[f30D]

Originally Posted by alpinweiss 335i

Congrats! Nice little garage you have there. I take it you like the color ... white?


Also if I understood correctly, you are saying the 328d may have close to a 600 mile range? If so, that would be impressive.

I'm getting 600mpg per fill and im paying less than premium gas when I fuel up.

[f30D]

Originally Posted by track_warrior

Well guys she is finally here our 2014 328d M-Sport in Alpine White. Took two months since it was a custom order but it was well worth it. The point of this thread is to share my thoughts so far on the car plus compare it to a 328i, 328d x drive wagon, 328d sport, and cars that we were cross shopping. The car is intended for my wife but since she left to see her family in the Golf and she’s not back yet I got the keys and permission from the wife to drive her 328d.


We started cross shopping between a Q5 tdi, glk 250 bluetec, 328d, and 328d xdrive wagon to replace her Boxster-S with a more spacious and fuel efficient car or small CUV. My wife first discarded the wagon because she hates wagons sadly and I kind of also helped discard it because it was only available in xdrive and I will share my thoughts later on why Im not a fan of xdrive. Then came the time to discard the glk the main reason being it was basically a jacked up wagon that drove wobbly (steering was very light and un communicative, brake feel was also horrible and rear seat space was no better than the 328d) and even with the recent face lift it feels very dated. Then came the Q5 TDI, we loved the torque on the engine but hated the fuel efficiency and also the fact that the model is probably due for an upgrade soon. The q5 felt no different than the B8 A4 my wife used to own before the Porsche and that interior is starting to look dated.

So here we are left with our only choice a 2014 328d sedan, she was not sure about getting the m-sport since she said it looked more masculine but we decided anyways to test drive a basic 328d since the dealer had no sport or m-sports in the diesel and we also asked to drive a 328i sport model and a 328i M-Sport. My dealer said that both the Sport and M-sport share suspensions so we thought they would drive the same. Well to our surprise the sport drove softer than the M-sport and the steering also felt lighter, my wife agreed and said the M-Sport was the right choice especially after she was coming from a sporty car. Engine wise the power delivery is very different from the turbo 4 to the diesel turbo 4. It seems you need to mash the gas a bit harder in the gasoline version to get it to move where as in the diesel a little push gives you a ton of torque. Under WOT the 328i does feel a bit quicker than the 328d though and keeps pulling harder the closer you are to redline where as in the diesel the best power is lower in the rev band.

The order took 2 months but while we had the diesel on order my M3 had Ac issues and I was offered a 328i loaner with 300 miles on the dash in basic trim and leatherette. I had that car for a full week and all I have to say is how important the M-sport and leather options felt in my opinion. The 328i was extremely soft, after hitting a bump the suspension would keep bouncing like if it were a grand marquis. The steering also felt soft and uncommunicative and the leatherette was so hard and uncomfortable, the interior also felt cheap the wood on the trim looked so fake that even my old ram 1500 had a better quality wood trim and the steering wheel felt cheap and hard.

Now I will explain why I dislike xdrive, first of all I live in Texas where we rarely see rain and never see snow. The second reason is that I had a chance to attend a bmw experience test drive at a track here in Texas and got to drive a 650i M-Sport and 650i M-Sport xdrive around a track. The xdrive model felt sluggish, heavy, and uncommunicative compared to the rwd model. You are talking about to equally equipped cars but one rwd and the other awd and I could not believe the amount of understeer coming from the xdrive car, you could rotate a bit the rwd model and get it to exit faster. I just wish BMW offered the wagon with rwd instead of xdrive only, its stupid because if the xdrive passes emissions the rwd should pass them easier.

Last but not least our 328d M-Sport experience so far, the car currently has around 230 miles but I will share as much as I can how I feel about the car. My first impressions are wow, bmw has built a very solid car. The suspension is balanced and the steering is sharp and communicative. Fuel economy is mind blowing as well, the first test I conducted was a 12-mile highway loop at 70-75 mph that I had tested my golf tdi about a month ago. The golf managed a respectable 45.1 mpg. Well I did the same test yesterday around the same hour at night time with the 328d and the result was impressive. The car averaged 48.8 Mpg in eco pro mode (Tests reflect results based on the lieo mpg meter) im sure this car is capable of a 550+ mile range on a tank if you are careful with the accelerator pedal.

The leather feels great compared to the leatherette on the standard car and so does the M-sport steering wheel and seats which are more comfortable and supportive than the standard cars seats. My only complaint on the car so far is the small storage cubby on the center console. Another thing that surprises me is how massive the car is, even compared to my e92 m3 and that car is wide because of the flared fenders and wide track but still the f30 feels huge compared to it and takes some time getting used to the size. If you were to ask me to close my eyes and sit my self on the car the moment you shut the door and I opened my eyes I would not be able to tell if I was sitting in a 5 series or 3 Series. I cant really talk about power on this car yet since im still in the break in stage and have been babying the car but I can feel there it feels torquey, you don’t need to step on the gas a lot to get it to move. It also feels less turbo laggy than a Audi A4 2.0Tdi wagon I rented in Europe this summer. I will keep updating the thread regarding driving experience with the 328d but so far both my wife and I love the diesel bimmer.

Side note: I thought fog lights did not come on the M-sport package but mine did come with them?

We went from this:


To this and it makes my e92 m3 look tiny. M3 is MW and F30 is AW







Full 328D pictures:



















My only complaint is the tiny centre console storage cubby:


Gauge showing 222 miles on odometer since last fill up and 375 in range remanning:

When I first got mine she did not know how much she was doing. She was telling me standard 328i mpg. I drove like 180 miles before she started counting down on my estimated mileage left. On my first 4 fills i was getting 520-530 all city driving. I left town for two weeks(my wife was driving) The mpg estimator is telling me 625 per tank. lol

by the way mine came with fog light too, it was a bonus I was not expecting.

[f30D]

how did you get paddle shifter's? I feel ripped!!!!!! Going into the dealer first thing tomorrow morning. Congrats on the new whip she looks fing great!!!

[Daas]

The second best thing about your garage is the wall mounted AC and the ceiling fans. I really need an AC like that for summer months.

[f30D]

Originally Posted by W///

Yikes, sorry to hear. I really do dread the evaporator issue.

So cool that you can go that far on one tank of gas. I think it would be awesome if they made a 320d a la 320i. No frills, just good all around DD. Totally understand about the wagon though. Most females I know think I'm an idiot for liking station wagons

So what's the story behind the E class. Seems stupidly clean and obviously well taken care of if it's got a spot in the garage? Dream setup for me right there.

I feel for you bro, I had a 12 328, took it in for a broken interior trim(black plastic) dealer chipped my wood grain trim. I ended up getting a new car.

[Disturbed]

Ordered a 328d because of your thread. Looking forward to getting it. I see they have tunes now that will bump it from the 180hp/280tq to 225hp/358tq. MPGs are supposed to get even better with the tune. I drive 35-45kmi/year. Let's see if I can keep her alive for 500,000mi.

Sold my E92 M3. I was pretty disappointed with the car. Never felt it was mind blowing. I'll be getting a replacement for it maybe mid-year 2016 when work slows down. There are a few cars I'm waiting to rather come down in price (Viper TA, MP4) or if the new GT500 Is really going to be the beast I keep hearing about (no not GT350).

[E92 M2530Z]

Originally Posted by Disturbed

Ordered a 328d because of your thread. Looking forward to getting it. I see they have tunes now that will bump it from the 180hp/280tq to 225hp/358tq. MPGs are supposed to get even better with the tune. I drive 35-45kmi/year. Let's see if I can keep her alive for 500,000mi.

Sold my E92 M3. I was pretty disappointed with the car. Never felt it was mind blowing. I'll be getting a replacement for it maybe mid-year 2016 when work slows down. There are a few cars I'm waiting to rather come down in price (Viper TA, MP4) or if the new GT500 Is really going to be the beast I keep hearing about (no not GT350).

Wow, that's the quite commute you must have. Which tune are you looking at for the N47?