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Lol, that's funny.
I had the exact opposite happen. Had an N54 E90 w/ Sport Pkg, and wanted another 335i to replace it with. Drove an F30 and thought it was a massive letdown. Nowhere near as engaging as my car. A well executed car, but not very enjoyable to drive, and a poor value.
Branched out to everything from 4DR Cooper S, to 6th Gen Camaro SS w/ just about everything in between- STI, WRX, Mustang GT, Focus ST, Lexus IS, ATS- and nothing was really doing it for me. Tried a GTI after reading so much good things about it, and was a little let down. It was a short drive in heavy traffic, the sales rep wasn't good at explaining things, I used the manual mode, but didn't know it had the different drive modes.
Was still not finding anything to pull the trigger on, so I drove one again. A proper drive on back roads, tried out the different drive modes, etc, and was sold. It drives as good or better than many vehicles that call themselves sports cars, and does it for far less money and w/ way more practicality and efficiency.
I actually now work at the dealer I bought my car from and drive it, along with the R, regularly. You can go back on forth on the manual vs DSG all day, and there's no right or wrong answer. The stick cars are fun, but the clutch is a little softer than I like, and the shifter a little longer in throw and light in action. Plus, they start slipping w/ even a Stage 1 tune. The DSG is awful in normal 'Drive' because it's tuned so conservative, but in manual mode, it's great. Evidently a DSG tune makes them drive like they should in 'Drive'. I fell like the DSG fits the character of the car a lot better.
We deal in high-end stuff a lot- we've sold Lamborghinis and a 918 in the past- and after driving pretty much every form of 3 Series there is, along with the usual suspects- A4, C Classes, etc, etc, I don't regret my decision one bit. A year into owning it, it still puts a smile on my face when I get in and drive it. I don't know what else I would have bought to fill the role I needed it to. I'm already planning ahead to move up to an R, or buying out my lease and getting a stupid cheap payment on it and getting a used 911 for a weekend car.
But, like they say, different strokes and all that.
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