I first was introduced to the BMW brand on a trip to Germany in the summer of 1997 where I had the chance to drive an
E36 316i part of the way from Munich to Berlin and back. It had a puny 1.6 liter 4 cylinder rated at 101 hp. It had cloth seats and manual rear windows and climate control. The car felt great around town and handled superbly at high speeds on the autobahn.
By the end of that year, I was looking at replacing my then aging 1988 Nissan Sentra and looked getting a an E36 318ti which was the lowest spec BMW available in the US at the time. I decided it would be too expensive for me, so I passed on it and I decided to get a 1998 Honda Civic EX instead. The Civic was a fun car by itself but it was no BMW.
Five years later, at the end of 2002, after the Civic was damaged in an accident and declared a total loss, I decided to get a 2003
E46 325i. This was the lowest spec BMW available in the US at the time. I placed an order for the car in October 2002. I ordered the base car with only a moonroof as an added option--I didn't care about luxury, but I knew it would feel a lot better than the Civic even in its base trim. The car arrived in December 2002. I drove that car for almost 11 years putting more than 211000 miles on it. It was a simple car. It was the most fun car I have owned. I loved the design inside and out. It was ergonomically and aesthetically perfect. I knew somebody had sweated every little detail that brought this car together.
I don't track cars and I'm not motivated by speed or 0-60 times. Nor am I a technophile so I don't care about cameras, heads up displays, autonomous driving capabilities, and other such gizmos. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I am a techno
phobe. I prefer less technology because it means fewer things that can go wrong. What did I like about the E46? Let's start with the engine--it was a 2.5 liter inline 6 naturally aspirated engine that was silky smooth. It made me smile every time I turned the ignition and heard it come to life. While driving, the car emitted a wonderful exhaust note and the naturally aspirated engine offered linear acceleration. The steering allowed the driver to feel the pavement as the car was being driven. The suspension kept the car planted with a feeling like it was on rails while at the same time cushioning bumps. Between the engine note, steering feel, and suspension tuning, this car felt special even crawling around at 10 mph in a parking lot. On the highway it offered a planted feel no matter the speed. It made me feel confident almost begging me to push the car harder. Likewise when driving on winding roads--I could take curves much faster than I thought I could. In fact, the sales guy had warned me at the time of taking delivery "Be careful. If you don't watch the speedometer, you will get tickets. It is very easy to speed in this car." He was right.
And there were other aspects of the car like the full size spare in an era where almost all manufacturers were offering a compact spare.
E90 -- Polarizing styling but still drives like the ultimate driver
The E46 was succeeded by the
E90. By then BMWs had been subject to polarizing styling by Chris Bangle. Both the exterior and the interior were impacted. The interior lost its ergonomics with the center console no longer tilted towards the driver. The cupholders were flimsy pop-outs. The gauge cluster lost its coolant temperature gauge.
But all of these design flaws were forgotten once you got behind the wheel. The sublime inline six, the steering feel, and the suspension were all intact with this generation. The only thing that BMW meddled with from a driving dynamics standpoint was the introduction of run-flat tires. This was premature on BMW's part. While the goal was noble -- to have tires you could drive on even with zero tire pressure to get to safety in times of a flat -- the technology wasn't ready. The first and even second generation of run-flats were too harsh and too noisy. (BMW's best driving cars, like the M3, continued to offer regular, go flat tires.) This made the uninformed customer incorrectly think that BMW's suspension was too harsh. Word in BMW forums was "swap out the run flats, and you have a car that drives like a BMW should."
Also in terms of specs, when the E90 was introduced, it was a better car in every way than the E46 that it replaced, with the exception of size and weight. For example, BMW went from offering a 10-speaker audio system that was standard in the E46 to a 12-speaker system that was standard in the E90.
E90 de-contenting
Starting around 2009, BMW started de-contenting their E90s. A number of features were silently removed. Many enthusiasts who thought they were getting a similar car to their older E90 were disappointed to find many missing features. In some cases were able to get BMW to buy the car back because it fell so far short of their expectation. A few examples of the de-contenting -- The stereo system went from 12 speakers to 6. The flashlight in the glove box was gone. The storage nets behind the front seats was removed. The pad under the hood was removed. While BMW had, in the past, provided extremely detailed specs for every aspect of the car, they no longer provided that information. In fact, it even became hard to get an answer for "how many speakers does the car have" even from the dealer!
This is perhaps the biggest reason I decided to forego the E90 and just kept maintaining my E46 even though it was very expensive to do so as the miles kept climbing beyond 150,000.
F30 -- The ultimate marketing machine
The F30 had a rushed introduction. Instead of the normal 7 year cycle, the E90 had a shorter, 6 year run, with the F30 being introduced a year early as a MY2012 car in early 2012. The car was the polar opposite of the E90. The design was gorgeous inside and out but it had none of the driving attributes of a BMW. The engine was a turbo 4 with an uninspiring exhaust note. The engine was responsive, but being a turbo it lost its linear power delivery and offered more of a slingshot feel. The steering was an electric power steering that was more numb than even a pedestrian Honda. The suspension was either too floaty (giving the driver a feeling of bouncing at highway speeds) or too hard (sending shocks up the spine at even the mildest of imperfections) and had completely lost its planted, "riding on rails" feeling. The run-flats carried over from the E90, but they were improved 2nd generation run-flats and rode a little less harsh. In terms of driving dynamics, the only thing that remained from BMW DNA was the rear wheel drive and near 50:50 balance. The car could be packed to the gills with technology and BMW would charge an arm and a leg for it. Their implementation of technology is good, but nothing special compared to that offered by other luxury marques.
BMW had a whole bunch of ads touting it to be the ultimate driving machine. I think of it as the ultimate marketing machine. I fell for it. I owned 2 of them. First a no line which cause me severe buyers remorse but which BMW bought back because of recurring problems. Then an M-sport which I hoped would provide an improved driving experience, which it did compared to the no line car, but was still no match for the E46 and E90 in terms of steering and suspension.
I finally realized BMW had changed from building a car that excites to building a car purely for profit while capitalizing on their brand. I am no longer a BMW owner and probably never will be. I find their recent styling borders on gaudy, flashy, and gimmicky. There are many better choices for the enthusiast now, e.g. the Alfa Romeo Giulia or the Jaguar XE. In a recent comparo by Motortrend magazine, the
F30 placed 7th out of 8 cars tested. This from a car that simply could not be beat year after year no matter how hard the competition tried.
Their most recent car designs border on gaudy.
