[Bungle009]

I currently have an e90 330d m-sport (LCI), and the car has recently been into the dealers and had the opportunity to try both an F30 320d, and a 328i.

The 320d was the 180 bhp version, and was truly awful. It was a very basic spec, was a manual, it was noisy, slow, and generally unpleasant.

This morning I was handed the keys to a 328i and i was very pleasantly suprised. The spec was much better, which may play a part (NAV, Mem Seats, Leather, Parking/Reverse Camera etc. Etc.) however the quality of the drive was miles better.

It was a nice car to drive, the engine, whilst not having the colossal wall of torque that the 330d can call upon, still felt willing & strong, the 8 speed auto was very well implemented, the car cruised well, felt good in the corners (lighter at the front ?) and was very economical. The computer indicated 48 MPG after 10 miles at a steady 70, and 42 mpg at a steady 80.

My only real criticisms are, that having had a succession of 6 & 8 cylinder cars, the soundtrack was not as pleasing, however it was perfectly acceptable, and the steering felt a little light and artificial.

Generally the space in the rear looks a bit better than my car, and I would seriously consider a 328i when the time comes to move on from the 330d.

[shrink]

thanks for this... the 328i is the one that appeals to me for when i replace my current E90. I suspect by the time i come to buy a brand new car, my current choice of a jaguar XF 2.2 sport will just be looking a bit too old!

A good F30 might be just the ticket. That said, with every BMW i own, i get a little more narked off that they still have so many little issues, noisy air con, oil use on 6 cylinder engines, bad ride on run flats etc etc. So i may be looking for any excuse to move to a new brand

[Sandwich_Dan]

Regarding the engine note, I've moved from a 335i to a Golf GTD - I just use the stereo a lot more now.

As far as finding an excuse to move away from BMW goes, I can supply many after the experience I had with my 335i, the dealer that sold it to me and BMW customer services. Even forgetting all of that, if you can get over the stigma of apparently downgrading (most people don't realise that my brand new GTD cost significantly more than I paid for the 3 year old 335i) you'll find there are a lot of cars out there that could easily replace a 3 series, especially if you open up your mind a bit - I considered all sorts of things including the obvious competitors like a C-class or A4 to the slightly less so like the XC60, GS450h and Guilietta. In the end the Golf rides better, has more toys, feels just as well made and is actually more fun to throw around a corner even though it's FWD (I had an MX-5 and an RX-8 before the 335i so I've already had far more appropriate sideways machinery to get it out of my system).

[alzieboy]

Originally Posted by Sandwich_Dan

Regarding the engine note, I've moved from a 335i to a Golf GTD - I just use the stereo a lot more now.

As far as finding an excuse to move away from BMW goes, I can supply many after the experience I had with my 335i, the dealer that sold it to me and BMW customer services. Even forgetting all of that, if you can get over the stigma of apparently downgrading (most people don't realise that my brand new GTD cost significantly more than I paid for the 3 year old 335i) you'll find there are a lot of cars out there that could easily replace a 3 series, especially if you open up your mind a bit - I considered all sorts of things including the obvious competitors like a C-class or A4 to the slightly less so like the XC60, GS450h and Guilietta. In the end the Golf rides better, has more toys, feels just as well made and is actually more fun to throw around a corner even though it's FWD (I had an MX-5 and an RX-8 before the 335i so I've already had far more appropriate sideways machinery to get it out of my system).

[225_AB]

Log on to any marque car forum and you will see lots of people complaining about niggles with their car. Not many people post that their car is trouble free. They might post how much fun it is etc. if you don't want a BMW fair enough but you are just as likely (or not) to have issues with other marques.

I could post that my 330d doesn't have noisy air con, uses hardly any oil but does have a crap ride on RFT so I changed to non RFT's.

[webwysard]

[webwysard]

Originally Posted by doc_ab

Log on to any marque car forum and you will see lots of people complaining about niggles with their car. Not many people post that their car is trouble free. They might post how much fun it is etc. if you don't want a BMW fair enough but you are just as likely (or not) to have issues with other marques.

I could post that my 330d doesn't have noisy air con, uses hardly any oil but does have a crap ride on RFT so I changed to non RFT's.

[webwysard]

Originally Posted by Sandwich_Dan

In the end the Golf rides better, has more toys, feels just as well made and is actually more fun to throw around a corner even though it's FWD

You must be havin a laugh ? right.

[wezzie]

Originally Posted by Sandwich_Dan

Regarding the engine note, I've moved from a 335i to a Golf GTD - I just use the stereo a lot more now.

As far as finding an excuse to move away from BMW goes, I can supply many after the experience I had with my 335i, the dealer that sold it to me and BMW customer services. Even forgetting all of that, if you can get over the stigma of apparently downgrading (most people don't realise that my brand new GTD cost significantly more than I paid for the 3 year old 335i) you'll find there are a lot of cars out there that could easily replace a 3 series, especially if you open up your mind a bit - I considered all sorts of things including the obvious competitors like a C-class or A4 to the slightly less so like the XC60, GS450h and Guilietta. In the end the Golf rides better, has more toys, feels just as well made and is actually more fun to throw around a corner even though it's FWD (I had an MX-5 and an RX-8 before the 335i so I've already had far more appropriate sideways machinery to get it out of my system).

Hi my lastcar was a 335d,also had the m3s and audis. Ive had a c class 350 sport for the last 3 months,it seems to fit your likes nice ride lots of toys.i would like to know have you tried one and what your thoughts are/were?

[Sandwich_Dan]

Originally Posted by wezzie

Hi my lastcar was a 335d,also had the m3s and audis. Ive had a c class 350 sport for the last 3 months,it seems to fit your likes nice ride lots of toys.i would like to know have you tried one and what your thoughts are/were?

I intitially considered the 350 but I soon decided that this time I'd drop back to something with "adequate" performance rather that try to chase the 335i, so then I was seriously considering a used C250 CDI Sport. As you say, a nice ride and lots of toys. The 250 CDI engine was impressive too. Only a combination of my specific requirements and circumstances swayed me away from it - first was that I was adamant that it had to have a proper iPod connection, which meant going post-facelift and that put the price above what I was willing to pay for a used car, and the other was that was already leaning towards a brand new car as I had so many problems with the 335i that I wanted the peace of mind that goes with knowing it's been treated properly since day one.

[Sandwich_Dan]

Originally Posted by webwysard

You must be havin a laugh ? right.

Nope, I'm serious.

Assuming you're referring to my comment about cornering. If both cars are driven within their limits, which you'll do on the road almost all the time, the Golf is genuinely more fun on a twisty road. It's lighter and feels more willing to change direction. Its suspension actually works with the road rather than just trying to steamroller it. The gearbox is nicer to use. I could go on, but ultimately it all adds up to the Golf being more fun on normal roads. People may have different priorities to me but like I said, I've done the sideways thing with more suitable machinery and I've decided I don't need to have that option available anymore.

[Nick the Greek]

Just ordered a 328i MSport to replace the 2 year old 330d. Arrives September.

[gIzzE]

Originally Posted by Sandwich_Dan

Nope, I'm serious.

Assuming you're referring to my comment about cornering. If both cars are driven within their limits, which you'll do on the road almost all the time, the Golf is genuinely more fun on a twisty road. It's lighter and feels more willing to change direction. Its suspension actually works with the road rather than just trying to steamroller it. The gearbox is nicer to use. I could go on, but ultimately it all adds up to the Golf being more fun on normal roads. People may have different priorities to me but like I said, I've done the sideways thing with more suitable machinery and I've decided I don't need to have that option available anymore.

I sort of agree, BMWs work well in Europe on their much smoother roads, over here the extra firm suspension and run flat tyres doesn't bite into the corners enough, the back end skips across them.
Our X1 actually handled far better than our 335i sport or 320d sport, I could do a local strecth of road I know very well far quicker in the X1 than the 3 series.
Softer suspension and real tyres.

I reckon my E350cdi would keep up with a standard 330d on the twisties on typical UK roads. Get a really smooth road and the 3 series would pull away though.

[gIzzE]

328i Touring I will try out however, it looks like it could be a cracking combo, with the right set up.
Just a shame it is 40 odd thousand.
Think I will wait till they are on AUC at 3 months old and £26k.