BMW E36 Digest Sunday, April 5 1998 Volume 1998 : Number 147

Date: Sun, 05 Apr 1998 17:43:45 -0700
From: bmwracer_at_pacbell.net
Subject: [e36] Review of E46 3-Series

After reading some recent articles (AutoWeek, 3/2/98; Car and Driver, 4/98; and BMW Car, 1/98) on the introduction of the E46 3-Series, here's my "Good, Bad, and Wait and See" list:

Good:

1. Wider track - better handling
2. Headlight cutouts - adds an aggressive look to the car
3. Wider body - more interior room...I didn't have a problem with room in the E36 or E30 anyways...
4. Additional airbags - now after a crash, you'll think you're inside a jet-puff marshmallow...
5. Large glove box (like in the E30 model) - I can't really tell from the pics, but it looks big... the E36 glove box is pitiful!
6. Three-spoke steering wheel (?) - I think it'll only be available on European models... the US ones are rather bulky... I'll keep hopin'
7. Dashboard - a return to the E30 design, with just the instrument bulge and a flat center and passenger area
8. Larger brakes - better stopping power... a claimed 10% shorter stopping distance
9. Various trim colors/accents - hey, basic black has always been okay with me... wood is for furniture, not cars... save a tree!
10. Steering - 3 turns lock-to-lock as opposed the the present 3.5...
11. SIngle A/C control - the dual-zone A/C never worked very well in my opinion
12. Engines - now Aluminum blocks with steel sleeves (the sulfur problem) and double-VANOS valve control (lower rpm torque peak)...
13. Taller car - slightly more headroom... I didn't have a problem here, either, and I'm 6-1...

Bad:

1. Chrome side window trim - I always liked the black trim better...
2. Chrome vertical slits in the kidney grille - ugh! this car is a bimmer, not a jag!
3. 3-5% weight increase - any weight gain isn't good
4. Kidney grille is now part of the hood - like the 5-series and the Z3... reminds me of a Benz...gulp!
5. Center arm rest - never liked center arm rests... I always have my hands at the 9 and 3 o'clock positions
6. Cup holders - you should never drink and drive... or drink while driving...
7. Moon roof - I heard that this would be standard.... NO! stick with the steel one and offer the moon roof as an option!
8. Size - the car seems to be getting bigger and bigger with each new design... I don't want to drive a "cab-forward" Chrysler!
9. Spare tire - all my previous bimmers (four E30's) had full-size spares with a matching alloy wheel... my E36 had a crummy steel one... yuk! well, I hope it'll be at least a full-size spare...
10. Price - well, any price increase is bad... how can I pay my mortgage AND buy a new 3-series?

Wait and See:

1. Cornering Brake Control (CBC) - supposed to help handling when cornering and braking at the same time, we'll see... hope it doesn't end up like Mazda and Honda's 4-wheel steering boondoggle...
2. Round fog lights - the sport trim E46's will have round foglights instead of the standard rectangular ones... if it looks anything like the ones on the Mustangs, forget it!
3. Tires - for some reason, BMW decided to fit M+S tires on all the E36's except the M3... yechh! the Michelins MXV4's on my bimmer were squealing gumballs! an inexpensive upgrade to Yokohama A509s helped tremendously... my previous E30 models had either P6's or NCT's--PERFORMANCE tires... let's hope BMW goes back to that trend...
4. Wheels - BMW keeps changing wheel choices on their cars for some reason... the seven-spoke ones on the E46 are only okay... simple and clean five-spoke ones would be better...
5. Reliability - much debated here... the initial E36's had numerous fit and finish problems (that damn glove box again!), but nothing major that I have seen (boy, I'm gonna get letters about this!)... I've been pretty lucky here, my old '87 325is (may it rest in peace) having the most problems, mainly with the Motronic stuff... I'd wait a while for the reviews to come out before jumping into a new design...

Overall, the body design looks good from what I've seen... the coupe looks pretty long (see BMW Car, 1/98), but I think it's an optical thing... If I've forgotten any details, I'll submit an addendum for review...

Whew!

Regards,

Michael (oo=[][]=oo)
red '94 318is