[StewtheBassman]

So I'm at the 35,000 mile mark in my 325xi and i thought maybe it would be a good time to do a little reckoning on how it has gone so far.

Service: 2 oil changes at the 'ship, one on my own.
2 regular servicings
Replaced wipers once, $70 (not on warranty)
Loose driver's side interior door panel (fixed under warranty)
Sticky left side handles (ditto)
One "Stablink" to be repaired soon under warranty ( a suspension bit that is loose)
Turanza EL42 Rft tires were taken from me by Bridgestone at 18k miles and a cheque issued for $500 with which I purchased my F1 non-RFTs.

Breakdowns: NONE
Funny noises:apart from Stablink, NONE
Electrical, engine or otherwise problems, NONE
Longest trip, 9 hours with the family and a puppy, comfortable the whole way.

The winter stability of this car is fantastic with my Dunlop M3 tires. The Step tranny is smooth and efficient, even boring in its perfection. My next car will be a manual.

Gas mileage is terrific. I do a lot of highway, so it's about 8.8l/100km, or 25 US mpg, or 32 IMP mpg.

Trunk space is not great. Interior space is fair, no more than the current Honda Civic. My little girls' boots bump against my seat.
Leg room, fair for me.
Storage space in car, well, poor. Cup holders are acceptable, but not great for a family of 4 on a long road trip. (The same goes for our X5, which in fact is worse)
Seat comfort for me, 6'1" is excellent, there are many positions I can take to be comfortable. I have manual seats.
AAC is poor. Once it finds the right temperature, it seems the airflow in the cabin stops. The only way to refresh the air is to use the manual settings, heck why bother having AAC if it is so lousy.
Stereo is acceptable, I'm glad the little plug for the Sat radio is there. BMW is to be scolded for not having a decent way to seamlessly ingtegrate a SatRadio into the car without buying their crap Sirius box, really.
Wind noise at speed, very quiet.
Xenon Adaptive headlights are excellent, I do a lot of night driving in very dark conditions, so this was well worth the money.
Paint the on car is excellent, always looks great after a wash, hasn't faded a bit yet that I can tell.
Styling, the interior I like even though it is small. The exterior, well, I never really got used to it. I mean, those rear taillights compared to the 335 are just fugly. they are like big fat rose petals. Not masculine at all. I like how my wife looks in the car. The side of the car looks like a bloated sausage, and the front looks like a grade 6 student went wild with a ruler and a compass and there is little refinement past that. Oh well. It's really kind of girlish. I guess my next car will be a Mustang GT manual (manual shifter and clutch is way better than a BMW manual). I guess I'll keep the Bimmer though, it has been so reliable and when my girls get their licences in 10 years they can use it.
Interesting how all the Hardcore Modders are parting out and dumping their 330s at great cost to score a 335i. Sure it's the power, but the 335 is a way more macho car as well.
Our local service department is excellent, that is part of the reason I love BMW. They always do right by me and basically the whole dealership's pursuit of excellence is First Class.
The engine is sweet. Too bad, though that no one will ever figure out how to chip it, seems the Bimmer engineers have done their job well.

So, to wrap up:

Driving experience A+
Reliability A+
Mileage A+
Dealership experience A+
Styling A+ (for my girls, F for me)
OEM tires F---
E90post.com A+++++++

[Waldorf]

interesting, Stew. Which dealership do you go to?

[StewtheBassman]

Jalbert Kirkland.....and it's funny after all we know about their battle with BMW Canada, the actual customer experience there is superb.

[MonacoBimm]

Nice write up!, to fix the exterior styling, Id get blacklines, maybe the 330 chrome grills and xenons on the front. Maybe Tints too?

[StewtheBassman]

Originally Posted by MonacoBimm

Nice write up!, to fix the exterior styling, Id get blacklines, maybe the 330 chrome grills and xenons on the front. Maybe Tints too?

All good suggestions!

And of course bigger and better wheels would improve the look a lot.

[Waldorf]

Originally Posted by StewtheBassman

Jalbert Kirkland.....and it's funny after all we know about their battle with BMW Canada, the actual customer experience there is superb.

Wow, I am surprised. It's good to hear though.

[StewtheBassman]

Well, they're nice to ME, anyway lol!!

[edgarj]

Nice write up.... glad you like almost all of the aspects of your car. I don;t think that the e90 is a 'chick car' in any respect. That 'bloated sausage' comment is a riot. My GF said that my last car, an 01 MZ3, looked like a 'riced out Miata' and it stuck in my head for years. You just have to ignore the goings on with the forum community and new models. I'm already bracing myself for the M3's certain debasement of my 335 coupe's self image.

Not sure,but I think wipers are covered under full maintainance. I always got them replaced when I took mine in for service, but that may have changed (?). Hope not, $70 for blades is nuts.

[findtom]

Originally Posted by StewtheBassman

Styling, the interior I like even though it is small. The exterior, well, I never really got used to it. I mean, those rear taillights compared to the 335 are just fugly. they are like big fat rose petals. Not masculine at all. I like how my wife looks in the car. The side of the car looks like a bloated sausage, and the front looks like a grade 6 student went wild with a ruler and a compass and there is little refinement past that. Oh well. It's really kind of girlish. I guess my next car will be a Mustang GT manual (manual shifter and clutch is way better than a BMW manual). I guess I'll keep the Bimmer though, it has been so reliable and when my girls get their licences in 10 years they can use it.

[StewtheBassman]

Originally Posted by edgarj

Nice write up.... glad you like almost all of the aspects of your car. I don;t think that the e90 is a 'chick car' in any respect. That 'bloated sausage' comment is a riot. My GF said that my last car, an 01 MZ3, looked like a 'riced out Miata' and it stuck in my head for years. You just have to ignore the goings on with the forum community and new models. I'm already bracing myself for the M3's certain debasement of my 335 coupe's self image.

Not sure,but I think wipers are covered under full maintainance. I always got them replaced when I took mine in for service, but that may have changed (?). Hope not, $70 for blades is nuts.

LOL, there's always something better, eh? Good thing in my case it's just another Bimmer or two....not much else holds a candle to my car!

Sadly in Canada the Full Maintenance program does not exist.....so $$$$$ for wipers!!

[FirstClass]

Is the trunk bigger in the e92 vs. e90? I must have read that somewhere, since my trunk is huge for a car this size.

[picus]

Cool review, totally agree about the OEM tires. YUCK!