BMW 3-Series 2006

sccarolyn

Is there anywhere in the US that I can get the new 2006 325ci/330ci (I've also heard it referred to as the new 4 series)? I'm ready to get a new bmw but really want to new coupe model. I've seen the pictures and they are great but what sold me was seeing one on the road! Beautiful!!!

shipo

I'm very fond of my Michelin Arctic-Alpin tires (no longer in production, replaced by the Michelin X-Ice). Not only do they provide great winter traction, but unlike many other winter tires, these are quiet on dry pavement. The only drawback, if you could call it that, is that you need to keep these things under 100 mph.

For the E90 that is most likely in my future, I'll be opting for the new Michelin Pilot-Alpin PA2, which have a 128 mph limit (unless you opt for the "Z" 149 mph rated version), and can even be had as a "Run Flat".

Best Regards,
Shipo

blueguydotcom

No official pics are out of the ci. The car won't be in the US until about May of 06. The coupes tend to follow 1 year after the sedans.

If you saw an 07 e90 coupe on the road, you saw a test mule.

The 4 series talk was junk created by magazines with nothing to report. BMW isn't willing to give up a name that's synonymous with the best of the sport sedan world.

sccarolyn

Thanks blueguydotcom. I've seen this same three times in the last 2 months - next time I'm getting him/her to stop!

sccarolyn

hpowders

OH PULEEZE! The comfort access is not available until September at the earliest. When the car is equipped for it, you will keep the fob in your pocket and will open the door by touching the handle and starting the car by pushing the start button without removing the fob in your pocket. It will be virtually identical to Lexus' Smart Key.
From the new 3 brochure: "As long as the key fob is in your pocket or purse....you don't even need to insert the key fob to turn the engine on or off-simply put the foot on the brake and press the start/stop button."
Edmunds is not like other forums. We are a cut above the others and please do not post here if you can't get your facts straight. You can learn an enormous amount on these threads but please confine yourself to reading unless you have something meaningful and accurate to report.
As to whether it's worth $500, Lexus is charging around $1000 for the same thing except for the fact that the Lexus Smart Key will of course, work.
Thank you and please don't quit your day job.
hpowders

bimmer4me3

Not true. Comfort Access will allow you to start the car WITHOUT putting the key fob in the slot. The BMW website does not mention anything about starting the car with Comfort Access. Maybe poorly done by a web guy, but nonetheless, the Product Information Brochure is VERY CLEAR that Comfort Access will allow you to start the car "keylessly".

potemkin

"Hey all. I'm probably going to take the plunge and get a 2006 3 Series. I was also leaning towards the lexus GS330, but they priced that out of my range"

If you can hold out, you might want check out the new IS coming out in the fall. It looks great and will probably be priced competitively with the 3.

On the other hand, the 3 is the benchmark they're all following behind. I drove the IS300 and bought the 3 a couple of days later.

paule

Shipo,
Thanks for the details. Sounds like it was a mean ride in its day!
Sorry to hear of its final fate
OK, I'm done writing about Dodge musclecars on a Bimmer site. My apologies to the rest of the crowd

shipo

Once an enthusiast, always an enthusiast. Dodge, BMW, hotted up go-cart... What ever. ;-)

Best Regards,
Shipo

div2

"BMW has changed their approach on the ED "Specials" a couple of times over the last few years, so I'm not too sure what the current version of the truth is."

Tell me about it; in the mid '90s BMWNA announced that the BMW Individual program would be available for NA cars-ED or otherwise. It turned out most of the Individual mods were subject to ridiculous pricing. For example, requesting a non-standard color cost upwards of $3K, even if it was already available on euro cars of the same series. One of my friends ordered an ED E34 M5 and was told that substituting the M-cloth interior for leather would cost $2K. On German M5s the M-cloth was standard and the leather was a $2K option... The same guy was also told that the Euro rear spoiler was not available on US cars, so he had a Munich dealer(possibly the one you referenced) order and paint a spoiler for him. He picked up the car on 12/24/92 and drove straight to the dealer, who fitted it in less than an hour.
My best ED story is about another friend who drove his ED M34 straight to Alpina and had them fit a hot motor less the suspension and badges. When the car was delivered to my friend's local dealer the salesman told him that the car had a "rough idle" and that the dealer would like to check the car over for any possible defects. My friend declined the offer and roared off the lot.
As for BMW Individual in the US, it ended up producing cars for the BMWNA "Exclusive" program of limited production runs of non-standard cars-such as my Club Sport and the 1995 E34 540 M Sports(which were essentially M5s fitted with the M60 V8).
Maybe someday I'll tell the story of how I brought a BMW "Carli" child seat into the US(not to mention a grey market Baby Racer) but it will have to wait until the Federal statute of limitations expires... :P

m4d_cow

im trying to decide whether i should go for an x5 or get a new 330i, does any current e90 owner have complaints about their car?

assuming there wont be many bugs to deal with, i might buy one, aalso i read some posts saying they got their e90 for less than msrp, id like to know if its true.

itll be fun to have a manual, but sadly i deal with stop and go traffic almost everyday, if only bmw has DSG...

dl7265

An suv or car ? now thats cross shopping....

dl7265

thats an old wives tale ! feel free to buy all the red cars you wish !! I just hope they aren't Bimmers

DL

dl7265

Actually most the women i know love manuals. Although there is that small "crash" issue. :sick:

Two of our NAPD instructors are women. One thats err middle age just bought a G35 coupe track edition, 6 speed Brembo brakes..

Also check out Miss Danika Patrick she post a 227.004 Hot lap in indy qualifying. She told on Letterman how she told a guy that did not qualify that "only" driving 205 is harder than 227... :P my kind of lady.

DL

hpowders

Funny I have the same choice with the GS430 thrown into the mix.
I drove all 3 and was unimpressed with the 330i. Tight legroom and grabby brakes. The re-styling almost made me sick to my stomach.
Very impressed with the X5 4.4. Unbelievable amount of legroom. BMW's best interior. Great sunroof. Large side mirrors. The only vehicle my wife and I both were enthusiastic over.
Liked the GS430 a lot too. Beautiful car. Very refined. An interior to die for. Comfortable seats. Very good handling. Has restrictive elements when you approach the limit but I don't think I would be cornering much at 80mph.
Right now, it's the X5 4.4 vs. the GS430.
Have to decide in about a month.

mjbauer

Yes it is new, based on the X3 technology without the heavy transfer case.
I have one on order, build date is early September in dealerships October/November. If you want to sample the technology, the new 5 series with all wheel drive should be in dealerships soon and a 530Xi will have the same engine, transmission and AWD system that the 330Xi has.

Living in Michigan I want an AWD car as my current BMW even with great snow tires does not give me the same traction as an AWD car will. The 330Xi is a car built around a rear drive platform as is the Infiniti G35x so it has the handling and feel of RWD until it kicks into AWD automatically, in most cases it is a RWD vehicle with a slight weight penalty.

Having said all that I am not sure it would be worth it in DC? There I think snows would be more than adequate? How may real snow days do you get? I live out in the country, have a long, long driveway and feel AWD will be a great addition.

dl7265

Whats funny is they are building X5 3.0d in SC , but you can't buy one here ..yet at least. The 3.0d has the same torque 369, as the 4.8is but at 2k-2800 rpm compaired to 3500.There is a nice write up in the last Roundel about the Xdrive system.

DL

dewey

I test drove a 325i and was overwhelmed!!! A better car in every sense of the word compared to my 99 BMW323i . Would have preferred driving a 330 but that is not an option for me with the upcoming touring.

I am very tempted to place an order! My car is approaching its 7th year and I am developing an irritable 7 year itch. My roving eyes just saw a few new e90s and I am alreay getting used to the exteriors(imo the only weakness of the e90).

Anyways despite my temptations I will try to wait for the upcoming diesel BMWs. This way my wife and I will have a His and Her diesels(my wife owns a 83 MB300d)

dewey

My BMW philosophy has always been small is beautiful. That is why I favor the 3 series.

BUT after a few weekend trips with the kids and many acts of territorial agression that would have been avoided in a SUV, I am thinking about a X5 3.0d.

Given the choice between a 325xi touring and a manual x5 diesel,I may consider an x5 (more of a family choice than my choice). Assuming ofcourse there is a manual tranny in the x5.

dewey

And here is my very last two cents about diesels and e90 tourings:

My definition of Nirvana: BMW 330xi diesel Touring

erickpl

...acts of territorial aggression...

That's when mom or dad cross the borders and reach back and show them who the peacekeepers are.

Been there, done that. I think though, that the X5 is only available in automatic, but don't quote me on that... You could check out the BMW site and build one to your specs to see if it is available.

-Paul

tksung

> So how important is it to get the iDrive?
>
You need idrive mostly for nav for now. That's probably why bmw packaged it with nav. I think it's also a great way to manage ever increasing complexity, but probably not worth $2k if you don't need nav. However, BMW will be adding more "applications" in the future, and you could take advantage of those through software upgrade rather than hardware upgrade (ie, trade-in). But then, that would be like buying future solutions w/o knowing what the future problem is... My recommendation? Don't buy things that you don't need now.

r_l_edison

We don't get as much snow here as in Michigan, that's for certain. I should have prefaced my initial email, though, by saying I purchased a 2004 330xi, 6spd with Spt Pkg last August. I went with the xi because I felt the slight weight penalty, slight decrease in dry-handling ability (only at the extreme limits of the car and tires), and small increase in price, still gave me the best overall combination of features and capability out of the 3-series models. My experience with the car this winter definitely supported my initial line of thought as the car felt amazingly solid going through the snow, slush, and ice and definitely kept me out of the way of all the other drivers here in D.C. who insist on driving their less capable vehicles through these conditions without allowing for those limitations until it is usually too late. However, my disappointment with this car stems from a bigger problem. Almost immediately after leaving the Performance Driving Center in S.C., I began noticing anomalies in the ergonomics/dynamics of the driving position, things that I didn't notice when I test drove this model initially, and has left me wondering if I got a flawed vehicle :sick: . It definitely detracts from what I hoped would be the realization of a dream with my first BMW, and definitely spoils what should be an extremely enjoyable driving experience (I now look for any opportunity to drive my Boxster instead of my 330xi). Specifically, the driver's seat does not seem to be centered behind the steering wheel, (it actually seems turned slightly to the left), and also seems to have an overall tilt to the center of the car. Beyond that, the gas pedal position, angle, and rate of progression are not ideal IMO. It's pushed too far to the left by the tranny tunnel, is too close to the driver in relation to how far the dead pedal is from the driver and the distance needed to fully depress the clutch to the floor, and has too steep an angle...or at least too light a resistance...for my foot to rest comfortably against it for extended periods at constant speeds...must I use cruise control? The non-linear progression of the gas pedal results in a "dead-spot" just a few clicks in from idle that causes no change in engine rpm, even though I'm still pushing down on the pedal, until it "catches" again on the other side, resulting in an abrupt lurch as the engine catches up with the "position" of the pedal. This makes it extremely difficult to get a smooth launch from a stop, or even while accelerating moderately through the first three gears. I posted this observation last fall and only heard from one other person, who had similar seat problems. The other posted "hesitation" problems seemed endemic only to auto trannies. When I asked my dealership to look into it, they offered no solution or acknowledgment that anything was amiss with the car, suggesting instead, that I work on my shifting habits to correct the "hesitation" problem (I've driven nothing but a wide variety of manual trannies in the last twenty years without this kind of problem before, so I took that as him looking for the easiest way out of the situation and blaming the problem on operator error rather than on any type of equipment malfunction). This has left me wondering if maybe all the improvements in the E90 could have eliminated these kind of short falls (has no one else notice problems like this before?), and if I could cut some kind of deal by trading my 2004, with only 5500 miles on it, in on a new E90 (what was the fine print on that lease again :confuse: ). Otherwise, I see a long and less than satisfying period ahead, with this car parked mostly in my garage until my lease is up

kyfdx

I agree about the seat not seeming to line up with the wheel, etc... For some reason, this bothers me not all... although, I can see where it could..

The shifting problem? That is the Clutch Delay Valve (CDV). You can have this removed... From all reports, it is the best thing you can do to improve your car's performance..

regards,
kyfdx

jeffhou

Interesting concern you have for the seat not being centered. I actually DID notice this before I bought my 2003 BMW and finally figured out that it really is/was more of an elusion...the way the seat curves near the corners, if you look down (instead of out the windshield where you should be), you can see an elusion that the seat is not centered behind the wheel. I've had the car now for 2 1/2 years and - elusion or not - it has never bothered me since I first noticed it. Now that you've mentioned it though, I'll probably notice it tomorrow when I get in the car...and it will drive me crazy until I forget about it again.

dl7265

I have a question for those up north. Does any one think i could unload my stock wheels and all season tires ? I would think they would be more desirable than say some borbets from tirerack. Again not breaking any toa rules, just asking for advise .

Regards,
DL

corvette

The E90 uses a new CDV part, but Zeckhausen Racing is already working on modifying them. Reports indicate that the presence of the factory CDV increases clutch wear compared to a CDV-removed car. Depending upon when it's available, this could be my first mod!

corvette

Does any one think i could unload my stock wheels and all season tires ?

Try eBay... Not many listed right now.

shipo

I would bet that one of us yankees would be more than happy to buy your set of wheels, assuming of course that they aren't SP wheels, those are just too wide to be good for winter tires.

Best Regards,
Shipo

P.S.

What's the difference between a Yankee and a Damn Yankee?

corvette

assuming of course that they aren't SP wheels, those are just too wide to be good for winter tires.

Someone on E90Post reported that TireRack told them you can run non-staggered winter tires on the staggered sport package wheels. Not what I plan on doing, but apparently it's possible.

shner

I have found a dealer that on a invoice price of $34,690 has agreed to Invoice + $1500, Total = $36,200

How much should the lease cost me per month on a 24 month lease with either 12k or 15k miles per year based on the above agreed price,

Any help much appriciated.

dl7265

Yeah that was my thought. i just heard so many comments (from other boards) about running sport and offset snows, to me did not make much sense , as my "skinny" wheels would perform much better.

Um don't get the riddle but ill ask my bro in law, hes from Long Island.

DL

bigpapaluke

P.S.

What's the difference between a Yankee and a Damn Yankee?

Being from DC and having just recently moved to Charlotte, a Yankee is a northerner and a Damn Yankee is a northerner who pi$$ed off a southerner. I've been called that once or twice.

designman

“What's the difference between a Yankee and a Damn Yankee?”

Uhm… Damn Yankees torque off everyone except New Yorkers? Especially in October?

(Whew, they got their's in spades last year.)

pat

Your best resources for these questions are under our leasing subjects rather than the specific model in which you are interested. I gave you some links in this post pat, "BMW 3-series 2006+" #2947, 24 May 2005 7:28 am.

Here are some other links:

How to Calculate Monthly Lease Payments and Lease Questions - Ask Here.

This discussion is geared toward the features and attributes of the vehicle. We have all kinds of other resources geared toward leasing and purchasing. You'll be far better off to take advantage of them.

Good luck.

shipo

What's the difference between a Yankee and a Damn Yankee?

Yankees go back up north.

================================================

Regarding winter wheels, for an E90 325i, I'd be hunting for a set of 16 x 7.0 wheels, and for an E90 330i, I'd be hunting for a set of 17 x 8.0 wheels.

FWIW, I really don't mind the Borbets that I have for the 530i. They don't look bad at all. Like BMW wheels? Nope. Acceptable looking? Yup. Around here it's almost a status symbol to have a set of non-BMW wheels for the winter season, so much so that I happened to overhear a local E39 530i SP owner being given some grief from one of her customers over the fact that she was still running her Type 42 wheels in the winter. Go figure.

Best Regards,
Shipo

hpowders

The damn Yankees are the ones who keep coming to Tampa and crush the Devil Rays.

pat

LOL!

hpowders

Thanks. We need it!

alsalah

LOL

demoncleaner

Outsider chipping in... Saw the new 06 330i on the road yesterday, nice car...sparked the interest. I noticed the tires on the new 3 series are run flats (ie no spare). Those in snow country will most likely be running snow tires (unless they want to be in a ditch), therefore boys and girls who need to run snows, dont forget to throw a spare in the trunk for winter. Now when is the x-drive 3 series wagon in a 6spd coming out??

dl7265

Well i don't want any one getting grief :P

I always get left out of those snow tires discussions, now i found a way to weasel my way in ....

So after checking all the aftermarket, I can't find any wheels that compliment the E90 more than the 162's. So heres what i am considering. Getting the non staggered set up all around. There is a small cost saving on the front end, but more so the ability to rotate the junk run flats. Anyone see any problem with that ??

And thats another story, So far the el42's, re050 , pirelli eufori and conti 's are the only run flats Ive found available. None has particually good reviews. The non runflat conti sports have decent reviews, but may be a moot point.

DL

paule

(Whew, they got their's in spades last year.)

Heh, heh.... Boy that felt good being a Red Sox fan last year.
Up 3-0, 2 outs in the 9th..........

shipo

Personally, if I were to buy a second set of wheels for an E90, I'd go unstaggered as well. Hmmm, how about a 2006 330i SP with a set of 18 x 8.0 AT Italia Riva 2-Piece wheels shod with a set of 235/40 R18* Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s all of the way around. Yeah, that's the ticket.

* The OEM 225/40 R18 tires have an outer diameter of 25.1, the 235/40 R18s are 25.4, which might could well correct for BMW's well known built in speedometer error.

Best Regards.
Shipo

kasperghost

Comfort Access feature allows both entry to the car and starting of the car without the use of the key fob. This is only half right. The Comfort Access feature allows you to unlock the car door without pressing any button on the fob, and then to lock the vehicle upon exiting, you touch a marked spot on the door handle. However, to start the car, you still have to insert the key fob into the slot in the dash, as this unlocks the steering wheel. I wish the Comfort Access feature did allow for starting the car without inserting the fob in the dash

David,

Would you please tell me the path for this info on the bmw website- I am waiting just for this feature, but it seems silly if it won't allow you to hop in and press go.

Thanks

hpowders

It will allow you to hop in and press go but not until September.

corvette

therefore boys and girls who need to run snows, dont forget to throw a spare in the trunk for winter.

Run-flat winter tires will be available, at wallet-flattening prices... :P

bimmer4me3

Didn't we just go through this??

YOU CAN START THE CAR WITHOUT THE KEY!

This is directly out of the e90 Product Information Brouchure...

Comfort Access
(optional all models, code 322; available as of 9/05 production)
Benefit
* Additional convenience in entering, starting and leaving the vehicle

First seen in the ’05 7 Series, this is another new option for the 3 Series. Eliminates the need to activate a remote to unlock or lock the vehicle, or to insert it into the dash slot before starting the engine:

* Keyless access – User enters vehicle merely by pulling a door handle, or opens the trunk by pressing the trunk release. Presence of the remote (say, as in the user’s pocket or purse) has already confirmed that the user is authorized.

* Keyless starting – User authorization is confirmed by the presence of the remote inside the vehicle; the driver starts the engine by merely pressing the Start/Stop button.

* Keyless engine switch-off and vehicle locking – Driver turns off the engine via the Start/Stop switch, and presses a door handle to lock the vehicle after exiting. In case the remote has been left in the trunk inadvertently, the trunk opens automatically.

corvette

So far the el42's, re050 , pirelli eufori and conti 's are the only run flats Ive found available. None has particually good reviews.

I thought the summer tires had decent reviews, except the Eufroria's... The el42's had awful reviews, many of them on the new TL. At first Acura blamed the vibration problems those cars are having on the tires, and some of it may have been, but now it seems to be inherent to the car.

hpowders

Not now you can't. But you will when it is available in September.