[Obioban]

Originally Posted by chris719

Somewhat disagree. I owned an E90 335i N54 ZSP, Z4M, and M2 Comp. The E90 328i loaners I would get for service were not good. The N52 engine is one of the least inspiring engines BMW has ever put in a passenger car - it's fine but not exciting at all and lacks torque. It just has very little character. The best non-M E9x engine was the turbo by a mile. The suspension harshness vs handling capability tradeoff in E90/E92 were also pretty bad, even if you ditched the RFTs.

I know what you mean about the turbos and the steering in some ways, but the regular E9x steering was already a step down from E46 and is faux-heavy. I find the M2 Comp steering to be overall as good as the regular E9x, but different. I can't comment about E92 M3 because I don't have enough time in one to judge it. Frankly, the Z4M destroys all of them in most categories, but you already knew that. I would definitely take an F22 M235i over an E90 328i or 330i. It might be a question against an N54 335i. The E82 135i N54 is what I would pick of that era anyway if we're talking non-M cars.

Engines I've driven, excluding the V8s:

S54 > S55 > B58 > N54 > N55 > N20 = N52

The manuals in all of them suck in different ways but the Z4M was the least bad. I suspect M2C will be best after installing an SSK and CDV delete.

IMO the last car BMW made with a truly great driving experience potential was the 128i.

The N52 came in a lot of specs and chassis-- from 174hp to 268hp, and in chassis from 3050 to 4300 lbs. So, you can come away from it with a lot of varied experiences.

But, in the 128i in particular-- if you add BMW's 3 stage disa (from a higher trim N52), headers, and a tune, you're at 300 factory reliable NA BMW horsepower in a i6 that weights freaking 328 lbs. Almost 150 lbs ligher than an S54! I'd kill for that kind of weight off the nose of my M3!

Combine that engine with a properly optioned 128i, and you have a car that is 3050 lbs stock- and sub 3000 lbs with just runflat delete and light weight wheels.

Add M3 subframe bushings, so the body is actually connected to the suspension, and you have a great driving little car. More factory mods possible if you want more, beyond that-- all the M3 control arms are bolt on, as done on 1M.

128i steering is great as stock-- none of the fake heaviness stuff they did on the e9X.

135i is a 300+ lb penalty over 128i, and all the turbo engine dynamics I don't want.

But, yeah, put a low factory trim N52 (e.g. the 228hp one in the e9X 328i) into a heavy chassis (sadly the e9X is a fairly heavy chassis-- e60 is only 72 lbs heavier optioned like for like), and I could see why you came away not overly impressed.

The suspension harshness vs handling capability tradeoff in E90/E92 were also pretty bad, even if you ditched the RFTs.

This is the stock subframe bushings in the e9X non M. They just ruin the handling, especially once you ditch the RFTs that they're there to hide. Replacing them with M3 subframe bushings brings the entire chassis up the the level of non M BMWs before e9X.

The manuals in all of them suck in different ways but the Z4M was the least bad. I suspect M2C will be best after installing an SSK and CDV delete.

I suspect you'd like the N52 manual. Manuals from the same manufacturer generally have shift feel inverse to how much torque they're rated to handle. The Z4M was exceptionally good because they couldn't physically fit the 420g, with its higher torque rating, from the M3 (which was over rated, but does make it nigh indestructible, so... track offs)-- so they used the 330i manual instead. The N52 manuals are similarly low rated, and feel great as a result.

Engines I've driven, excluding the V8s:

S54 > S55 > B58 > N54 > N55 > N20 = N52

You should drive some more NA M engines