Replacing our e46

Debbie has been dreading lease turn-in on our e46 325i. She once told me she would "lie down in front of the car and refuse to move." I like the e46 too. If we could we lease a new one. BMW decided otherwise. Our 325 is a 2004. 2005 was the last year for the e46 in any form.
The replacement e90 3 series sedan is an entirely different car. The e90 is a technological wonder. It easily out handles our 325. It is faster. It uses less fuel. The N52 engine takes pages to fully appreciate. Lowest weight per HP of any 6 cylinder engine.

The new 3 series is also infuriating. The guiding principal of BMW design has always been Form Follows Function. BMWs have a long hood not for style but because a 50/50 weight balance and a long inline-6 motor require a long hood. As the cars became more sophisticated the number of controls increased but always in a logical fashion. The cruise control on my 1990 was a model of simplicity. A stalk on the steering column was the only control. Pushing the lever forward turned the cruise on. Tap it forward again to increase speed. Pull it backwards to decrease speed. Taping the brakes turned the cruise control off. Simple. Form follows function.

Things went horribly and suddenly wrong in 2002 with the introduction of the new 7 series. The sleek body of the old 7 was replaced by an ugly angular shape. Logical controls were replaced by an i-Drive control that took months to learn. Even someone familiar with the car has trouble finding the turn signals. The disease spread infecting the 3 series in 2006. The e90 sedan is bloated and ugly. The controls are quirky and unnecessarily complex. I've never understood why you need a Start Button. Putting the key in should be enough. The start button is redundant.

And then there is the price. A 328i costs $4,000 more than the car it replaced. Ouch. We started shopping for something other than a BMW.

We shopped. We were slimed. A few cars weren't too bad. Mazda 5 and Subaru Forester were the highlights. Even the best required compromises we weren't comfortable with. None of them were a BMW. After horrible slimy hours trapped at a local Jeep dealer ("let me introduce you to my inventory manager") we gave up. Stopped looking. I'd rather walk to work then endure the hard sell from yet another sales manager. Debbie could have the Miata. I was done.

A few days later Debbie asked me to check one last time to see if there were any incentives from BMW. Maybe an attractive offer to purchase our e46. No deal. But I did find that an unusual combination of incentives made it possible to get an X3 at an absurdly low price.

The X3 is a small SUV based on the e46 platform. e46, like our old 325. The X3 is sort of the old 3er wagon on steroids. We'd discounted the 2004 X3. It was underpowered. The interior was cheap compared to the 325 sedan. We didn't need the extra space. 3 years later BMW upgraded the interior and installed a 260HP version of the new N52 engine. We needed the extra space. A short test drive and we were sold.