I just toured the BMW site. The new 3 looks pretty nice. Best BMW interior I've seen for the money. Exterior is a bit conservative, but again, nice. Your take?

 

The exterior is somewhat conservative for a reason. The company (correctly) didn't want to bring the public uproar with the 3 series.....their bread-and-butter car.......that the new 7-series and 5-series did. They have admitted this in public......they deliberately kept the changes on the new 3-series toned-down so as not to alienate their core owner base too much.

 

Still not convinced it's as nice as the current one, the tail lights are particularly ugly. Overall it's still quite nice & much better than the 5.

 

yup the front i gave up already, but the rear is bad

e46 is awesome

 

not feeling the new 3 at all.

 

That must be an oxymoron, right?

 

I like the E46 the best, but I like the new style as well. I think the new 3 series coupe is going to look real nice. The new one side by side next to an E46 definately has a more powerful stance to it.

 

I saw it at the NYIAS. In its most popular selling configuration(325i, with a few option packages), it looked pretty bad. It was a light blue with some small hideous rims. I did not look right at all. I was really disappointed in the way it looked. One aspect of the car that I really like is the headlights, and I think that might be it. I dont like the rear, or the sides to much.

I however never really liked the 3-series sedans. I always loved the 3-series coupes. They look absolutely gorgeous. My lady friend has a 330Ci in Silver with Dark tint, and thats all you need to make the car look immaculate.

 

i understand their reason being conservative with the 3 but i wish they styled it more agressively like the 5 & 7. although it wasnt love at first sight, the bangle designs grew on me

 

The e46 is classic and I especially liked the performance package front bumper. Just goes to show you that new is not always better. I think the new Lexus IS styling blows away the new bmw 3 styling both inside and out

 

Hated it!

 

I agree with you but wish it weren't true. IMO they made it toooo conservative. I think it's gonna do just the opposite of intended. It's gonna drive people away cause it's to toned down. The E46 looks way better imo.

 

Wow, this is the first time I've seen the new 3... Personally, I dont like it too much. It looks pretty good from a 3/4 front view, but side view, it looks bad to me. If I were gonna get a 3 series, I'd definitly go with an older one.

 

I like the idea of cooled cupholders (provided they're the right size), and a separate laptop storage compartment in the trunk!

Going to face tough competition from the IS , so every bit helps!

 

Not feeling the new 3 at all.......its not as ugly as the 5 though. Very very sad, BMW used to have the best designs.

At the NY auto show, nobody really noticed it. It just looks very plain and cheap...... The IS on the other hand attracted a huge crowd. The new IS will be getting lots of former bimmer guys imo.