Originally Posted by spitfire6000

A 3 series in general is much sportier in its design and driving dynamics than any other bmw model except the 6 and roadsters. Anyone that drives it even breifly would say that its far sportier than any of the other cars in its class (ie G35, C class, etc.)

Wow, for a long time there the G35 sedan and coup were considered BETTER than the BMW 3 series.

Originally Posted by cntlaw

I see that 3-Series, G35, C-Class are compact sedans, which are simply designed to be lighter and with stiffer body. They are not quite sports car until bigger horsepower engines, stiffer suspensions, brakes are in place. Somehow, since the old days, it has been the name BMW which sounds 'sporty'. And, sorry, I can not see any obvious items that would make a 3-Series 'far sportier' than the G35 and C-Class. The BMW interior design is much behind in terms of sporty looking, the MB wheels are always look much sportier than BMW's; and there are also as many tuners out there for MB such as AMG, Barbaus, Kleeman etc. I must say even the new IS looks more sportier than the E90 if you are not going to mod a little on the E90 such as wheels, lower springs, sports suspensions.
Friend of mine - a M3 owner paid 15% more of his M3 price to mod it just because he did not think the M3 look sportier enough.
Just my impression.

Yes, this is true. I agree the e46 is basically a honda civic with wider tires... body style wise. I hope the new e90 m3 looks much better, and I love everything Mr. Bangle has done to change the boring look of the BMW lineage. My favorites are in this order:
New 5 series
New 3 series
the rest can come or go, I don't really care for the rest of the pack... until the Z4 hard top comes out.... then that will be #1.

Originally Posted by BMW786

I was driving on the 405 last night and about 100 feet in front me, I see a pair of LED's merge onto the freeway. I would immediately recognize a G35 so I knew it wasn't it. This damn Prius was blocking my view so I couldn't see what car it was. He finally left the lane and and I moved up real close - sure enough it was the new IS.

I have to say the new IS looks pretty tight - it had LED's and the color was a dark grey, kind of like our Sparkling Graphite. Better looking than our E90 though? No.

Anyone that says the new IS isn't good looking is lying to themselves. Straight up it's great looking; and it's going to look pretty bland in a few years. When you take a shape that's universally appealing like that, it doesn't last very long. Now the new 5 and new 3 look immediately appealing, and I feel that way because so many other BMW models came out to prepare us to enjoy their lines. Instant classic.

Remember how good the lincoln LS looked when it first came out? Now, it's freaking UGLY!

[blueStreak]

Originally Posted by jomamma

Anyone that says the new IS isn't good looking is lying to themselves.

The new IS isn't ugly but I wouldn't call it much better than most of what is out there. For the exterior, I think they really messed up on the mirrors and the windows. The mirrors looks like they were standing around the SUV parts bin and someone said "Hey, we need some mirrors. Oh look, here's some...". The car looks like Dumbo. I'm sure visibility is great and they are hence much more functional but it sure doesn't do much for the looks. And then there are the windows which are proportioned much too small relative to the doors. Gives me a claustrophobic feeling.

[jiggax23]

Originally Posted by jomamma

Anyone that says the new IS isn't good looking is lying to themselves. Straight up it's great looking;

How can you say something like that when the matter of aesthetics are purely subjective? I'm not saying it's not a good looking car, i actually like the looks of it, but i wouldn't go as far as to calling people liars because they state they dont like the look of the car. I do agree w/ most in the assessment that the look will be played out in a rather short amount of time in contrast to the bmw

[BMW786]

Originally Posted by jiggax23

How can you say something like that when the matter of aesthetics are purely subjective? I'm not saying it's not a good looking car, i actually like the looks of it, but i wouldn't go as far as to calling people liars because they state they dont like the look of the car. I do agree w/ most in the assessment that the look will be played out in a rather short amount of time in contrast to the bmw

well, there was another thread posted of the new IS and most of the comments were negative about the styling. I think it looks better in person - admitting it looks good is not going to diminish how you feel about the E90. but yeah, it will probably look dated in a few years, whereas the E90 has a classic and timeless design - it's charm will last for years to come.

[ace008]

Originally Posted by pharding

The IS Series does not have a sport mode for sportier automatic shifting which I like in a 2.5 liter engine car.

Actually, the IS350 does have a sport mode. Its the ECT power button located near your right knee. The engine seems to rev up quicker and the gears hold longer when turning.