[mjh93sa]

The short version...

The long version:

Having had the car for a week now and managed to do a few miles in between washing and waxing I thought I'd share some thoughts with you guys.

As you know the car is a 330dMSport Touring in TiAg with a few toys. Leather, Pro Nav, BT, Voice Control, 6FL, Adaptive Xenons, PDC front and rear, HiFi, AutoDim Int & Ext Mirrors, Lumbar and Luggage Compartment Pack.

So how is it? Mostly a bloody great improvement over the E46 320d I had previously, but there are a few things that just aren't quite up to the quality of the old car. In the boot the warning triangle and first aid kit are nicely hidden away, but when you open the panel is just comes away in your hand and there are parts of the wiring exposed. Maybe it's a touring thing, but it's not up to the standard of the E46 where panels in the boot were hinged and you never saw any wiring. The doors also don't need quite the same heft to close, an improvement perhaps, or the result of smaller cheaper seals?

Interior:
The MSport kit really is a nice place to park your bum. The seats are comfy and the inflatable side bolsters are great for optimising grip depending on just how much of a lard ass you are. The shortened gear knob is great and gives a much more positive feel than the long throw of the SE. If I'd gone for an SE it would have had the shorter stick fitted before delivery. The steering wheel has to be the best bit of all compared to the old E46 SE. That had a steering wheel like a piece of liquorice so the chunky great MSports wheel is heaven. The brushed aluminium trim gives a nice lift to the otherwise dark interior, though I'm waiting to get the main piece across the dash replaced due to there being a mark in it that I spotted during the handover. You can only see it if you look for it, but straight away the sales guy said he'd replace it.

Exterior:
I know that a lot of people go for LeMans on the sport as it is exclusive to it, but for me it had to be silver. Yes there is some orange peel effect, but nothing too bad, and the dealer didn't add a load of swirl marks during prep. Not perfect, but close enough. The 18" 193Ms look the dog's danglies, but are a pain in the backside to clean. The double spoke bits are just a bit too tight together to clean and seal easily. You definately need a wheel brush to get to the back of them and a sealant to help keep them clean.

Toys:
I can see why the journalists slam iDrive now. You do need to spend a couple of days getting your head around the way in which the interface works (when to go up/down and when to rotate). But when you've done that it's a neat system. But why are the audio tone settings in the main info stuff and not in with audio? A couple of things like that make it a little clunky. Personally I would have liked to be able to enter things like that from either the info or the entertainment menus.

Voice Control is just so cool. Seriously impresses people when you show then and allows you to use almost all of the iDrive features on the move without having to take your eyes off the road. Ought to be standard with iDrive just for the safety aspect. The selection of contacts from your 'phone through speech recognition is also rather neat.

6FL kills the CD changer stone dead. Provided you are even slightly computer literate go for it. Something like 1000 tracks on a 4GB USB stick that costs less than £20, who needs an iPod? Quality is great and if you put the files into a decent directory structure you can navigate your way through this with the iDrive. A lot of threads and discussion have gone into the merits of the various sound offerings. All I can say is that the HiFi is good enough for me and has plenty of bass if you want it.

Having had Xenons on the previous car there was no way that this one wouldn't have them, but having gone for the adaptives I'm even more impressed. At first you wonder if the adaptive is working it's that subtle. But then you realise that the lights are pointing right where they need to be all the time. Of course you can weave down a straight road to see them in action.

Drive:
Okay the sport is firm, but it's still compliant over even comparatively rough roads. Given that about 50% of my mileage is on the motroway it really gives the car a planted solid feel that the E46 didn't have at times, particularly in a crosswind. It also tramlines far less than the E46 used to do. There is a section of M5 south of Gloucester that is severely rutted (it's like a couple of rivers in the rain) and the E46 was all over the shop as you crossed them. The E91 is so much more compossed it's just not real. The steering is weighty compared to just about everything else I've driven, but gives a nice planted feel.

The real crowning glory is the engine though, so refined and smooth. I can't wait to get it run in and start to open it up a bit. Compared to the four pot it almost sounds busier (I guess 'cos it's firing more often) which means you have to recalibrate your brain a bit not to be changin up at 2000rpm. That said it will pull cleanly from idle in just about any gear. I jumped into my Dad's diesel Focus over the weekend and promptly stalled it as I tried to use the torque that just wasn't there.

If you managed to survive all that here are some pics

[squeezebm]

Mj,been exspecting you glad you enjoying it Pal

you right about the steering wheel great 'aint it

[vivekk]

Matt, I haven't even bothered to read your post, as those photos are just so 'tasty'!

All the best.

Viv

[stevie996]

Excellent post and superb pictures.

What a cool looking car, like your spec, spot on.

My next will be a similar spec but in white.

Steve

[manish]

man, thats a great right up,
i wish i had opted for all those toys! ive gone for something more basic, but im planning some after mods after.
i cant wait to get mine now...

The pics are so perfect and give a real insight to the msport extras!!

brilliant stuff!!
Manish

[red355]

Looking good....the 6 cyclinder diesel is a good one regradless of teh type and number of turbos.

perhaps I ought bring my along wife on Uk4 so she can have a good look at your E91. I want her to have one to replace the MINI.

Nah..she can look at the next door neighbours 320D M

[squeezebm]

Originally Posted by red355

Looking good....the 6 cyclinder diesel is a good one regradless of teh type and number of turbos.

perhaps I ought bring my along wife on Uk4 so she can have a good look at your E91. I want her to have one to replace the MINI.

Nah..she can look at the next door neighbours 320D M

[- Paul -]

Nice car, nice photos and nice review.

[peterg1965]

Matt, great summary and I agree with all that you say. I haven't really got to grips with the voice control system yet. maybe I should. The quality of your pictures is outstanding and the car looks fantastic.

[squeezebm]

Originally Posted by peterg1965

Matt, great summary and I agree with all that you say. I haven't really got to grips with the voice control system yet. maybe I should. The quality of your pictures is outstanding and the car looks fantastic.

thank feck for that, i thought it was just me that couldn't work the bloody voice control

[vivekk]

Originally Posted by squeezebm

thank feck for that, i thought it was just me that couldn't work the bloody voice control

You should just talk normally & wait for the beep AND the voice icon (bottom left of idrive screen) to appear, before starting to speak.

All the best.

Viv

[squeezebm]

Originally Posted by vivekk

You should just talk normally & wait for the beep AND the voice icon (bottom left of idrive screen) to appear, before starting to speak.

All the best.

Viv

Thats easy for you to say

[vivekk]

Originally Posted by squeezebm

Thats easy for you to say

I can make it simpler for you- WAIT, TALK!

Viv

[mjh93sa]

Thanks Guys

The voice control is really easy, you just need the "options" command. As Viv says, wait for the beep and then give the command you want. If you don't know what the options available are then just say "options" and the car will read out all the options, before going back to listening for your commmand (remember to wait for the beep). It takes a bit more time at first, but you start to pick up the options that you want to use by doing it this way.

When you remember the ones that you want you can obviously go direct without having to move through multiple menus and so on. Not so much of a problem with the post March '07 builds with the 8 programmable buttons, but a real benefit to the older build guys I would think.

[squeezebm]

Originally Posted by vivekk

I can make it simpler for you- WAIT, TALK!

Viv

I can feel a tad of frustration vivvy,you must remember that i am a complete techno phobe, i have people to do "that"

[peterg1965]

[mikem]

Looks beautiful, isn`t it funny how certain things bring back memorys ? I just looked at the pics of your interior and immediately I could smell, the smell of my old E90 the first time I got in it off the transporter outside my house.

[silverbmwz3]

Great photos matt.

[Z4 Beemer]

Terrific photos and good review. Your car looks as if it will be kept immaculate for a long time.

[silverbmwz3]

I must admit the ride quality is the thing that bugs me most about my car... but without the sports suspension I'd probably be moaning about it also so it can't win!

[mjh93sa]

I forgot to mention the Nav

By way of comparison I've been using a Garmin 670 for most of the early part of the year, so it's pretty representative of what the best of the portable units can do vs the inbuilt system.

The biggest plus for the Garmin is the ease of navigation through it's menu system when you're setting up your route. The touch screen is easy to use and the menus are laid out in a pretty intuitive fashion. By contrast the built in Nav can be a bit cumbersome to operate with the iDrive controller, particularly with the multiple entries required when looking for points of interest.

However when you're on the move the built in system blows the Garmin into the weeds. With one exception that I'll mention in a mo' . The built in system gives a nice big glare free screen that just can't compete with the portable unit. The map is as good, but the arrow view, and fact that this will pop up automatically when you need it is tremendous. It makes understanding the next junction so much easier. The accuracy of the built in system is better than the Garmin, which tends to lag a little behind your actual position, so you often are not sure if it's this road or the next it wants you to take in built up areas. You get used to it, but the countdown bar on the built in makes it a no-brainer. TMC reception is always difficult with portable systems due to the tiny aerials that they are supplied with, especially when you put them in a tin box so the TMC reception is much improved. The Garmin is also pretty minimal in it's info regarding traffic entries in that it will say congestion, but the built in will tell you it's a lane closed etc.

So where does the Garmin win.... Speed cameras! I know that you can put in POIs for cameras and they will display as an icon, but the Garmin handling is much better. You can set a speed alert for any POI, you then only get a warning only if you are travelling at a high enough speed to trigger it, For example in a 60 limit where you are stuck behind a HGV at 40 it won't bother to alert you. But as soon as you accelerate to about 55 you get the warning so you can stop accelerating. If you do go above the limit it will keep pinging away until you drop below the limit again.

[dxb335d]

Mate, car looks gorgeous!!

good write up too!!

Carlos