[Saucebawce]

Hey Guys,

Today i finally got a chance to tests the f30 3 series. First of i thought they were sick and looked great from the exterior. Onto the 335i, definitely packed a punch when u accelerated and had smooth handling. Both cars had great interiors, while I liked the sport lines the most. I actually found myself preferring the 328i for the great gas mileage it offered (up to 43!), and the engine shut off function when stopped. Although the 328i has a smaller engine, it actually was not that much slower than the 335i, and did seem to handle better. Anyway both were great to drive, had great features, and looked amazing from the exterior.


Ps. Interiors were huge compared to the e90 and mineral grey is lighter and way better looking in person, beautiful color.

[E36toF30]

I'm curious, where are you getting the 'up to 43 MPG' from? The in-car meter I'm assuming?

[Bimmerlover76]

Here's a question? Remember the throttle lag with the e90s? Did the 328i have that lag where you would have to press the pedal down a ways before you started going?

[adamsclubs]

The throttle lag in the E90 can be easily cured by your driving style and the use of sport mode.

Having said that, I drove an F30 328i a few days ago, there was no lag, the acceleration was effortless, so much so it was a bit boringly fast.

Punching it brought it to life but as soon as the needle got near 5000 it was rough compared to the E90. There is really no point of revving the N20 though for daily driving, the sweet rpm range is about 1500 to 3000, which made it a bit quiet (boring) and fast at the same time.

[Just_me]

I drove 328i Luxuryline today and lots of DNA from E90 is still there Still a great drive

[Nero7]

I also test drived both engines 335i and 328i and for me the 328i is better . The 335i had the sport-line and 328i the luxury-line and I felt that the suspension was not the same in the cars when I had the car in comfort mode, the luxury line was a little bit better.

[Moxie]

Drove the sport 328i & 335i today also. Considering trading is the 335d. The 328i is a nice piece. Believe the mileage is ~24 city & ~38 highway. I wouldn't expect to get either driving in Europe with my driving style. I'm omly averging 28-29 with the 335d. When you start loadingon the options, there's only a ~$3k difference between the two.

[pcbrew]

Just got back from driving both as well - 328i Luxury and 335i Sport, both auto, and 335i had Sport Auto.

I am coming from E46 ('02) 330i 5MT that I still love driving and never warmed up to the E90 looks, either exterior or interior. I almost got an F10 last year as I wanted something a little bigger but could never get truly excited about the F10 - too big, not quite sporty enough, etc. so decided to wait on the F30.

Not that there was much doubt, but F30 will be my next car. Besides being much better in styling inside & out, the F30 N20 328i is sooooo much better than the E90 I6 328i, at least in Auto form. The last one I drove had a horrible hesitation from a stop/slow speeds that is completely gone with the F30 and 8AT. The N20 may not be as smooth but it was never bad in my test drive and I would be perfectly happy with it. However, the N55 was even better, smooth, effortless power.

I definitely prefer the steering/transmission/throttle setting in Sport vs. Comfort but I was surprised how good the ride & suspension control was on the Lux Line in Sport mode. Sport mode on the 335i was better, but the base suspension is pretty good overall.

So, I definitely plan to get Adaptive suspension, since I understand you can dial-out chassis option in iDrive for Sport Mode (leave that for Sport+), but keep the tighter steering & faster throttle response.

Engine and tranny are much more difficult choice, but am leaning toward 328i and 8AT since I plan to lease for the first time in my life and know I can upgrade in 3 years to 335i or whatever comes next and go back to MT. Also thinking of pulling the trigger soon and not wait for M-Sport since my interior and exterior color choice are not available on M-Sport.

[okolisr]

Originally Posted by pcbrew

I definitely prefer the steering/transmission/throttle setting in Sport vs. Comfort but I was surprised how good the ride & suspension control was on the Lux Line in Sport mode. Sport mode on the 335i was better, but the base suspension is pretty good overall.

So, I definitely plan to get Adaptive suspension, since I understand you can dial-out chassis option in iDrive for Sport Mode (leave that for Sport+), but keep the tighter steering & faster throttle response.

I am trying to decide about getting Adaptive Suspension and am confused by your comment -- maybe you could clarify. I thought that we will get the same "tighter steering & faster throttle response" in Sport and Sport+ modes with or without Adaptive Suspension. So why are you saying that you need to get Adaptive Suspension to get those features?

Also, if you liked the ride and suspension control better in the 335i (with Adaptive Suspension, I assume) why would you dial-out that option in iDrive for Sport Mode?

[justinnum1]

Originally Posted by pcbrew

Just got back from driving both as well - 328i Luxury and 335i Sport, both auto, and 335i had Sport Auto.

I am coming from E46 ('02) 330i 5MT that I still love driving and never warmed up to the E90 looks, either exterior or interior. I almost got an F10 last year as I wanted something a little bigger but could never get truly excited about the F10 - too big, not quite sporty enough, etc. so decided to wait on the F30.

Not that there was much doubt, but F30 will be my next car. Besides being much better in styling inside & out, the F30 N20 328i is sooooo much better than the E90 I6 328i, at least in Auto form. The last one I drove had a horrible hesitation from a stop/slow speeds that is completely gone with the F30 and 8AT. The N20 may not be as smooth but it was never bad in my test drive and I would be perfectly happy with it. However, the N55 was even better, smooth, effortless power.

I definitely prefer the steering/transmission/throttle setting in Sport vs. Comfort but I was surprised how good the ride & suspension control was on the Lux Line in Sport mode. Sport mode on the 335i was better, but the base suspension is pretty good overall.

So, I definitely plan to get Adaptive suspension, since I understand you can dial-out chassis option in iDrive for Sport Mode (leave that for Sport+), but keep the tighter steering & faster throttle response.

Engine and tranny are much more difficult choice, but am leaning toward 328i and 8AT since I plan to lease for the first time in my life and know I can upgrade in 3 years to 335i or whatever comes next and go back to MT. Also thinking of pulling the trigger soon and not wait for M-Sport since my interior and exterior color choice are not available on M-Sport.

agree with everything you said. N20 sounds a little tacky, but it more than makes up for it with performance and efficiency. The torque from that turbo4 is damn impressive.

328 auto for me now, leaves me something to look forward to in the future.

[gatoman39]

Test drove both. The separation between the two cars in the E90 was a country mile. Now, there isn't that gap that justifies the cost. They need to bump the 335i to the powerpack version and get the 0-60 times in the sub5 second range.

[matt_435xi]

i not only felt the 335i felt a lot faster on passing cars, and rolling starts, but i thought it sounded mean. the new 328i engine is much better than the old one, but it still comes up short compared to the 335i. and i didn't really care for the exhaust note, or that lack there of. i was hoping i would like the 328i, i think i am going to have to get another 6cyl turbo. (this will be #4)

[sofaonasock]

Drove the 335i Sports a few days ago and the handling was spot on and acceleration was real quick.

Drove the 328i Modern today and the car definitely felt softer, although still fast.

[svache]

Originally Posted by E36toF30

I'm curious, where are you getting the 'up to 43 MPG' from? The in-car meter I'm assuming?

They actually list this on the sticker.. it says 36 MPG HWY and then a low and high number for 'most drivers' or something like that. There it is stated it can be up to 43 MPG (probably eco mode, behind a truck and wind in the back lol)

[jc68]

Drove a 328i Luxury line yesterday. The biggest driving improvement is that the E90s throttle lag is gone. There is no throttle lag in all 3 modes, Eco Pro to Sport. I can see myself driving in Eco Pro mode in the city. Next improvement is the brakes are easier to modulate, it is not as touchy with high initial bite compared to the last generation. The 4 cylinder feels and sounds a bit coarse compared to the I6 near redline, but it still pretty refine. There is some shutter as the engine restarts. At a light waiting to make a right turn and the steering wheel is not straight, engine will not shut off.

[GTM_Challenge]

I've been back and forth on if we should get the 328 or the 335 for some time but opted for the 335 sport in the end as we have higher hp goals. We'll still make parts for the 328 regardless though

[bimmerlover]

Drove both yesterday..
I just don't understand people's fascination with this 4 cylinder motor.. there's still turbo lag.. and the basic physics of the 328i are the same for any other car a relatively small 2.0 liter motor lugging around a 3400 lb large car.. means a buzzy engine that needs to rev high to get going.. around town you're always 2200-3500 rpm and more to really get going..
And as others have noted by the time you put packages on it.. approaching $50K
Why not just spend 10% more and get a much smoother more potent engine that gets ONLY 1mpg less city and 3mpg less why?

Too bad also for all the options for comfort sports and sports +.. gone are the days when you could just hop in a BMW and the steering/effort/handling were just there... having to push buttons adjust and experience light steering in one situation and a just in effort w/ speed or settings.. just feels weird overall.. even after driving the Sports line w/ variable steering and M adaptive suspension

Also I though I would like the Modern interior but the dials look very busy when sun glares on them.. and fineline wood matt finish may get old real quick..

May do as planned before and pick up E90 M sports package instead...

[pcbrew]

Originally Posted by okolisr

I am trying to decide about getting Adaptive Suspension and am confused by your comment -- maybe you could clarify. I thought that we will get the same "tighter steering & faster throttle response" in Sport and Sport+ modes with or without Adaptive Suspension. So why are you saying that you need to get Adaptive Suspension to get those features?

Also, if you liked the ride and suspension control better in the 335i (with Adaptive Suspension, I assume) why would you dial-out that option in iDrive for Sport Mode?

I preferred the "tighter steering & faster throttle response" as normal operation. Comfort was nice to have sometimes for ride compliance, but I did not like the steering feel or lazier throttle in that mode.

My point was that with adaptive suspension, you could program SPORT to be Sport steering/throttle but COMFORT chassis. So, I would have equivalent of "comfort" mode suspension if I'm driving with the family or have other folks in the car and don't want to have the stiffer suspension, or when I am on sections of road that are crappy/uneven, but retain the better steering feel & throttle that only affect me as driver. You still get the good steering feel & throttle without to much bounce, etc.

From what I understand, you can program the preset buttons as iDrive macros, not just radio presets. If so, one preset could configure SPORT as Sport steering/throttle, but comfort suspension and another could set it back to default, where it also firms up the chassis. So, no need to muck about in iDrive to get full SPORT mode or have to go to SPORT+ for chassis and drive with DSC off.

[pcbrew]

Originally Posted by pcbrew

From what I understand, you can program the preset buttons as iDrive macros, not just radio presets. If so, one preset could configure SPORT as Sport steering/throttle, but comfort suspension and another could set it back to default, where it also firms up the chassis. So, no need to muck about in iDrive to get full SPORT mode or have to go to SPORT+ for chassis and drive with DSC off.

Just read in the manual that Presets only store radio stations if you do not have Nav.