I have driven the one of those cars before i purchased my 335i. The performance of those cars are amazing. Couple that with the great fuel consumption and you have a winner. If i didnt get such a good deal on my 335 i would have got a 320d. Its just a fantastic all rounder.
Agreed. I've grown rather fond of my 320d. So much so that I'd rather let go of my M before I let go of the diesel. That being said, I get a bigger smile from driving my M :=):
Also drove one and it is really a leap forward in technology from E90. However I must say that if you only need one car and you're not a motorsport enthusiast then this car is all you need.
Ofcourse I am biased and would prefer a much cheaper E46M3 and have many more smiles (albeit also more fuel bills)