[GenXer]

Ah the G20. I'm not a fan of the next generation grille. I understand that it has active shutters which are great but it's over the top especially in the X7 (G07)
I also don't like how the grille has merged into one but with two outer chrome trim. That's why it looks bizzare in all black. I'm afraid the next gen F36 will have similar kidney grille too.

However, I do like the new interior. The center display looks more integrated instead of a TV screen in the middle of the center stack. I see they put the heated steering wheel button in front instead of hiding it next to the turn signal. All digital driver display I can do without. Mechanical gauges look more elegant and jewelry like especially in a BMW. It's all electronic anyway. There's no real connection in the back other than electronic wiring.

IMO, all digital display looks too much like a Discotech -- BTW Disco is dead
It's nowhere near as nice as the Audi Virtual Display which is fully customizable.

The exterior profile is handsome but not cutting edge like the BMW of yore. From the side view you could slap an Acura or a Buick badge and no one would know the difference.

[Gbtr6]

Originally Posted by Fuller

They could have at least lent you a maxima.

Right? Something fun.

Perry

[ColinGSeries]

The grille is hideous, and it's all down to that bezel which is about 3x as thick as it should be. It's so bad that even in black its still unbearable. Hopefully they get their shit together and put it on a much-needed diet for the LCI. Otherwise the first company to offer a grille with a thinned bezel will make A LOT of money off BMW owners.

[ColinGSeries]

Originally Posted by Nucker007

I can live with the rear, even though it looks like a Lexus, it still looks nice. But the grille is just hideous, I'm sure it'll start to grow on us a bit eventually but it's hard to imagine liking it. I'm still not sure what they were thinking here, I'd bet good money that the LCI will have a much better grille.

According to BMW, for the 7-Series at least they were responding to their customer base wanting MoAr GRiLlE.

In short, this is what happens when you design by committee.

[stein_325i]

Originally Posted by ColinGSeries

According to BMW, for the 7-Series at least they were responding to their customer base wanting MoAr GRiLlE.

In short, this is what happens when you design by committee.

I mean, while the grill is hideous, they are right in their statistics that the chinese and Americans (not enthusiasts) love big grills. Shockingly I've seen more and more LCI 7ers in the short time period its been on sale, than regular 7ers. Or maybe the big grill just catches my attention more?

[Savageenterprise]

Originally Posted by ColinGSeries

According to BMW, for the 7-Series at least they were responding to their customer base wanting MoAr GRiLlE.

In short, this is what happens when you design by committee.

Originally Posted by joshuastein55

I mean, while the grill is hideous, they are right in their statistics that the chinese and Americans (not enthusiasts) love big grills. Shockingly I've seen more and more LCI 7ers in the short time period its been on sale, than regular 7ers. Or maybe the big grill just catches my attention more?

I saw a new 7 the other day and it looks like the grill is eating the car lol.

[Bongoxxx]

I had a G20 330 as a loaner last weekend.

Many of the same comments as others, not a fan of the front end styling, the oversized grill in particular. I wasn’t a fan of the seating position and found the view over the hood to be much worse than the F30. The interior materials seemed to feel and look cheaper than the F30, but the overall ergonomics to be a bit better.

Didn’t like the feel of how it drove either - in sport mode the shifts were harsh and the engine note I would call more “noise” than anything else under hard acceleration.

I’m glad I pulled the trigger on my F30 earlier this year instead of waiting for the G20.

[Psi5]

Originally Posted by joshuastein55

If you think G20 is bad, just wait for the G22 4 series grill, its gonna be big and tall!!

The the absence of a manual on the new 4 and the giant grill on the G20 are among the factors that led me to order a new 2020 F32 (the manual mostly).

Drove a M340 G20 and a 440 mSport F32 back-to back and there were numerous differences. Besides the MT, I liked the interior, dashboard, and controls of the F32 better. And they're offering great deals.

[jmg]

I drove a loaner for two weeks. Here's my take:

https://g20.bimmerpost.com/forums/ne...ply&p=25173001

Originally Posted by jmg

Rarely is a few days enough to really get to know a car. First impressions need to wear out especially if given one as a loaner as opposed to spending your own hard earned cash to own one. This was a good opportunity to judge the G20 without confirmation bias getting in the way.

Background: I've owned 2 F30's (328i, 340i) and 2 F80's (M3, M3 CS). My current commuter is an i3, the role which this 330i fulfilled in its place. I have an M3 CS as a weekend/track car.

First impression: The car is slow, I don't like the digital cluster, the buttons all feel a little more cheap than the F30/F80 and I have doubts about the ZF8.

Lasting impression after 2 weeks:

"The car is slow" - well, it's NOT slow. The low end is peppy, and the handling seems to be improved. I took the liberty of going up Mulholland Drive on the way home from work and I find that the 330i is much more fun to drive than my former 328i. With DSC in dynamic it allowed for a bit more slip and slip=fun. I was able to oversteer with predictability with the nannies being overly intrusive. Predicably, the high end is not on par with the 340i and not even in the same universe as the F80, but that is to be expected. The car is more than capable of overtaking and spirited driving. I was thisclose to taking the 330i to the autocross I attended instead of the M3 CS just to see how it would really handle... but I don't think BMW would have appreciated it.

"I don't like the digital cluster" - I still don't. I think the M340 and the M5C have a much better display and even those aren't mind lovingly spectacular. I'm not sure why something software related like graphics has to be downgraded for this model. Dynamic and attractive interfaces should be standard, not a luxury. This is still a BMW after all.

"The buttons feel a little more cheap" - Unchanged. All the buttons on the center console have been flattened in what is probably a cost cutting measure. I miss the old raised individual buttons on the F30/F80. The new flat center console required to have to look down to see what button I was pressing. I thought this problem would disappear once I drove the car for awhile, but it didn't. The single piece 8 memory buttons was especially cheap feeling. This is not what I expect from a $40k+ bimmer.

"I have doubts about the ZF8" - this is much improved over the F30. Shifts were crisp. I liked the auto brake feature that made it feel almost like the DCT in the F80. I prefer this ZF8 over the F30's, but the DCT is still the superior transmission. I never liked how BMW configured going from auto to manual. In fact, tapping to the right in the DCT placed it in manual while in the ZF8 it is tapping to the left. Somewhat confusing especially since I was still driving my F80 on the weekends. I also don't like how the ZF8 goes back into automatic mode when you don't shift. In the DCT it automatically goes into manual mode when you shift manually and it stays there. Also, I find the park button in an awkward position on the bottom of the shifter. And please for the love of god why can't it remember that I want autostart off!!!

Quibbles:

-The door compartment cupholder hits my leg. This is because they eliminated the door pull.
-Why did they eliminate the door pull? Closing the door is slightly more awkward now because the new door pull is so low.
-Ambient lighting should be standard. Let's get with the times.
-The 12V socket under the glove box is gone. Now I have to look at this ugly wire for my phone. No, I don't want to use wireless charging because it's slow and I need to see my phone even when using apple carplay. Waze displays the turn by turn on the phone and the map on the idrive. It's perfect so long as I can see my phone.
-The iDrive screen is slightly too low. I liked how high it was on the F30 because it was easy to keep an eye on the road while using.
-Active Sound Design was too aggressive and I knew it was fake so it wasn't very satisfying. Just give it a decent engine note and pipe it in, bmw. Lose ASD. Please.
-Seats aren't bolstered enough. Maybe I'm too used to the F80, but I find bolstered seats more comfortable. I also find the i3 seats to be more comfortable but I'm not sure why because there is no bolstering at all on the i3. I think it's the way the seatback is contoured on the 330i.

More good things:

I have a lot of quibbles because there wasn't anything huge to complain about. The car served me well. I could see myself driving it to work happily. It didn't have adaptive cruise, which is a must for me, so I would option it if I were in the market to get a G20. I'd get seats with adjustable lumbar, and ambient lighting to make the driving experience much nicer.

[taranfx]

My g20 thoughts:
Quieter, more comfortable, sportier (flatter on corners) than F3x with standard suspension. With adaptive suspension, difference isnt that much.
ASD sounds better IMO, although engine is lot quieter at idle OR even high revs. Tech is A+ too.
Overall its a great upgrade if anyone is considering it.

[k4sh_90]

I had a G20 loaner last week (330i, but M Sport appearance package). It's nice, new car smell and all. I too thought the automatic shifting was janky as well, however I didn't try it out in manual mode. Pick up was nice, suspension felt great. I couldn't wrap my head around the styling. The grille is doing too much, and the headlights. I missed the eyes in the headlights. The G20 just has eyelids.

Tech was abundant in the vehicle though. The big screen with Apple CarPlay was nice (I actually ended up coding Carplay into my 340i later that day). And the digital cluster was also pretty, but I didn't find it actually useful over the standard gauges. The backwards tach is low hanging fruit. But it was the center of the cluster that confused me the most. There's a map in the middle, but it's all muted out and there's not street names on it. You just see your vehicle on a line, but no other information. I don't know if I missed a setting that could perhaps brighten it up and put names on the roads, but in it's current state, it didn't make sense to me.

I like the modern take, but it really looks like I'll be sticking with my F30.

[midnight_0024]

The exterior is where it gets me. It looks too curvy. The interior is on another level. It look very cool. Overall not a big fan, but the interior is cool.