Hot or not?

is it just me or did BMW create the blended-nose-in-the-front-bumper look after Audi established the "nose" through-the-bumper look?

BMW is lacking creativity and originality...

In reading all the comments I can summarize with the general consensus that this design is not what we expected. I agree with the statement that this is merely a refresh and not a redesign. We need differentiation points and rather we are once again making comparisons. The front is better than I expected but the back is too rounded and squished up into the back of the car. The dashboard looks like something from a museum and not a race car.

Lower the price a tad, give us better rim choices, and fix the back end...

Let's hope the m3 doesn't suffer the same fate...

Sorry BMW you have lost a fan with every new car. I guess I will be looking forward to the 2006 Infiniti M45

Fantastic! BMW has finally got the Bangle design right. Maybe in just works with the 3-series proportions? What ever it is, it looks great. Now just make the necessary changes to the 7,6, 5 series and BMW is back.

Definitely not hot, but not ugly like its stablemates. And that's good news. Time will tell with BMW's bread-and-butter model if the auto-buying public will cool towards the once-great automotive icon.

Definitely not hot, but not ugly like its stablemates. And that's good news. Time will tell with BMW's bread-and-butter model if the auto-buying public will cool towards the once-great automotive icon.

Before BMW redesigned the 7 , 5 and now 3 series --there once was a time where this automaker exceeded the customers expectations . Reflecting on all three cars of the late 90's I can't help but say that this company has taken steps backward --not in price of course.
Is it that the 7 and 5 were such disapointments that has me overlooking the mediocrity of this new 3 ? Yes --it's the best of all three models but a far cry from what BMW could have produced .
I already have my car --a 997S and what got me to run (not walk) to the dealership with my checkbook in hand what I felt was a remarkable improvement over the 996 . I do not feel this way about the entire BMW lineup .
I have owned many BMWS --three or four were mine --the rest drove away with my ex wives <grin> Would I buy imaginary future ex wife a 3 series? Nope --but heck I am not even ready to buy a woman a bicycle or a pair of sneakers . All kidding aside -- I am not overjoyed by this new 3 but I feel it's the best of the worst when giving an opinion of all of their recent redesigns .

Chris, you won't buy the car because two chrome strips above the kidney grille are on the bonnet?
It doesn't look out of place or weird, infact, it looks rather normal. Maybe you are nit-picking, but it seems a very comical point to raise on such a stunning car.

Sony.. perhaps you're in the wrong industry, AM/FM radios is a different forum. Maybe not many people around here (US) realize that BMW is not doing so hot in Europe. It's more like their getting wipped by the new A8, A6 and A3 model lines. No surprise AUdi is the #1 luxury brand in England. This is also reflecting in increased sales in the US with the new A8 and now the incredible A6, which I've test driven. The Ugliest Driving Machine days are over! To make matters worse, the A8 is considered the best luxury in the executive class, whereas the ugly-fat-looking-over-engineered 7-series is so lame they have to provide large incentives to get them out the door.

If you love your Ugliest Driving Machine so much why don't you show it off ... oh... what?..oh, yeah, they drive like @#$% in the winter!... oh well maybe next year!