E46Fanatic
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- Dec 7, 2004
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AB brought over a nice silver E90 325i for me and Andrew to have a spin in it. It was a silver AB car (Glenmarie) shod with 17" (225 FR 255 RR). My impressionsDriving:Started off testing the normal city drive and found the engine slightly rougher than the M54 on the low end. Then the car only had 1600 kms on the ODO so it may have not have been run it. The cockpit was rather small and actually feels smaller than the E46 when you are driving it. The dash reminds me of the Z4 both on the dials and the overall layout. The interior was black with titanium trims which unlike the E46 trims were cold to the touch (real metal!). The rear headroom and legroom is rather small as well and I was a bit dissapointed that the car feels no bigger than the outgoing E46 from the inside. If anything it actually somehow feels smaller??? Car came with rain sensor and since it was drizzling, it was nice to just set it on auto and not think about switching speeds on the wiper. Steering feel is HEAVY and well weighted compared to the E46. Small fat meaty steering with very tight steering rack. The car comes with Active steering so it was my firstime having a drive with it. No complaints and the car definitely feels more sure footed and nimble than the E46. And good news there is no more left drift/pull which was common on RHD E36/E46..Whacking it:Low end was OK, and there is no familar punch at about mid range 3500 rpms like the E46 325i had, but the car just sweetly pulls all the way to the top. Unlike the M54, the joy of the engine is really when it hit 5k rpms or so and it becomes raw, exciting and just thrilling. Its raspy, and when you're near the 7k rpm redline limits it reminds me a lot of the days of my Dohc Vtec. The M54 is significantly tamer when the tach is 5-6k rpms but on the N52, the fun is just begining. The car even with an autobox is less cultured compared to the M54 as it not as smooth sounding as the M54 when pushed. Instead it raw and raunchy and just the sound and feel of the engine gets your heart racing a little and the kick in the pants is up there in the rev range unlike the M54 which is roughly around 3500rpms. Although the max torque for the N52B25 is 2750 rpms, you dont really feel that thats where all the punch of the engine is. Its really all at the top but with very good (similar to M54 it feels) low end. We had 3 people in the car and it was quick already, so with just the driver and A/C off it should be much better. The autobox is not as slushy as the E46 as well and it was tight and responsive. Didnt feel the slusshyness of the tranny and power was nicely delivered to the tarmac. Handling of the car in turns etc was fine, and tracked well and was rather stiff even without sports suspension and 17" only.Overall verdictIts much more exciting than the E46 325i to drive mainly due to engine characteristics of the N52B25 where the sound of the engine is just so lovely at high rpms. It doesn't have the familiar buuuuuuuu sound of the M54 when idling and when pushed, it has a metallic soundlike raw from the tail pipes (more like the M3 here).Main dissapointment is the interior space. Its small man and doesnt feel big enough now for me. I expected so much more space and was quite letdown. Maybe due to the center console (front and rear - with air vents now) which made the car feel smaller. For Rm318k, the E60 523i is worth considering, esp when it comes to space and looks (I'm more of a fan of the E60 looks). Only if you want the full 2.5 ltr glory its gonna have to be the E60525i @410k... off my budget sigh.I'd wait for the CKD and hopefully SMG versions of the 325i first. MOst likely we'll see it around Rm300k and now even CKD you can choose interior colors yaay.
wah..so u've sampled the e90 already huh?? i hope the engine will loosen up with mileage and bcome smoother..got high hopes for the engine.
