As promissed, here's my review:

This is the most agile, communicative, and fun vehicle I've ever driven, but, not necessarily the fastest (old car was a WRX with 300 whp). However, it's still plenty fast.

Steering: "point and shoot" sums it up. It had the variable steering which was awesome. It's almost like the car is hardwired to your brain, knowing where to direct itself. It's light during slow speeds and heavy during quicker driving. I honestly don't know why everyone complains about the electrical assisted steering. It works great.

Engine: No lag, lots of low end grunt, pulls seamlessly. Terrific engine with an awesome exhaust note.

Tranny: had the 8-speed auto. The shifts were lighting quick, even in manual mode, rev-matching = very cool. I, like many others love stick, but this F1 style transmission is my choice.

Chassis: car's best attribute, nuff said. The M sport is a huge reason as to why. Can you say flat cornering?

I'm all on board when my current lease ends in a few months. Any questions, just ask me. I'll get back to you.

to be fair 8 speed automatic is not f1 style, you need a DCT for that...

very true, i actually feel like some car makers are holding back their cars from doing better by not offering a DCT system which they very well can. Brands like BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, and a few more

thanks for the insight.

I think people who complain about the steering are likely E90 owners who just aren't use to the steering weight change on them. I do find the steering to be VERY light when parking. Kind of strange.

I just picked up my 435 yesterday (black/black, M-Sport, MT, CW, PP, HK, WP) replacing my beloved E-46 330 (never loved the E-90), and I also still have an X5, too. First impressions is that this feels far more "adult", buttoned down etc. Steering very sharp, but lighter effort, throttle response, suspension tuning - all well thought through. As for speed, I said the same thing ("doesn't feel that fast"), until I looked at my speed and realized that the perforance is real, but that it is "smooth quick" not "peaky-quick" (which is classic WRX - doens't make it faster, but it feels like it).

Oh, and M-Sport looks really good in metalic black (note all the black plastic on the grill and rear diffuser).... Bad!