[newoldbeemer]

FWIW: I loved this car when I test drove it!

I started out with a 30k budget for a brand new car with accord v6, GTI and Subaru legacy 3.6R in mind. After test drives, none of those cars gave the bmw feel. Legacy came closest, it had a great feel of its own, truly handles well.

Then test drove the 320i with sport package and almost put down the cash. Then fidgeted a lot between this and the base 328i. Drove them back to back and finally decided I wante the extra power in the 328i, even if that blew my budget away.

Then came back home and wished I had the sport package! If I'd gone for the 320i with sport package, if have had that. But then, I don't know if I'd have wished for 328i power then.. Haha

So IMHO it's a close call between base 328i and sports-package-equipped 320i. Both are GREAT cars and are superior to the fully-loaded Accord v6es of the world. Just my opinion.

Of course if you can afford it, 328i with sport is still better than both.