[ProperBimmer]

Hey guys,

Before I start, some info about me......I'm a long term Bimmer fanboy, for the last 19 years or so I've owned every iteration of M3 from e36 to e92, 4 different 335's from the last 2 gens, an X1/X3 and an X5 sprinkled through the years as well. I've also had A 350z in 2004 (1st year) a 2009 GTR (taken over as a favor to a friend) an Infiniti G37s coupe, a few Caddy SUVs, a 11 CTSV coupe and a ton of turbo Honda's in my youth. I tinker and mess around but not as heavily as I used to. My current car (for sale now) is a 2014 335 Msport w/Mperformance everything, my wife's X1 and a 19 Caddy XT5 for kid hauling. As far as track/race experience, I had my SCCA comp license and was active a few years, I had my sub 11 second NHRA and now defunct NIRA license as well. Participated in a bunch of solo events and drag competitions over the years as well. I'm not a professional but I know enough to be dangerous!

Regardless of what I've driven non-BMW, I've always came back to BMW because I am stupid and addicted to the cars. Maybe the smell, more recently the modding bug with the n54/55's, I don't know. I am dumb because it's been disappointment after disappointment with quality, warranties, general maintenance issues etc......

BMWs journey to me now is like the rapper/actor Ice Cube's evolution over the last 20+ years. Back in the day when Cube was in NWA.....he used to be hardcore as fuck, a badass and the measuring stick for hardcore rap, but now he is a watered down bloated version of the person that he used to be! Exactly like today's BMW! Lol. It's a sad thing and my rental G20 330xi is further down that same road unfortunately (in my opinion of course).

Looks- exterior: like a Lexus...the front is obnoxious even in Msport trim, the rear tailights are all Toyota/Honda/Nissan and it's too odd to ever get used to. The side profile is the only tolerable shot of this car. I hope the M3 or the LCI fixes this.

Interior: the seats in my loaner are Msport, but they feel like fake leather, not particularly comfortable and I actually prefer the f30 seats however I think the f80 comp seats may be the best oem seats bmw has produced besides the mperformance seats of course.

The digital cluster/interior lights- not at all traditional BMW, looks like it belongs in the RC or IS Lexus. Audi is still miles ahead of bmw, and most of my high end caddy's were as well. I love the orange ambiance lighting and analog bmw clusters, this one just doesn't do it for me.
I will say this however: I had everything customized and configured in 5 minutes of highway driving. It was clumsy at first but i actually do like the new Idrive. Touchscreen is good but useless, just leave the dial in the console and that's all we need. Center console is blah, nothing really aesthetically pleasing or real world ergonomically fitting.

Motor: My wife's 2017 X1 (which is a piece of shit) I think has the same motor as this 330xi, my loaner is peppy and sounds good but has no nuts and dies with spirited driving. I am absolutely in love with n54/55 and b/58 variants. I would never spend 54k (sticker for the loaner) for a 4 cylinder turbo bmw regardless of the mods you can do to make this car quicker. I would like to drive the 340 just to see the power but honestly I can't get by the looks of this car on any level....even with the rice looking Mperformance parts I've seen to date, it is pretty unfortunate.

Final thoughts: I wouldn't buy this car now and it's an absolute travesty that you can't get a regular 3 series in manual anymore. How the hell is this the ultimate driving machine without the 3rd pedal? God damnit bmw used to be the measuring stick....I get it the enthusiasts don't
matter, sales do. I get it, even real M cars are mostly leased in the primary market by folks who don't give a shit about track duty. I get it that the M logo is plastered all over everything
in these Msport variants but damn BMW, not everybody wants (or can comfortably fit in an M2 without looking like a idiot!). When I have to drive a Caddy ATS to get that "old BMW feeling" while driving, something is wrong.

Rant over. Disclaimer* I know the fanboys will be upset, but hey oh well!

Thanks.