As an owner of an F30 328i, I do agree with the medium revs, medium throttle uninspired drone. Although to be fair, I very rarely find myself in that situation. Because peak torque is in at 1200rpm and hangs about 'till 4800rpm, it needs diesel like revs to move it. With the 8AT in D and the driving mode in Comfort, climbing to motorway speeds doesn't really see it go past 2300/2500rpm and this remains much the same in daily driving. This engine speed means it's still damn near silent. The only points where this situation occurs is in overtaking as the transmission smoothly drops a few cogs and has the revs around 3000-5000. Or, like in Scotland a few weeks ago, on back roads where you're not sure if something is coming the other way. Mind you, those roads were so good it was booted good style in Sport and DS and oh yeah, that sounds good!
BUT, does it sound as good as the 330d? My 330d. My E90 LCI 245ps unit.
No, it doesn't.
I love my 28i to bits, but if I could've, I would've gone for the 30d again in the F30 and I think this is the most logical and actually best choice if you're in that market. For those few that don't know why I didn't get the 330d, it wasn't on the market in time as I ordered in March for May production.
Economy is remaining around the 38-41mpg (UK) mark which is okay, but I wanted something more like 41-44mpg.
F30 328i 8AT WOT sound
E90 LCI 330d 6MT WOT sound