud tie, I pick a conservative shirt and solid color suit. If I wear a colored or striped shirt, I try not to wear a pinstriped suit. When I wear a pinstriped suit, I try not to wear a tie with conflicting horizontal lines.

I think the new 3 does a much better job than the e60 5 in combining the Bangle touches with more conservative design elements.

To analogize, to me the new 5 has lots of innovative and appealing design elements, but it's like wearing a nice, colorful paisley yellow tie with a navy, thick red-pinestriped suit and a pink shirt with horizontal white lines and white Italian collar and French cuffs.

The new 3, OTOH, is like wearing a pinstriped navy suit with a plain white dress shirt and a loud tie. It's just less offensive looking overall than the 5.

I'll have to see the new 3 on the road to form a final opinion, however.

m4d_cow

I think it's fine to have a few avant-garde design elements, but when you combine them all, there's too many conflicts, no unity to the look.

sadly what you said is true some of the design elements are rather nice, but like you said when its all combined into one its almost as if 1 car were made by a few different designers, each with different ideas of their own.

wstevec

FYI: The 2005 3-Series brochure is now available on the BMWUSA website. As rumored, sunroof and wood grain interior are standard. But, as most of you, I am waiting for the 2006. Since there are very little changes to the 2004, it will be interesting to see how soon the 2006 3-Series will be built and made available. Any rumors out there?

kdshapiro

"I think they should just focus on getting rid of the "useless" extra electronic"

I agree that almost every luxury manfacturer has a cadre of "useless" electronic componentry, both in the hood and in the dashboard.

In 2014, if I'm in the market for a 10 year old used luxury sedan, I would be just as wary as an LS430 as a 7-series. In other words, I would consider both of them to be equal on reliability. And be compareable in terms of cost to fix and service.

m4d_cow

i heard they already have a 2006 pre-production unit for test drive in munich...really wish i was there

nyccarguy

hopefully the new V8 M3 won't come out for a model year or so after the new E90 so maybe I'll have some more time to save up for an Inline 6 powered E46 M3...I can dream can't I?

fishtook

Is it me or 0-60 in 6.3 seconds is extremely weak with '06 330 ??

Good grief, the least they can do is bring out an engine that will get it to 5.5 seconds

dewey

0-60 at 6.3 seconds is considered extremely weak!
What does this say about the future. In 7 years will 4.8 seconds sound weak. In 14 years will 2.3 seconds sound weak.

Where will all these improvements leads us?(hopefully not in a ditch)

blueguydotcom

0-60 in 6.3...what's the problem? My 3.0 officially from BMW does 5.9. Who else uses a 3.0 that moves a car to 60 in 6 seconds?

Nobody else.

kyfdx

Really.. My old 911 did 0-60 in 6.3.. sure didn't feel slow to me....

blueguydotcom

I didn't post that 6 seconds was slow. I pointed out nobody else sells a sedan with a 3.0 that jumps to 60 in sub 6 seconds like my 330i ZHP.

911...yummy.

kyfdx

I understood.. I was agreeing with you.. Traded my "baby" for a baby, if you know what I mean.

How a car feels in the "seat of the pants" is a lot more important than the number on the 0-60 time... If you drive a 4-cylinder Honda most of the time, anything under 7 seconds is going to feel like a rocket ship, anyway..

You know.. like how it feels in yours, after driving the Protege all week..

regards,
kyfdx

fishtook

It's "weak" when it's 1.5 secs slower than WRX.

Don't get mw wrong, I've every intention in trading up my E46 for '06. I expected a little more than 6.3secs after it's 1st re-design in 7 years.

dewey

0-60 speed was never the key selling point of a 3 series. Throughout its history it has been outpaced by many rivals. Despite this, the 3 series has been and still is the most successful sports sedan. As it has been mentioned before there is more to a car than the 0-60 stats.

wstevec

BMW better get off its butt and release the 2006 3 Series within a reasonable time frame, as we all can see Audi is ready to go to market with its updated 2006 A4 by February 2005. I wonder if this will have any effect on BMW's release of the new 3 Series? Any thoughts out there?

bmwccc

Hell ya it will. The 2005.5 A4 will have every single change and option available as the new 2005 A6, Incl. the S line sport.

I think that is why the brochure was released so early to get excitement going and possible hold some people back from buying the 2005.5 A4 in Feb.

I am buying one of the two, so if BMW gets things together quicker than I will have 2 great options.

dewey

Based on everything that I read, BMW most likely will have the new 3 series intro sometime during fall 05.

I guess bargain hunters who do not care about aged product lines will be pleased with the hefty incentives available for the 05 3 series.

kyfdx

I predict what Audi does with the A4 will have no effect on BMW's manufacturing timeline.... The car will be ready when they planned it to be ready... They sell the same model for at least seven years, they aren't going to worry about what Audi might do six months earlier.. If Audi is ready in February, it is because they planned to be ready in February...

If they are rushing the A4 out to beat BMW to market, I'll pass on that car.

nyccarguy

Give me a break! BMW sells more 3 series in this country than Audi sells its full line of vehicles. Audi is worried about BMW, not the other way around.

Audis set the standard of the world as far as interiors go, but the rest of the car needs to be desired.

m4d_cow

Audis set the standard of the world as far as interiors go, but the rest of the car needs to be desired.

the problems so far: need more power and lighter weight, thats what i got from my previous A4 3.0

i read edmunds review saying the new v6 will have 255 hp, not bad at all especially if the new car will be lighter (i sure hope it will), and i gotta admit the design is kinda nice though
and for the interior, BMW really should learn a lot from audi

wstevec

I am in the same position as you (bmwccc), I have owned two A4s, (1999 & 2002)and I like to trade my cars in before the full warranty/free service expires. Since I will have close to 50,000 miles by the Spring I am not sure that I can wait for the 2006 3 series to be released, so I might just go with another Audi although I would like a change to BMW. My problem with the 2005 325 is that it comes with only 184 hp while the new one will have 218 which is significant, so why buy the outdated 2005? Any suggestions out there?? Thanks

kyfdx

225 HP and no waiting.. If you like to trade every three years, I'm betting sometime in March, you will see great lease deals on the '05s.

Also, the 330i should still have quite a bit more torque than the "new" 325i that is coming out.. even though the HP numbers will be relatively close...

regards,
kyfdx

wstevec

Here is BMW's official notification site that you can register to become informed when they are going to "officially" announce the preview of the new 3 series. Hopefully, there will not be a huge delay between the announcement and availability.

http://www.bmw.com/generic/com/in/products/highlights/3series/sed- an/phase_1/index_popup.htm

wstevec

Sorry folks, this is the site for the BMW 3 Series notification.
 (http://www.bmw.com/generic/com...p.htm)

kenw1

Please re-type the url in full as I cannot just click on the address given in your msg #491.

Thanks.

wstevec

Try this one:

http://www.bmw.com/generic/com/en/index.html

taurus4sale

The brochure posted online recently for the 2006 3 series did not make any mention of the xi. Does anyone know anything about whether the xi will be offered in the 2006 model year?

Thanks.

snowshoe427

I'm sticking with my 99 328i 5speed sport package, leatherette, no sunroof. Looks right runs great at 60k miles. Hopefully it will last through the Banglemania phase at BMW.

raychuang00

Mostly because they've improved the double-VANOS system for both the 2.5-liter and 3.0-liter I-6 engines. The 2.5-liter engine will now be rated at around 218 bhp, and the 3.0-liter engine will now be rated at 255 bhp.

That engine in 2.5-liter form will make the upcoming 125 coupe (which will be sold in the US market) very fast indeed. :-)

creakid1

"...so why buy the outdated 2005?"

If the new 3, like the 1, only comes w/ the uncomfortable run-flat tires.

I think the present 325xi rides superbly w/ the extra-long springs.

I just test drove the '05 C320 sport w/ the recently developed lowered suspension. Despite high-strung handling, the steering is so insulated that I didn't have much fun operating it!

tomc1

I live in Denver and placed a deposit with a reputable broker in late July for a 2005 330CI.
I thought they would be released after the European auto shows? Does anyone have any information on delivery dates?
I'm new to message boards.

Thanks!

307web

Yes 2005 330CI is available.
However, the "NEW" model is not a 2005. It is a 2006. That's why you can order a 2005 from a broker now.
Actually, the coupe may not change until the 2007 model year. The 4 door sedans are first to get the new body style.

ctmax

Any word on whether the 325XI is scheduled to be release with the sedans?

creakid1

still got the long-spring suspension, even w/ the sport package?

dewey

I believe a 325XI should be introduced shortly after Sept. 05 based on the article below. If a touring is introduced shortly after the sedan, then you can be assured it will be awd. Most tourings sold are 325XIs .

http://autoweek.com/article.cms?articleId=100608

coloradovrs

"as is usual with BMW, expect the top-end models to arrive first, with the 330i leading the way. The 3 Series wagon should arrive soon after the sedan, and looks certain to head Stateside, while the coupe and cabriolet aren’t due until 2006."

Does that mean the E-46 convertibles will continue to be built side-by-side with the E-90 sedans for a long period (what, six months?)? I know there was a 1999 E-36 convertible sold side-by-side with the 1999 E-46 sedans... Anyone know the plan?

Regards,
Bruce

m4d_cow

as far as i know coupes and convertible model redesigns usually hit the dealers about a year after the sedans.

kyfdx

I don't know the plan, but they make 3-series in Germany and South Africa.. It is possible that one plant could start making E90 sedans while the other plant continues to make E46 coupes and convertibles... At least for a short time..

regards,
kyfdx

coloradovrs

True, they did "something" in 1999 when both new and old models sold side-by-side in showrooms. Just figured this plan is known by somebody, unless they pumped out a lot of 1998 E-36 convertibles and labled them as 1999's just to make it through the year to sell along side E-46 sedans until the E-46 conv. came off the line. We'll see eh?

I'm needing this to be true again for the E-46 conv. vs. E-90 sedan, as I'm transfering to Germany in Summer but if they stop production of convertibles when they stop the E-46 sedans -- I'll be outta luck getting one at the factory in June/July... I don't like the E-90 and worse if it takes another year for the convertible to come out, + who wants to buy a car in its first model year when they are working out the bugs : )
Regards,
Bruce

307web

The new e90 coupes and convertibles will NOT be available when the e46 sedan debuts.
This means they will either build the E46 coupes and convertibles in a different factory than the e90 sedans or it means there will be a period where they will just not be available at all.
Since there are multiple factories that build the 3 series, the most likely scenario is that some factories will remain producing the e46 coupes, wagons and convertibles while the others produce the new e90 sedan.