If BMW stylists are spending countless hours worrying about where the golf clubs will go, I think they can worry about other things. From an environmental standpoint golfing in the future may have a rough go, too.

I can honestly say that I would most likely not buy a convertible due to the increased risk of developing skin cancer. I have blonde hair, so I would never put the top down during the day.

At least BMW moved the windshield forward, which is a plus when you own a convertible. It’s not a plus in terms of skin cancer risk, but it’s a plus in terms of being exposed to the elements. I’ve ridden in convertibles and generally the windshields are so far back you don’t even know you’re in a convertible. What’s the point of owning a convertible if you’re not exposed to the elements? When you’re sitting in the back seat that’s fun, but when you’re sitting in the front seat it’s not so much fun.

The comments here have been interesting. $57K? Where’d you get that price? With standard transmission (who’d want any other kind in a sports sedan?), the sports package and WITHOUT the silly idrive, it came to right below $50K. Cheap? not hardly. It’s still $20K more than my Subaru Legacy GT, which I expect I will always prefer when both cars are in the driveway and there’s a twisty road to travel.

But the handling during our test drives was acceptable. Not all-wheel-drive neutral, but no slouch, and for a convertible, satisfyingly stiff. Corner lean was fine and 0-60 in 5.5 seconds is fast enough in the real world. Unfortunately we couldn’t testdrive a standard, because there were none. What is it with Americans and automatic transmissions?

With the top down there is no trunk. Forget it. The luggage we’ll need for our 2-week trip in Europe will rest in the flip-down back seat — an excellent feature, by the way.

When we get back about the first of July I’d be glad to post an update, if anyone is interested.

carl

Also, to SherBornSean, I admit to partial absorption by the Borg, but ultimate found a way to evade it. I-Drive is a big embarrassment for a company as great as BMW.

Not all convertibles are for touring. 4-seat convertibles generally are though. Boxsters are not :)

The 335 convertible is for the buyer who wants the best of a certain image. The “younger” feeling, 4-seater, high-end athletic imaged convertible.

To be fair, it’s a damn fine 30k interior; but it’s still the same interior for 57k as it is for 30k. Same general body panels, build quality, etc.

The real deal in the BMW range is to take european delivery on a 335i Sedan w/ just the sport package. For between 36-38k, you’ll get everything you need for both back-road bombing, stoplight racing, and family hauling. All while looking impeccable in your tailored italian suit.

I hope to put my money where my mouth is within 2 years, and take my wife on a euro. delivery of a 335i w/ sport package. Drive from Munich down through Italy. Two lifetime memories all at once.

Joe

For $63k, you can have the hardtop Lexus SC, much finer built. And don’t forget it’s an old model. An updated one would have much better performance.

But of course, piston heads needs the rumored “handling” from the 335. But then, one should not start with a convertible in searching “handling”. Convertibles are for touring.

I own an ‘06 325i sedan manual with the sport package and wholehearedly concur. When I see the 335 convertible, it looks good – fast, hardtop convertible, etc … but it would cost $20k more than what I spent. So: +$20k, convertible, a little more than 1 sec faster to 60, a staggering 650 lbs heavier. Not for me.

Oh, and the turbo motor may be kick arse but the non-turbo motors are still pretty sweet.

To my mind, the i-Drive is the only thing that really messes this car up. It can be assumed perhaps that by trying to put some many functions into one control system, the goal might have – only “might have” – been to keep it simple. But my belief is that if you have to break out a manual to learn how to work a control system, the idea of keeping something simply, has given way to what, back in the day, would have been called a “Rube Goldberg” device, after the late, great cartoonist who made his reputation of cartoons of overly complicated devices, designed to do simply tasks.

Of course, when you spent the money one does on a convertible such as this, the owner probably wants to feel he or she got something substantial for their money. But for those of us who really want to see BMW put the emphasis on driving, I say scuttle the iDrive, at the first opportunity.

I drove a new X5 recently and never used the dreaded iDrive, save a few times to turn on the radio; and even then, I got so tired of seeing that electronic eye peering at me, would usually just turn it off and listen to the machine tell me its limits, in terms of suspension, tires and engines. That’s sometimes, all the music you need.

Yes, I thought of an older 911, but they don’t go for a great discount with only 2 years on them.

It would make sense to write a separate review of the convertible to note how much the extra weight affects the car’s responsiveness and handling. And the news does not sound good.

That may be true, but nowhere does the review mention what the weight difference between the two is!

It’s going to be rated a subcompact because, as in all convertibles, there’s far less rear shoulder room than in a coupe. Also probably a smaller trunk.

Drew:

It would make sense to write a separate review of the convertible to note how much the extra weight affects the car’s responsiveness and handling. And the news does not sound good.

I haven't seen an e90 3 convertible in person, but I have seen a number of coupes. While the coupe is much better than the sedan, I think that says more about the sedan than the coupe.

There's just something …off…about the proportions of the coupe. Something rear of the B pillar is not right. It almost looks a bit stretched. I might be biased owning an e46 sedan, but to me the e46 was the height of recent BMW style both externally and internally.

I've driven an e90 330i and while it certainly does drive nicely, it had enough shortcomings that I'll keep my e46.