So I went back to the dealer again today (twice in fact). I drove both the new E90 330i (fully loaded 6sp) and the E46 330i ZHP (fully loaded minus premium package). I drove the E90 first. Again EXCELLENT ride. Very refined interior. The main power is definitely around 4500-5000 RPM. I can definitely feel more power in that range than in the lower RPMs. The interior is fantastic and is pretty much everything I could ask for (at least in that class of vehicle
).
I then switched out vehicles and tried the E46 ZHP. This car
felt faster in many ways. It could be the gear ratio, the short shifter throw, the springy clutch, etc. In any case, I felt that there was more power (even though the E90 has more horses). The interior in this car although nice, seemed dated and tired when compared to the E90. It still would stand great on it's own but the E90 seemed much cleaner and had more appointments like dual climate control, power rear sunshade, iDrive, etc.
If I consider going with the E46, I could save about $6k off of MSRP. The E90 (at least from this dealer) is firmly set at MSRP and I would not be able to pick it up until May 6th.
So now I am stumped. I thought I was going 100% for the E90 but after driving the E46 ZHP, I am not so sure. The '05 was just a bit more fun to drive and felt a bit smaller than the E90. I can probably get away with driving the E90 one more time before I drive the dealer nuts but $6k off is nothing to shy away from either...
Thoughts?
Here is some eye candy for ya...
E46 ZHP (1Mb)
E90 (1.6Mb)
Full size available upon request.