I have fallen behind in my digest reading so if someone has already mentioned this, page down.

I just received my copy of AutoWeek (3/2/98). It has a 3 page article claiming to be the "Worlds First Drive" of the new 3 series.

Interesting article (for me anyway). They evidently got a hold of an E46 somewhere in Spain. This is not one of their complete "AutoFile" review and really only has about 3-4 paragraphs that talk about driving experiences. The remainder of the article focuses on some of the technical and option info. A couple of things stood out. First, they tested couple cars with different suspension setups. They indicated that the automatic equipped car was "softer" than an A4 and seemed to emphasize more on the luxury side instead of performance!! Although, they did indicate that when they put the 5 speed auto (new) in "D4" it definitely made a difference. Besides a new 5 speed auto, there will be at least two different traction control options. You stick heads might be interested to note that they were impressed with the performance of the stick equipped cars and indicated that they follow in BMW's tradition of performance.

One last note, I assume AutoWeek lost their detail orientation when they stated that the M3 was going to be out of production until 2000. I assume they mean the sedan and not the coupe.

Worth checking out.

Mark Treichel
94 318iC