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Driving an 18 year old Station Wagon
Jul. 15th, 2025 08:49 pmIt's ironic that I posted about our much-loved BMW convertible yesterday because this afternoon I swapped it— temporarily!— for an 18 year old station wagon. I took "Ocean" to the shop for a brake fluid flush. The loaner they gave me is a 2007 BMW 328i Touring. "Touring" is German -English for station wagon.
For fellow Bimmerphiles, a 2007 3 series is part of the E90 generation. The station wagon carries the E91 designation. This 328i comes from the time when BMW started misnaming (misnumbering) their cars. Once upon a time the last two digits indicated the size of the engine. A 328 would've been equipped with 2.8 L engine. But this E90 328i had, in the US, a 3.0 L engine. It's a naturally-aspirated inline six rated at 228hp.
How does it drive? The first thing I noticed is that the steering wheel take a lot of effort to turn. I don't know if that's a maintenance issue (power steering pump needs service?) or by design. The engine feels sluggish off the line but really comes alive mid-throttle. That could just be a throttle tuning issue. The particular vehicle I drove is surprisingly free of squeaks and groans for an 18 year old car with 168,000 miles on the clock.
The fit of the car from the driver's seat was both both instantly familiar and in the uncanny valley between familiar and eerily off. The controls are reminiscent of both my 1998 M3 convertible— an E36 3-series that was 2 generations older— and our beloved old 135 convertible, Hawkgirl, an E88 model that was produced alongside the E90 for many years, though Hawkgirl in particular was 1 year newer as a 2008 car.
The look of the controls was very familiar. What was not familiar was the feel of the controls. Nothing was convenient to reach! First, the seat was uncomfortably positioned. I fussed around with the manual(!) controls— which, by the way, I had to step out of the vehicle to adjust—and couldn't find a comfortable position. On both of our older BMWs set comfort was a huge plus. Next, the secondary controls were all awkwardly positions. The radio and climate controls, for example, were too low and too far away— even for me, someone with relatively long arms. I didn't have these problems with our previous BMWs. Overall the ergonomics of driving this car are so poor that if I sat down in it as an example of a car I was considering purchasing I would seriously consider crossing off the entire model range from my shopping list.
For fellow Bimmerphiles, a 2007 3 series is part of the E90 generation. The station wagon carries the E91 designation. This 328i comes from the time when BMW started misnaming (misnumbering) their cars. Once upon a time the last two digits indicated the size of the engine. A 328 would've been equipped with 2.8 L engine. But this E90 328i had, in the US, a 3.0 L engine. It's a naturally-aspirated inline six rated at 228hp.
How does it drive? The first thing I noticed is that the steering wheel take a lot of effort to turn. I don't know if that's a maintenance issue (power steering pump needs service?) or by design. The engine feels sluggish off the line but really comes alive mid-throttle. That could just be a throttle tuning issue. The particular vehicle I drove is surprisingly free of squeaks and groans for an 18 year old car with 168,000 miles on the clock.
The fit of the car from the driver's seat was both both instantly familiar and in the uncanny valley between familiar and eerily off. The controls are reminiscent of both my 1998 M3 convertible— an E36 3-series that was 2 generations older— and our beloved old 135 convertible, Hawkgirl, an E88 model that was produced alongside the E90 for many years, though Hawkgirl in particular was 1 year newer as a 2008 car.
The look of the controls was very familiar. What was not familiar was the feel of the controls. Nothing was convenient to reach! First, the seat was uncomfortably positioned. I fussed around with the manual(!) controls— which, by the way, I had to step out of the vehicle to adjust—and couldn't find a comfortable position. On both of our older BMWs set comfort was a huge plus. Next, the secondary controls were all awkwardly positions. The radio and climate controls, for example, were too low and too far away— even for me, someone with relatively long arms. I didn't have these problems with our previous BMWs. Overall the ergonomics of driving this car are so poor that if I sat down in it as an example of a car I was considering purchasing I would seriously consider crossing off the entire model range from my shopping list.
