[perryad3]

Hey this is crazy but I'm Edna's new owner! I would love to chat with you more about her if you wanted to PM. She's been great and I am so excited for many more years and miles with her!!

I tried to send you a PM but I couldn't figure it out lol I'm new to the forums as a member.

[-EndOfAnEra-]

Originally Posted by perryad3

Hey this is crazy but I'm Edna's new owner! I would love to chat with you more about her if you wanted to PM. She's been great and I am so excited for many more years and miles with her!!

I tried to send you a PM but I couldn't figure it out lol I'm new to the forums as a member.

Wow, that's awesome! PM sent!

[WXdrivefun]

That was an interesting writeup and history. Thanks for sharing.

[BimmerGuyFL78]

Originally Posted by -EndOfAnEra-

A Tale of Two Accords




V6, leather, auto to I4, cloth, 5MT
not my cars but you get the idea!

I first experienced the joy of a manual transmission way back when I was seventeen. My parents (European immigrants) felt that although they were satisfied with automatics my brother and I should learn stick. At lease turn in of their 1995 black Accord EX V6, they decided to get a short 1 year lease of an 1997 Accord LX with a manual. My brother and I were excited to learn and quickly bonded with the car. This seemed remarkable in light of the significant horsepower and interior trim differences. Yet, I found that ultimately the power didn't matter compared to the sheer mixed joy and shame as I got each shift right and as I stalled the car, again, and again, and again.

I stuck with it and gradually felt everything getting better, stronger, more confident and easier. And as a short-term lease of course eventually we had to give up the car. My Mom picked up then her early 2000s VW Beetle, and that's when I realized something was missing that I couldn't get back any other way.

I dealt with occasionally driving that car (and experiencing early 2000s VW reliability!) until I finished college. My parents graciously gifted me with a lease of a new car. I realized then that I was going to once again have a stick-shift! I found myself in a 2006 Honda Civic EX with the 5-speed manual.


The Handshake





I knew then I had made the right choice, and quickly found that the unmatched control, feel, and pulse the stick-shift granted the car was now inseperable from my driving. I loved how much it helped me grow as a driver. I would experience several trials with this car that tested my car-control to the ragged edge, including a winter road-rage incident with a truck that could have killed me by ramming me off the road but instead properly downshifting allowed me to regain traction and avoid a very bad incident. From this, I became convinced that everyone must drive stick to be truly safe, and that led me to evangelize: "The stick-shift is the safest way to drive, with the least distractions and the most control". I became somewhat unpopular with normal folk

3 years passed quickly and lease end happened, and here the dream took off. I wanted a BMW since my father had an E28 525i briefly in the 80s. I found, as likely some of you did, that I could have a used BMW for the same price as another new Civic. I loved my Civic and was nervous about getting too much car too fast, but one test drive of an black on black, burl walnut trim E46 2005 330xi sealed the deal. The car had two minds, a mind for comfortable luxury cruising, and a mind for ripping your face off with a snarly I6 and snick-snick shifts. So quiet and then so loud! I practically bought it on the spot. She came to be known as Heidi.


First Love Lost




What's an SUV?

With a true RWD biased chassis, mind you certainly not S704 (later), my joy at driving and my skill skyrocketed. I began experiencing the joy of properly revmatched downshifts, the urge to spin the engine out to 6000 daily, and finding that fully controlled engine-braking literally made winter driving as fun as summer, especially once you could kick the tail out! I was set to have that lovely car for eternity. I learned to wrench on that car, first for cost savings and then for joy. And then of course life had to remind me that nothing lasts forever.




In 2014, my house and garage flooded after we lived there only 2 years, a first for the house and the area during the most severe thunderstorm I am ever likely to experience. Both I and my fiancee's cars were decimated by three feet of water. My pride and joy, my first BMW, was unsavable and I had to bid good-bye to my first love. I salvaged the weighted ZHP shift knob which represented the only mod I ever got to do to that car.



Oh, did I mention that the flood happened literally ONE WEEK before I was set to get married?! The wedding was a destination wedding with a whirlwind of preparation, a solemn gathering, a fun party and afterparty, and then the very next morning my new wife and I sprawled on our beds with laptops, cellphones and Autotrader desparately negotiating with insurance companies for a good value for our lost cars and hunting down the next ones. I was sure I would never have another love quite like Heidi again...


The Silver Medal



Enter Edna. It took three weeks of hunting once I got back in Cleveland, but then I found her in New Jersey. A 2011 335i RWD MSport 6MT. I was a fool, thinking I was "settling" for this 30,000 mile CPO, in Oyster over Titanium Silver with Burl Walnut (I wanted black over blue with aluminum!). I wanted RWD because I felt that was the only way to grow my driving skills further. I wanted MSport because I had been on enough forums by now for all of you to proselytize the magic of the BMW sports suspension, option S704. I named her Edna because I thought the E90 was ugly and I never wanted one while I had my E46, I wanted to go straight to the F30. As it happened, the love grew over time, and taught me a very valuable lesson that beauty is only skin deep but love goes much deeper than that.



Edna taught me what a truly balanced RWD chassis was. Edna taught me that the new turbo era of BMW may have lost some soul, but gained some astonishing capabilities in return. I felt her shrink around me in the corners. I learned the first inklings of weight distribution and balancing the car on the throttle, honed my revmatching to an art form and taught me how important steering feel is in planting the car exactly where you want it. And as much as I love her, Edna set the stage for the decisions that I made.


The Turning Point

Let's briefly discuss the NA vs turbo inline six. The NA six had a fantastic sound that you heard all the time because you needed to rev her to 4000 to get any usable power, hence shifting was not just fun but necessary to get the full measure of that engine. The turbo-6 has torque early on, so simply planting your foot down usually gives all the thrust you might need in daily driving. And while this is convenient, you tend to downshift less because of it especially on the highway. I realized that the turbo-6 era was naturally not as well suited to the stick-shift as the NA inline six was. And as my career took me to new places, traffic increased and made daily driving my stick more of a challenge. Still, I resolutely stuck with it, knowing I could never have the same car control and fun to drive factor with an automatic.

Then one day, that changed. I had to bring Edna to the dealer to have the Takata airbag recall done. They set me up for the day with a slightly better than base loaner, an F30 328xi Sport Line. I'm not expecting miracles, I'm grateful for a decent car to get to work in. Still, I'd heard by now of some of the former stick-shift faithful abandoning their perfect gearbox for this new-fangled ZF 8-speed. I figured, let's throw it in sport, throw the lever to the side and see whats up. Of course, I would drive it exclusively with paddles!

The first thing I noticed is that paddles shift MUCH faster than me. That made sense but what I didn't realize was just how much fun fast shifting can be! Bang, a gear! Bang, another gear! It was almost immediate, and I suddenly realized that here was a thing my car, no matter how good I was at it, simply could not do. I had my next surprise when I stopped manually shifting and just left it in S mode. The car upshifted and downshifted exactly as I would have done if I was manually controlling it! The same corners, the same downshifts, the same patterns! It was as if it was reading my mind! Not to mention without constant focus on gears, you can improve your steering and lines and focus on your braking and throttle techniques!

I came away from this experience thoroughly impressed but not yet willing to put my trust in technology. No, the final act of this begins with the birth of my son.


End Of An Era

I had come to love Edna, and hoped to keep her forever. Why wouldn't I? She proved to be just as wonderful as dear departed Heidi, a trusted steed and friend on those wonderful drives we used to have. It's easy to make promises to yourself when you're younger, like say when you sign up for forums saying, "I will drive a stick for life."

Children change EVERYTHING. I heard the clarion call of SUV, SAV, crossover, I refused to listen. I knew I could comfortably keep my son secure in his carseat in my E90, maybe upgrade to my lifelong dream of an E39 M5 for more space if needed. And I was all set to do that but something kept nagging me. My wife didn't drive stickshift and despite many attempts at learning didn't want to break my car learning on it. Then, she had two not-at-fault accidents in the span of two months and I realized I no longer had a choice. I needed an automatic for my wife to drive and I needed the safest car possible for my son.

Four doors was a necessity, that left out the M2 Competition (absolutely the finest fun-to-drive BMW sold today). Active Cruise had proven itself to me on several long trips in other people's cars, so that was now required and that reluctantly killed the F80 M3 (and I could never choose the DCT over the stick in that car!) I drove the 540xi, the X3 M40i and the G20 Sport Line and MSport XDrive (M340i wasn't out yet). I loved the 540 but it just felt too big for me. I was shocked how much I loved the X3 M40i but it drove even more its size than the 5. And while the toys on the G20 330 were great, I wasn't ready to give up the glorious BMW inline-six. So the M340i almost selected itself by default, but it took drives of both the RWD and XDrive versions and a comparison with the C43 AMG (which some of you may recall) for me to realize, this is OK.

I am finally at peace with my decision. The wait was agony and the realization that I can have half the cake and eat it too is good enough. I'm super excited for ownership, I feel the M340i will go down in history alongside the 1M and the M2 Competition as one of the all time great modern BMWs. I'm hoping to read this again in five years and see if that actually happened.

And who knows? Kids leave the house someday. There might still be a manual M2 Competition, an E39 M5, an E46 M3 or a Z4M in my future! Thanks to all of you who stuck through what is likely the longest post I will ever do!

Now as I pass into a new phase of my driving career, an acknowledgement of the change I have accepted is warranted. I am no longer StickForLife. Henceforth I shall be known as -EndOfAnEra- . To the rest of you diehard manual lovers both secure and conflicted with your choices, I only say - try a ZF8 or DCT. You may be surprised what you learn.

Remember when I salvaged that ZHP shift knob? Heidi's final gift to me will now live on in all my future cars, safely ensconced in the glovebox as a reminder of how I got to where I am now.

Could you give us an update on the ride/handling/steering after having the vehicle for quite some time now?

I have a 2018 G30 540i lease coming to an end and I am thinking of leasing an M340i but still on the line.

[-EndOfAnEra-]

Originally Posted by Alpine535Msport

Could you give us an update on the ride/handling/steering after having the vehicle for quite some time now?

I have a 2018 G30 540i lease coming to an end and I am thinking of leasing an M340i but still on the line.

Absolutely! Consider this my 5 month update.

The Looks and the Interior (updated!)

In the months since we have seen the G22, I will simply start with: I absolutely love them!

Those who have seen my other posts know I value the traditional BMW styling as the perfect fusion of elegance and athleticism.

This is NOT that.

The styling is perfectly suited to the character of the car. It's loud and brash enough to hint at the power and performance hidden beneath. The stance isn't super-low but it has the right air of menace and aggression.

Yet, with the cerium accents it also presents very well as a calm, quiet luxury car. It nails the duality that I have always loved about classic BMW. It's too modern and vulgar to be appreciated by all as a beautiful design, as the E46, E39 and E38 all still do. I plan to enhance this aspect by replacing the cerium mirror caps with Black Sapphire Metallic, leaving the brightwork below the beltline and allowing the lines to enhance the moving while standing design aspects.

I came to understand the angular nature of the design as I hand-washed the car. The creases and lines were strong and lent solidity to the design, especially the transition of the curved front fender on the E90 to a more angular design. Matching with the triangles in the headlights, it builds the aggression up. Even the triangles in the cerium mesh grille contribute to this. It's a joy to wash most of the car, just the fake vents on the back are a bit of an annoyance!

Like many modern car designs (Civic Type-R for example), this design may not age well for many years if at all. However, as a marker of the times this still suits me fine. It is the final fusion of the old BMW design language with the new so I now consider it to be the final classically styled BMW. That said, I believe it is the G30 that will age the best of the G cars.

The interior is honestly one of the best I've ever experienced even despite being handicapped by modern technology requirements such as the screen. The straight lines are so Teutonic and gives the cabin an air of simplicity while keeping it modern. I take simple joy out of placing my phone in the inductive charger and closing the cupholder lid, leaving an unbroken expanse of textured aluminum mesh. For the first time in a BMW sedan, I have enough space for everything, from cupholders that actually work, to water bottle pockets, to a cavernous console armrest, to a hidden pouch to the left of the steering wheel (if you haven't found it don't be discouraged, I only found it a month ago!)

The seats are well contoured and supportive, with my wife claiming they are much more comfortable than my E90 MSport seats. I've had no issues with them on long 2 hour+ drives and they certainly hold me properly while cornering! The Black and Blue stitching is a joy to see every day, and always reminds me that I am in a special car.

The pockets in the back of the seats were a welcome surprise and have seen quite a bit of use with my toddler son in the back in his carseat (Diono Radian, fits perfectly forward facing). There's also plenty of space back there and the three-zone climate control was a nice bonus.

I got the spare, which cuts down on cargo room by a lot. I've been meaning to replace my trunk floor to remove the spare but haven't. That forced me to live with the limits and I found some unexpected bonuses as a result. My Costco shopping fits just fine in there and secures itself quite well even while driving spiritedly. Because of the raised floor, it has made two pocketed spaces on the sides of the trunks, which will easily fit items you don't want sliding around in the trunk!

And of course there is still the digital cluster... which we'll discuss later.

The Drive and the Feel (updated!)

The car doesn't drive like my E90 did, full stop. It's too sterile, too digital. However, BMW has done a great job faking it.

Sports+ is a must, apologize to your neighbors for the crackles and pops if you are like me. But you NEED Sports+, at least Sports Individual with everything in Plus if you want to keep DSC on (and you might!) Let me explain.

First two are easy. Gearbox in Sports+ for faster shifting and the ability to prevent auto-upshift in manual mode. Engine in Sports+ not for the crackles and pops (a bonus though if you love 'em), but for the near NA responsiveness! Definitely most responsive turbo car I've driven yet! That coupled together with Sports steering makes a confident return of "the ultimate driving machine"!

The steering in Comfort is fine, especially on long journeys. It also seems to have excellent precision and certainly can be used spiritedly. What it lacks however is feedback.

Sports steering has ARTIFICIAL FEEL. It's very clear that you are experiencing a simulation of what the tires are doing while accelerating and cornering. The sad thing is... it works, and works WELL.

Your true source of feel in the car is actually in your bum. The seats do a phenomenal job of allowing you to feel the chassis flex and twist, at least in passive M-Sport suspension form. And from that you realize that the steering is a half-step behind but it matches that sensation. When you concentrate and put it all together mentally, it works. After enough time driving you stop noticing the individual parts and it comes together. Then you can start really seeing what this car can do.

It is FAST. The transmission needs to be at proper temperature to have smooth shifts when pushing it ("Hey Christie, turn on the sports display!"), and the auto will always shift faster than you. I don't care. It's so much fun to flip the paddles and manage the RPM, it really is the best of both worlds for me. I actually started using the console shifter as it goes the perfect direction (forward for downshifts, back for upshifts) and it makes it MORE FUN since you have to put your whole arm in it! It's exhilarating!

The M-Diff also makes cornering at WAY higher speeds than before a breeze. I love onramps even more now! The car stays stable in corners and exits with gusto and stability. Would love to take this car to the track and see what it can really do!

The ride on passive suspension is harsher at first but you get used to it. I think I actually blame the 19s for it a bit more, I'm on Michelin PS4S. On runflats it might be a bit choppier than some would like.

The power is great but also very much to be respected. She will light up the rear easily if she gets unsettled by a bumpy corner. The nannies will keep you safe but beware if you turn them off. However, there is so much control that I am confident she will serve my secondary purpose of building me into a better driver during my time with her!

So sport is covered, what about relaxation? Yes, she can do it quite easily and in so doing turns into a different car. Keep the gearbox in D, keep the steering in Comfort and lay off the paddles. You will suddenly find your sports sedan settle into a sedate isolation chamber with smooth ride and cornering and no louder than any other luxury car. I made it a rule to go complete comfort when driving through neighborhoods with kids and families and she just behaves like any other car. That stealth/Jekyl & Hyde aspect is absolutely one of my favorite things about BMW and cements this car in my mind as a true BMW.

The Tech (updated!)

I've only marginally adjusted the Driver Assistant features, as a bonus the green circle is now matching the orange of my ambient lighting

The biggest change I found when driving narrow two-lane country lanes with poor markings, I had to turn lane keep steering intervention off as it was steering me into the other lane with potential oncoming which is patently dangerous. Note this is the passive feature, not the one which activates when adaptive cruise is up. This passive "safety" feature is NOT ready for use safely in the real world!!

On the other hand, my blindspot monitor and array of cameras has proven instrumental as an AID, not a replacement for my eyes. It's caught several kids playing on sidewalks as I back out which would have been too low for my eyes to see. The cameras have also been instrumental in drive-throughs to avoid curbing the wheels.

The biggest surprise to me was what a game-changer Adaptive Cruise from Driving Assistant Pro is. It solves two very large issues. One, it almost completely eliminates driver fatigue on long journeys. Two, when activating Assisted Driving in the appropriate circumstances it allows you to have even better situational awareness because you're free to monitor 360 degrees around you with your eyes. It sharpens your focus as well, I've had several situations which I saw building far ahead of me that I could focus on better simply because the car took the mental edge off of me. I look forward to the inevitable technological improvements.

Side benefit as well... much harder to get a speeding ticket in daily grind freeway traffic!

iDrive continues to be the easiest and least distracting infotainment system of all of them and by a long way. I can find everything I need now by feel or by voice command. The screen is large and contains all the info I need at a glance depending on the mode I am in. I customized my layout into zones, Map/Route Info/Entertainment, Sports Displays/Trip Info, and Compass/Time/Weather. These three screens are everything I need. I do wish oil temperature was on the main screen but I can get to it easily via the sports display. It's usually the first thing I ask for when starting to drive.

Which leads us nicely to the elephant in the room... the digital gauge cluster.

5 months on, my opinion stands. I hate this thing, not so much for what it is but for what it's loss represents. BMW gave up a perfectly legible, extremely information dense display for a piece of design which will age terribly.

Oh, I can do everything I want with it! But it just doesn't fit the needs of a driver's car. My adjustments to get the features I either already had or took for granted are as follows:

1. Change OBC display to show instant/average MPG. Needed to drive the car daily in Sports Individual, this data is normally seen in ECOPRO and Comfort, but NOT here. Loved having this front and center in the E90. In a way, the information provided is better as it shows both instant and average on the same place, but the graphic is jarring with the curves on the side. Just put the damn thing where it was (which requires an analog speedo, so that won't happen).

2. Recognize you'll not drive manually beyond 4000 RPM. The design of the angled tach has the wheel cutting off the outermost sides and edges of the tach so effectively your RPM starts disappearing past 4000 RPM. Sometimes in manual I feel I've driving a torquey diesel! This is compensated for with having RPM in the heads-up display and I find myself using that tach much more often. The Sports shift lights also help (as does the sheer engine song of course!)

3. Disabled the map in the cluster. While in concept, this was cool, ultimately it was too distracting. When I needed it, I could check in the main iDrive display. I replaced it with a blank screen.

4. Missed opportunity: reduced mode customization. This was to be the perfect mode. The tach is simplified to a proportional line with no markings and the speedo as well with a big digital speed indicator. It effectively erases the noise but without the ability to add in simple items like MPG, I couldn't use it regularly.

The Final Word

I LOVE THIS CAR! It's a worthy successor to the great driving 3-series before it. Despite the "sabotage" modern trends have saddled it with, it remains at its core a spectacular drivers car. I will be keeping mine a long time!

[Gdiddy23]

I agree w most of everything mentioned above. Especially the part about being able to feel the chassis through the seat. I also have the passive M suspension but I can really feel the road through the seat.

Glad you're loving the car!