BMW E90-driver's delight!

In 2002, I bought a BMW E30 325i from a close friend of mine and since then, I have never really bothered to find out if this car has a comfortable rear seat. Why? It is because I have been dealing with a bad back for 20 years and the driver’s seat on this 20-year-old Bimmer has the ideal snug fit that someone like me needs.

In fact, the BMW was designed to be driver focused. Its interiors, though old-fashioned now, give the driver a sense of control not found on too many new cars. It is so driver-oriented that the centre console is angled towards the driver, the gear lever sprouts up from the high tunnel to fall perfectly to hand and it is impossible to fault the position of the steering wheel, pedals and other controls.

And, despite being two-decades-old, the handling on this car is still crisp, the chassis finely-balanced and the creamy in-line six is still very responsive. The definitive bonding point with the car is the incredible steering. It’s light, yet accurate and with loads of feel through the chunkily-rimmed wheel. There’s no slack at all, nor any sogginess to dilute the driving pleasure.

And when you couple a brilliant steering with a chassis that has near-perfect weight distribution, every corner becomes a joy. Be it the wrongly cambered sweeping left-hander down Hanging Gardens at Malabar Hill, the tight U-turn under the Kemps Corner flyover or one of the 90° rights onto Marine Drive, the 325i is eager to change direction with poise and fluency.

The 325i wouldn’t be even half the fun it is if it weren’t for its 2.5-litre motor. The ‘straight-six’ or in-line six-cylinder layout, to which BMW has traditionally stuck, has played a role in building the charisma of the marque.

With every successive generation (the E36 and E46 followed the E30), the 3-series has grown up and now, in its latest E90 guise, it is more than a class larger than the E30. Wider, longer and taller than its predecessor, the E90 is also 165kg heavier, despite substantial use of weight-saving materials. In fact, while the latest BMW is assembled right here in India, Indian car owners never really got a taste of the older BMW.

So how does the older BMW compare with the latest? For starters, the older version only came with central locking, power windows and mirrors and that’s about it. In contrast, the new Bimmer has eight airbags and a sophisticated stability and traction control system, i-drive and several other features.

However, what is missing on the new BMW, which the old has, is the slight tilt of the central console, which really made a statement about how driver-focused the car is. The new BMW keeps the passengers well-insulated as the solid doors keep out all external elements, whereas in the older E30, one feels more raw and exposed.

The two BMWs maybe a few generations apart but the one thing that has remained on the vehicle all this time is the straight-six motor. It still has that delightful growl, but feels more mellow and refined.

Though the basic architecture of the engines is similar, it’s the high-tech bits and pieces and years of tweaking that have taken the smoothness and fantastic flexibility, a legendary characteristic of BMW’s straight-sixes, to a completely different level.

Driving the two cars, it is amazing to see how the car has evolved in time. The latest Bimmer may be more refined, powerful and filled with features and technology but the older BMW, the E30, is still a remarkable vehicle and even though it does not come with modern-day technology and features, it still provides a pure and thrilling drive.


BMW E30 325i

Price: Rs 10 lakh#

Top speed: 219kph**

0-100kph: 7.7sec**

L/W/H: 4325/1645/1380mm

Wheelbase: 2570mm

Kerb weight: 1293kg

Engine: 6 cyls, in line, 2494cc

Power: 170bhp at 5800rpm

Torque: 22.7kgm at 4300rpm

Gearbox: 5-speed manual

Fuel tank: 55 litres

Tyre size: 195/65 R14

Front suspension: MacPherson struts, coil springs

Rear suspension: Semi-trailing arms, coil springs

(# price when imported. ** as tested in Europe.)


BMW E90 325i

Price: Rs 32.2 lakh (ex-showroom, Mumbai)

Top speed: 235kph

0-100kph: 9.03sec

L/W/H: 4520/1817/1421mm

Wheelbase: 2760mm

Kerb weight: 1460kg

Engine: 6 cyls, in line, 2497cc

Power: 214bhp at 6500rpm

Torque: 25.08kgm at 4000rpm

Gearbox: 6-speed auto

Fuel tank: 63 litres

Tyre size: 225/45 R17

Front suspension: Independent, double-joint, spring struts

Rear suspension: Independent, five-link suspension


Hormazd Sorabjee