I took my '14 328xiT F31 Wagon to Summit Point Raceway this last weekend for the NCC BMW CCA HPDE. I normally would take my M3 but decided I wanted to see how the Wagon would do. You can imagine the initial conversation when I met up with my instructor...
(I'm standing in front of the wagon)
Instructor (looking around): "So... Where's your car?"
Me: "I'm driving this sexy beast!"
Instructor: "A station wagon? ok... What's it got, straight 6, V8?"
Me: "4 cylinder. 2 liter."
Instructor: "Oh... Manual?"
Me: "Automatic. 8 speed."
Instructor (disgusted and confused face): "ok... Rear wheel drive?"
Me: "All-wheel, xdrive."
Instructor: "Alright, well, what kinda tires are you running, PS2s?"
Me: "Runflats."
Instructor: "My God, do you at least have track pads on?"
Me: "Actually... no, street pads"
Instructor: "Did you take the groceries out before you came here?"
Me: "I just took out the baby seat!"
Instructor: "haha, ok, well I guess you run what you brung."
So the car is bone stock except for the Dinan Stage 1 tune. The tune is set to its most conservative 91 octane setting, so it's better than the stock 87 octane tuning but nothing crazy. Neither of us knew what to expect but WOW, it's insanely good!
Now if you've never been to a BMWCCA HPDE, they have 4 classes, D, C, B, A. D being beginners and A being well experienced. I'm in IA which is Instructor Academy, training to become an instructor and they mix with A students and Instructors only on the track. So everyone out there with me is pretty good with many years of track time behind them. I've personally driven this track in my '07 M Coupe, e92 M3, and heavily modded 95 M3.
I was consistently able to pass stock e46 M3s and was able to drive toe-to-toe with track prepped(stripped, caged, and heavily modded) e36 M3s. I consistently passed a heavily modded 135is but the driver wasn't very good so I can't count that. The only cars that could pass me were e92 M3s and a Porsche 911. The e92 M3, which was driven pretty well, was only pulling away by about 3-5 seconds each lap which made me feel great!
Attached are my M Laptimer screen shots. The forum won't let me attach the actual M laptimer data so message me and I can email it to you. You can download the app and import it to your iphone.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bmw-...684370062?mt=8
My best lap was a 1:32.5. Again, this is Summit Point Main. If anyone has M Laptimer data from that course, please send me a copy so I have something to compare to! Also, note that windows are always down on the track, that's a requirement. So at 120MPH on the main straight, there's a lot of drag on everyone's car.
The Good: The car is extremely well balanced, it doesn't understeer and has enough bias to the rear that I can rotate the car when needed. The Manual mode with paddle shifters works very well - but 8 gears is A LOT to keep track of. I wish the current gear number could be displayed on the HUD along with RPMs. The sport suspension is pretty good, even on xdrive. Turbo lag is hardly noticeable in manual Sport + mode.
The Bad: Since the car is on street pads, I couldn't brake at 10/10ths because they would fade after one lap. Instead I drove between 7/10 - 9/10ths as you can see in the M laptimer data. Runflats suck. They've gotten better but they're still heavy and don't roll so I can't get that extra traction when cornering.
On the skidpad the 328xiT was a blast! Correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's setup for 60/40 rear bias on the xdrive that mechanically distributes power where needed. So I was able to hold the back out for 1/2 a lap before it would pull me in. I pushed it real hard and was able to do 100 degree slides (impossible) but it would do it and then the front tires would pull me back in line. AMAZING and so much fun. I finally figured out that I could hold a constant small angle oversteer if I drove fast on the edge of the skid pad, tons of fun!
At the end of the weekend it started to rain a bit and I was passing everything on the track. This was easily the star of the weekend. BMW should have been paying me to be there because a lot of people said they needed to look into getting one and I overheard another guy on his phone with his wife saying "... Yeah, it's a 328 wagon, it's amazing. You said wanted something practical ..." I couldn't of had more fun. In my M3, when I drive well, I feel good. But in the 4-banger wagon, when I drove as well as M3s, I felt like a freaking HERO!
This really made me realize that while driving a fast car fast is fun, driving a "slow" car fast is a hundred times more fun, especially when you're passing cars that should be faster. There was one time I was able to pass an e92 M3 driven by an instructor, granted he was driving at 8/10ths and I was driving at 11/10ths and ended up melting one of my runflats in the process. Worth it? Well, it was the most fun lap of a race track in my life, so yeah, worth it. After the session that instructor said, "I thought I was going pretty fast, but you were moving." That's about as much of a complement as you'll get out of an instructor, we're all secretly competitive
So, the F31 328 xdrive Station Wagon, best car in the world? Well, now I would certainly argue it is the best all-round car in the world. I can go to the track, sleep in the back, do very well and have lots of fun on the track, then drive home, in the snow, uphill, pick up the Newfoundland and kids, and go on vacation. It can do literally everything and it's excellent at all of it. The only thing I would change is put on some non-runflats and better brake pads.
Options:
F31 328xi Wagon
M Sport Line
Estoril Blue
Black leather
Cold Weather Package
Dynamic Handling Package
Lighting Package
Technology Package
Driver Assistant Package
Driver Assistant Plus
Premium Package
Harman Kardon Sound System
Automatic High Beams
Rear side window shades
M Sport Brakes
The wagon with snow tires/wheels:
EDIT::
I recently took the wagon back to the track. Still on the runflats but I bought some used rims and tires while I was there, one set for the M3 and the other for the Wagon. 8 wheels and tires, I just threw them in the back, no problem. Other people at the track that had to bring trucks and trailers to haul their spares and tools were looking on in envy - The wagon truly does everything.
