If you had driven BMW's like myself for more then a decade and had more experience behind a E9x or E46 models you might have understood what I am talking about a bit more.
Some of the main issues come from it feeling a bit more soft core specially when it comes to steering feel and feed back. The inline-4 turbo sounds a bit more crude specially at start up and at idle. It is also not as free revving and silky smooth. The noises it makes leaves a bit to be desired. Also, I find the interior plastic a bit cheaper feeling.
However, I can understand why you would prefer the F30 328i over E90 328i. The power and overall performance of the inline-4 turbo makes a compelling argument for itself. The MPG improvement is another plus with improved transmission offering of 8-speed. A lil more room in rear.
However, you have to realize all those advantages are not found in the F30 335i except for a lil more room in the rear. Other then that lil room the E9x 335is is far superior in driving dynamics and performance compared to the F F30 335i M sport.
So when I am talking I am not just talking of 328i offering but rather talking about as a whole F30 328i/335i.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elistan
Or perhaps the opposite? Going into a purchase decision with never ever having driven a BMW before in my life - I found the F30 328i to be much more exciting to drive than the E90 328i.  I drove an E90 and found it so blah that I wrote off BMW's "Ultimate Driving Machine" as just so much hype. Then I drove an F30 a year later and put a deposit down. YMMV obviously, but keep in mind that E90 owners can have just as much purchase based bias blinders as F30 owners.
(In case you're curious, this preference for the F30 over the E90 for driving dynamics comes from a guy who has autocrossed cars like an Elise, Boxster S and S2000, and has tracked vehicles like a 944, S2000 and CBR600RR. That's not an appeal to authority, it's just to give an indication of what sort of cars I enjoy. I like driving the F30 so much I'm itching to do a track day with it but that's not what I got it for so I'm keeping the temptation in check.)
(Oh, and honestly, both the E90 and F30 are so freakin' quiet anyway that while I can understand somebody's preference for an I6 over an I4 [my favorite is an air-cooled flat-6, fwiw] I don't care one whit for that preference. They're both essentially silent to me. I wish the N20 had more of that NVH so I could better feel/hear what it's doing. It needs solid motor mounts or an ETD or something. And a much louder exhaust and intake, although I know the turbo quiets those down a little bit. Or one of those sound induction tubes from the intake to the cabin. Or heck, even the fake stereo noise the M5 does.) |