[2015cs]

I wish I had had the following info before buying an E90:

In 2007, the 3 liter car was degraded from 255 (called 330) to 230 HP (called 328), and the rotors were made smaller, all to encourage people to buy a 335 instead.

In 2010, the car was further degraded in multiple ways. For example:

The coolant temp gauge was discontinued.

The hood blanket to mellow engine sound was discontinued.

The nettings to hold magazines/maps behind the front seats were discontinued.

All tools except the screwdriver and tow hook were discontinued.

Also, compared with the previous model (E46), the car's waistline grew significantly (2 inches longer and 3 inches wider). Weight was up, but use of Mg and Al made the increase small. I believe all E90 328s lack a spare tire (but do have run-flats, which for each disadvantage actually have an advantage over regular tires in my view). Sadly, the car doesn't even have a dipstick! Oil level can be checked in 2 different ways, but it's more cumbersone, requires a hot engine, and leaves me mourning the loss of the dipstick.

all E90 328s equipped with automatics have old-fashioned slush box torque converters. We needed an automatic, but if I had to do it all over, I would have gotten a later model 335, which has a related transmission but at least has enough zip to overcome the sluggishness of the torque converter.

I believe that the comments about getting the sport package by 2 posters above should be taken seriously. It might have been an F30 review--I can't remember--but one car magazine said the sport package was so critical that not getting it meant you essentially had the ride of a Camry. Perhaps a worse criticism could be made, but off hand I can't think of one.

To assess reliability, besides looking at Consumer Reports, consider going to TrueDelta.com. Joining is free.

Had I to do it all over, I would have hunted for a car without the navigation system. It's complicated, expensive, will probably break as quickly as a Garmin but cost a fortune to fix, and isn't there when you need it most--in a rental car in a place you're not familiar with. Plugging in the ol' $150 Garmin that fits in your pocket is, from my perspective, a better way to go. It's also vastly less complicated to use.

If you want park assist and the car you find doesn't have it, it can be added after market for cheap from some places that sell car stereos and alarm systems.

Whatever you might be told, the window regulator problem that plagued previous 3 series BMWs was not fixed in the E90. Figure about $400 a pop if you don't do it yourself. We've gone through 4 of them in previous 3 series cars. Which raises the issue . . . have something sitting in the bank. These are not Toyotas or Hondas. They break and can be expensive to fix.

Good luck in your hunt.