Quote:
Originally Posted by Ti335
+1. I consider E90 335i on par with B8 S4 in terms of being a driver's car. The F30 is not in the same league though. Compared with Audi, it feels like a bigger, softer, more luxurious automobile. Not necessarily a bad thing, as BMW is repositioning the 3-series as a Mercedes/Lexus fighter, but it's definitely not the same car dynamically as the previous generations.
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Have you driven a F30-335i M Sport with Adaptive M suspension and Variable Sport steering in Sport Mode ? If you had, I doubt you would have made the foregoing statements.
Having owned 4 different versions of E9X, I can offer some semi-objective comparison between E90-335i and F30-335i.
1. comparing steering, the E90 offers more feedback, in terms of transmitting a wider range of road imperfections to the steering wheel than the F30-335i. For long distance driving, I would consider this a benefit for the F30. The VSS in my F30-335i is more direct and faster than the E90 steering; this is especially apparent in tight turning situations.
For low speed manoeuvres, the F30 VSS is much better than the E90 steering. When I drive my wife's E93 at low speeds, it feels like both front tires are flat.
2. comparing handling, there is no significant difference between the two generations of 335i M Sport (providing the cars being compared are both equipped with staggered summer performance tires) except that the F30-335i feels more rigid, which in fact it is by about 30%. This fact has been attested to by various professional road tests of the F30-335i (see note below).
Note: the standard F30 Sportline available in Canada is being fitted with square all season tires; this is a definite downgrade that does negatively impact handling compared to the previous E90-335i with Sport package that was equipped with staggered summer performance tires.
3. comparing ride and steering response, the introduction of the Driving Experience switch gives the driver of the F30 the choice of modes. I find Comfort too soft, so I choose Sport for most of my driving, except longer highway drives, when I switch to Comfort or EcoPro to decrease fuel consumption. The F30 gives a more compliant ride, no matter what mode is chosen compared to the E90. This is partly due to the newer generation RFTs on the F30 and the new chassis.
4. comparing styling is highly subjective. But, IMO, the F30-335i M Sport is the best looking 3 Series yet.
I would not say the same thing about the non-M Sport versions of the F30. The front ends of the these versions do not look quite right to me; the central bumper area under the grills appears slightly concave and the "whiskers" add a fussy element to the overall appearance. I still prefer the front end of the E90 LCI to the non-M Sport F30.
5. comparing the F30 to the A4, I won't bother as I am a fan of RWD.