Jeff, no surprise that this is another article of yours that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. And it was about one of my favorite cars to boot!
I LOVED my 335i. And no, I did not keep it that long, but it gave me less issues (actually none) in my time with it than our previous Toyota Camry did in the same timeframe.
I too thought the new 335i was very good (tested both Sport & M Sport trims, with all settings set on max sport)
I thought the new M Sport shifter was much better than the older one though. Smoother, slicker. Clutch was easier as well, as you mentioned.
Overall, I came to the same conclusion as you did. I still prefer the older one a little more.