[spekesel]

Hi All,

I'm over here in NL and last Friday took delivery of my new 320i Efficient Dynamics Sport Line and after 1500km, feel ready to give a initial review. This may or may not be interesting to most of the US blokes/sheilas, but you can't please everyone.

First, the tech details. It's not a 2 litre 4 cyl but a 1.6 (N13), the same as in the 1 series (114/116/118i) and at the same state of tune as the 118i as well, 170hp and 250nm. The reason I picked it is due to its low emissions. See, here in NL, company car tax is based on the co2 output and this model sits right in the sweet spot so I pay less tax. Awesome.

So, it's down 14hp on the regular 320i and honestly, I can't see it making a big difference, 0-100km in 7.6 vs 7.3 and top speed of 230km/h vs 235km/h.

Other things to note is that the chassis is by default 10cm lower and you have the 16inch aero/poverty wheels. I can live with that.

You also cannot get it with the m-sport suspension, though the adaptive is an option (which I didn't take, so I have the bog standard suspension)

Otherwise, I pretty much ticked all the boxes,

S216A *HYDRO STEERING-SERVOTRONIC
S249A *Multifunction f steering wheel
S258A *Tyres with runflat properties
S320A *Deleted, model lettering
S322A *Comfort access
S3BEA *SPIEGELKAPPEN SCHWARZ
S403A *Glass roof, electrical
S420A *Sun protection glazing
S431A *Interior mirror with automatic-dip
S481A *Sports seat
S493A *Storage compartment package
S494A *Seat heating driver/passenger
S497A *Centre armrest, rear
S4ADA *Interior trim strips, brushed aluminium
S4AEA *Armrest front, retractable
S4DLA *Accent strips, black, high-polish
S502A *Headlight cleaning system
S507A *Park Distance Control (PDC), rear
S520A *Fog lights
S521A *Rain sensor
S522A *Xenon Light
S534A *Automatic air conditioning
S544A *Cruise control with brake function
S563A *Light package
S575A *Additional 12V sockets
S5DAA *Passenger airbag deactivation
Code *Description (EPC)
S5DCA *Rear-seat headrests, folding
S609A *Navigation system Professional
S688A *HARMAN/KARDON SURROUND SOUND SYSTEM
S698A *Area-Code 2 for DVD
S6ACA *Intelligent emergency call
S6AEA *TELESERVICES
S6AKA *Connected Drive Services
S6APA *Remote Services
S6ARA *Internet
S6NRA *Apps
S6NSA *Comfort telephony w/ enhanced Smartphone
S6WAA *Instrument panel with extended scope
S710A *M leather steering wheel
S775A *Headlining anthracite
P7ACA *Sport Line

So first I'll get into driving it but first some background. My last car was a 2005 Z4 3.0i, E85 then before that a 320i E90 and briefly a 118d E87, so I am not new to the brand. I also like to think I like to drive in a spirited fashion, though in NL that can be difficult (too much traffic, no curves/hills), but still, that's what the rest of europe is for (I drove my Z4 through the Swiss Alps down to Italy).

Anyways, driving. Honestly, it's great. Sure the steering isn't as communicative as my old E90, but it's very precise. Also there is no vibration and for fun I measured the interior noise while driving 100km/h at 70db. It's rather quiet. No roar from the tyres either. The 16inch wheels actually have quite a bit of grip too. All in all, very competent. For a daily driver it's brilliant. Also the seats are damn comfy. Still need to take it on a proper trip to the autobahn, but that is on for this weekend, so I can report back more on that later.

I also got a few extras from the dealer as I brought in one of my coworkers who was also up for a new car to order one at the same time as me. I grabbed the M pedals, all weather mats (sport ones naturally) and a key case. The pedals look especially good, as do the mats (must take a pic).

As for the rest, the HK sound system is very decent. I'm more into Hard Rock/Metal with some technoy stuff (think Prodigy) and for my tastes, after some tweaking to the EQ, it sounds perfect (drop that 100hz down a decent amount and it's perfect).

The NBT nav is also great, nice and responsive. Zooms in and out like a champ, it knows everything and everywhere I want to go, can't complain there, but it makes sense, BMW is a bit more Euro-centric.

Voice commands work way better than I expected as well. I can pretty much use any of them and it recognizes what I say, for example *press button* "Multimedia" ... "Music Collection" ... "Playlists" ... "Everything" (the name of a playlist I made) and it just works.

Phone calls work fine as expected, nothing really to say there.

Connected Drive also works fine. I have Deezer for music streaming, works a treat. I wanted Spotify to work but I guess we'll have to wait. Internet works fine, youtube/flash doesn't work sadly even though according to the pdf I read about the NBT, it does support it. Probably disabled so we don't drive up the data costs on the SIM.

All the BMW Online stuff works fine, weather, news, all that jazz and it worked while I was in Belgium last weekend as well, so the "Euro wide coverage" is no joke.

Other things I've played around is sending routes to the car, both via google maps and via the bmw routes site, as well as importing them in via BMW Online.

From a techy/geeking out point of view, the car is awesome. Being at the office and preconditioning it before I step out the door to the elevator is awesome. GPS position of the car too.

Then there is the extra space. As I live in NL (Holland, the Netherlands if you will), quite a few of my mates/coworkers are tall. I mean, 6foor 4inches is normal over here, people fit nicely in the back, no complaints. Now my car is the "go to car" for lunch breaks. Good I guess.

That's pretty much all I have to say. It's the complete package. It's sporty when you want it to be, it's relaxing and comfortable when you need it to be (damn those leather sports seats are comfy) and has all the techy gear to make my inner nerd swoon (I am a IT bloke, so it tickles me how technically advanced this car is. My ENET cable is already ordered).

I cannot be happier. I even like the colour.

Cheers everyone

[300hp]

I am in England right now and given the average car on the road is maybe a 1.5l, I think my 335i is an overkill here. Nothing wrong with lower levels of displacement in my view and the 320i seems way above average IMO. Being here for a week obviously does not make me any sort of expert in all things British of course, lol so I stand to be corrected.

You said you are in NL so the situation may be different there but I assume its close.

One observation I am making is given the small nature of cars here the 1 series, X1 and X3 look great on the road. In the states the latter two are ok but not as great as they do here. I want to see if I can test drive a 330d tomorrow for the fun of it.

Congrats on the new car btw, looks great.

[spekesel]

Yeah it's the same in NL. Small cars rule over here. When I had my Z4 most of my coworkers balked at the idea of a 3 litre straight 6. Even my wifes car is a Skoda Fabia stationwagon with a 1.2 TSI 86hp engine. She loves it.

Mind you, I come from Australia, land of the V8s, so it was a culture shock coming here and driving the tiny engined cars. Not that it really matters because 95% of the time I drive from my home to the office, 23km each way, 90% of that on a 5 lane freeway. Not exactly taxing on any car. For the Dutchies on the board, from near Utrecht to Amsterdam Amstel.

Plus the lower power means you got to work it just a bit more and it's very rewarding when you can keep your speed when handling through some turns. More exciting too.

[MB330]

spekesel,
is this 16" or 17" rims?

This is my daughter 180HP 2013 320i

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by MB330

spekesel,
is this 16" or 17" rims?

This is my daughter 180HP 2013 320i

Full fat EfficientDynamics models in UK (Europe) have 16" rims, 205/60 R16 tires on Streamline style 306 (7Jx16). So just as the OP's car. They run at amazing pressure of 2.7 bar Front & 2.9 bar Rear, all conditions. Makes for an interesting ride quality. Example I had for 3-days last week was the 320d ED model. Running Michelin energy saver non run-flats, but with the high pressures felt every bit as if the car was on a poor combination of run-flats.

HighlandPete

[spekesel]

Just as the bloke above said. I actually find it rather comfy, but then again, the roads in NL are rather good.

[MB330]

Hmm interesting.
Thanks guys! Learn something new today.

[spekesel]

Alrighty, digging up a old thread (sorry about that) to give my current view on the 320i ED model.

All told, can't complain. The engine is powerful enough (170hp gets her moving nicely around here) and I've taken it on multiple trips (From NL to Tuscany, NL to Munich and in two weeks to Prague) and I've had no problems going 220km/h+ on the autobahn through Germany. Comfy, rides well, all the modcons you'd want/need (I love the HK soundsystem).

So, just thought I'd mention that. Oh, up to 25,000km on the odo as well, no issues so far (touch wood).

[BMWbill]

Very nice thread but what I find most fascinating of all is that in the Netherlands, you guys park on the grass next to the sidewalks instead of on the street!

[pootytang]

Ugh, those 16" wheels are smaller than the Focus wheels next to it. Sorry to be superficial, but gotta run *at least* 18" wheels on these cars

[Tommy_hf]

Umm yes, the 16 inch wheels are VERY small. i run them as winter rims with 225/55r16 snow tires , just did the summer tire swaps today :-)

Dramatic difference :-)



Needs to settle a bit after having it jacked up, but seriously considering getting ac-schnitzer springs to lower it another 14 mm.



I played a bit with the M laptimer and 0-100 km/h is there with about 7,5 secs, not too bad for a economy car with 8 speed auto tranny, which averages almost 17 km per litre of unleaded fuel, on my commute runs I get about 18-19 km per litre including traffic jams, highway and some city driving as well.