F30 328i rental review

[12,000 RPM]

Auto base 328i. Is (was?) on the next car list. Initial thoughts

^ = positive, - = neutral, v = negative

^   Engine sounds better than expected. No Active Sound bullshit I don't think. Doesn't quite sound like a 4 banger. Wish it was a little louder
^   Engine has good pull. Doesn't feel much weaker than the E90 335xi I drove. Easily on the level of the Z.
^   IDrive works great, pretty much just like Mazda system with no touch screen.
-   Definitely a little turbo lag.... Peak torque does not come on anywhere near 2000 RPM or whatever. Prob regular 3 or so. When it hits it hits hard though. Just have to keep it on the boil or in sport mode
-   Auto stop between lights is not too bad, but not too great either.
-   Interior bigger than E90, but not by much. Definitely wider and the dash is deeper.
-   Very refined. Nice and quiet on the highway
v   Chassis seems inert so far which I'm a little shocked about. It's the luxury trim I think but still. Went over some kind of road undulation at speed and got a floaty sensation. Definitely don't get the hunkered down planted feel I'd expect from a "driver's car"... can definitely see why people were disappointed. Regular E90 335xi I drove and definitely the E60 535i w/sport package I drove felt waaayyyyyy more dialed in. This almost doesn't feel like a BMW.
v   Something about the driver's seat upper cushion contour feels weird. Maybe I slouch too much. Not enough lumbar support
v    No steering feel whatsoever though the weight is OK
v    Feels bigger than it is... very weird

Have to figure out how to check fuel economy.... so far, not disappointed, just confused. It's good at everything except what I think of when I think BMW

More impressions to come

[MX793]

Pretty sure all turbo bimmers have the sound symposer coming through the speakers these days.

[2o6]

IDK man, non Sport trim E90's are also pretty smooth. 


Also steering feels light, but I don't know if I'd agree with "no feel whatsoever". That makes it sound like a Toyota Corolla. Those balloon tires aren't helping.



Secondly, that 8AT has a very low 1st gear, and it's reluctant to change and be in the right place sometimes.

[Eye of the Tiger]

yeah but are the paddle shifters on the wheel or column

[CALL_911]

Yeah, I way prefer the steering on my dad's E60 (and my GTI). The engine is fantastic, though. Absolutely shits on my car's 2.0T.

[12,000 RPM]

IDK man, non Sport trim E90's are also pretty smooth. 

Also steering feels light, but I don't know if I'd agree with "no feel whatsoever". That makes it sound like a Toyota Corolla. Those balloon tires aren't helping.

Secondly, that 8AT has a very low 1st gear, and it's reluctant to change and be in the right place sometimes.

Its possible my Civic has completely thrown my suspension feel calibration

Most of the time it's mostly buttoned down, but it doesn't feel much tighter if at all than the Accord/Golf/3 I drove earlier. ITs def closer to those than the Civic, which is probably fair and more my problem than the car

That lag may have been Comfort mode + slow kickdown. I will play with it in manual mode

[SJ_GTI]

FWIW I agree with your suspension comments. I drove one (and a 228i) back to back with an S3 and thought the S3 was more more fun to drive.

Engine was OK but matched to a slushbox it felt more sluggish than the unit in the S3 with its DSG.

It would have been nice to drive one with a manual and the sport suspension to get a more apples to apples comparison but that was all that was available.

[12,000 RPM]

I will try one with a sport suspension when I get back home. I think I'm starting to get a little disappointed though. It's just not there dynamically. It's not terrible, but back to back with that E60 535i, which was exactly what I thought/hoped a BMW sedan would drive like, it's a little bit of a letdown. Outside of that it's excellent though, but then so are a lot of cars. The more I drive it the more I'm leaning towards a GTI... no way will I fuck with a 7-8 year old BMW

Figured out how to do the voice commands so I'll see how well that works tomorrow. IDrive is a PITA to enter destinations with

[CaminoRacer]

Lumbar support should be adjustable. E46s had a 4 way button pad to adjust it.

[12,000 RPM]

More thoughts.....

Found some places to push a little bit. Definitely squishy! Feels like the springs/shocks are OK, but the subframe & control arm bushings are made out of chewing gum. Whole car squirms with any kind of deflection under load.... more so than any recent rental I've had barring maybe the Cactus. Pushed the engine in manual mode.... transmission is pretty snappy.... I was impressed. Engine has convincing pull too. Car just seems happier in comfort mode though

Voice commands work OK but not quite great. I searched for a Kroger and it gave me one in Ohio Bluetooth pairing was a little wonky as well.... it recognized my phone and connected, and said it was playing music, but no sound. Had to re-pair it for music to play. Speaking of the stereo, not bad. It got close to 25Hz for sure, though it was a little scratchy up top.

Kind of disappointed with the features though. This has to be a $40K car. No rear view camera? No heated seats? It's not much better equipped than that Focus wagon I had in France, which probably cost 50-60% of the price. Interior build quality is probably on par with a VW as well. For the money I'm thinking a TLX V6 would be a way better buy, and I'm feeling like a mainstreamer with the same power would not be much less satisfying to own. Such a weird car

[Vinsanity]

For the money I'm thinking a TLX V6 would be a way better buy,

Have you driven one yet? Somehow I'm still curious about that ZF 9-speed for some reason

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[12,000 RPM]

Naw and if I went the TLX route I'd probably get the 4. I'm still curious about the 200 V6

[Laconian]

TLX is like at the bottom of the reliability pile?

[68_427]

TLX is like at the bottom of the reliability pile?

Owner satisfaction

[12,000 RPM]

TLX is like at the bottom of the reliability pile?

I think that's just boomer infotainment frustration. Mechanicals are out of the dead reliable Accord

[2o6]

I think that's just boomer infotainment frustration. Mechanicals are out of the dead reliable Accord

That 9AT is not good.

[Eye of the Tiger]

That 9AT is not good.

Not good at all. Almost CVT bad.

[2o6]

Not good at all. Almost CVT bad.

I meant as far as longevity. Those 9AT cars have issues

[Eye of the Tiger]

I meant as far as longevity. Those 9AT cars have issues

I mean that, too.

[Raza]

I meant as far as longevity. Those 9AT cars have issues

Honda still can't build a transmission?

[Eye of the Tiger]

Honda still can't build a transmission?

I believe it is built by ZF - the same transmission is also found in Chrysler products.

[GoCougs]

The 9AT in the new Pilot is similarly getting awful reviews.

Jesus, there's no excuse for it.

[12,000 RPM]

I swear I must have spent 30-45 minutes today pairing and re-pairing the Bluetooth to my phone

What a disaster. I have a $15 BT dongle that fires up every time, what is BMW doing. Idrive is not getting better either. How is Mazda able to get it right for 1/2 the price? Complete dealbreaker.

[2o6]

I never had a problem with any of the F30's I've driven.

[12,000 RPM]

Well I did

[Xer0]

Honda has a 10 speed which is an all in house design debuting in the new Odyssey, hopefully it won't be terrible.  Having driven the V6 TLX, I can confirm that the automatic is the worst part of the car and pretty annoying.  The rest of it is 80/85% to a great car.

[12,000 RPM]

4 banger in the Accord was probably its best dynamic attribute, so I imagine the TLX 4 banger + DCT would be pretty good. Though if people are bitching about the infotainment, which does appear to be a mess,  that could be a damn deal breaker too

4 bangers have come a long fucking way in just like 10 years though, Jesus Christ. Accord got the same gas mileage as Civic with like 30% more power/torque, 3er is probably doing about the same (on premium tho) with 2x power/torque.

[ifcar]

4 banger in the Accord was probably its best dynamic attribute, so I imagine the TLX 4 banger + DCT would be pretty good. Though if people are bitching about the infotainment, which does appear to be a mess,  that could be a damn deal breaker too

It's fortunately not as bad as the Accord's.

[12,000 RPM]

OK, so we are out tomorrow, returning it in the morning. But I think I have formulated my final thoughts.

Final pros:
- Powertrain + transmission are awesome. Modern 4 bangers are good, ZF8 is great for an auto
- Good car in general sense. Roomy, comfortable, decent build quality (though for a like 30-40K car, not a 60-80K one)

Final cons:
- IDrive is better but still finicky AF. May need more time to learn wheel gestures and voice control. Finally got BT working though.
- Def doesn't have even a hint of that BMW magic dynamically. Anodyne and soft with confidence sapping wiggles as you approach the limit

Overall conclusion:

Good as a general car, but in this config not worth premium over something like a V6 Accord at all. Def an eye opener for me personally as well. I think I can live without stickshift.... that 535i had a 6AT and was awesome. But I def can't do something soft + isolated. I wanna try one of these with the sport package... could be a good fit. A little disappointed though. But I'm glad I got to spend the time with it

[12,000 RPM]

The following are options in this car:

- Power seats
- Sunroof!
- Keyless entry!!!!
- Bluetooth!!!!
- USB port!!

For serious? I was thinking this was like a $37K car, this thing might be knocking on $45K-50!!!!!! No way. For real BMW?