[BMCoupe_782]

I came from a highly modded Sti - and I can tell you the power difference is noticeable. But, I love the 328xi's handling, comfort, and balance of sport and luxury. It also is a nice looking car. An all round solid daily drive. It also feels like a tank with the AWD. I like that solid feeling - very confidence inspiring in all sorts of weather.

the stock 230 hp is not awe inspiring - but it does the job. The car feels peppy to me and with various aftermarket additions (exhaust, intake, BMS Powerbox) you can get the horses up a bit more ...freeing the NA engine and increasing throttle response.

There is some noticeable body roll round the twisties - but nothing that a solid set of coilovers won't be able to take care of. With some work ...you can really make this a very fun yet practical ride. One thing I regret is not going with the sports package ..at the time of ordering I didn't realize that the xi had a seperate suspension and that zsp meant the addition of seats, steering wheel etc. So, make sure you get it.

[Pongdadong]

Coming from a guy who has owned three EVO's I would say 328xi for daily driving.

I've owned a
(2) 03' EVO VIII
(1) 06' EVO IX SE

328xi lacks the speed but who really cares

[Kroy]

if similarly price and performance isn't a primary concern i'd pick 328. but i'd heavily consider getting a zsp 328i instead of a 328ix.

evo will perform better both in the straights and twisties but 328 just looks so much better. if you want the car for DD, i think 328 is one of the best daily driving cars on the market. ever. i can even argue in some aspects it's a better DD than my 335i (better mpg for one).

[woodpecka]

zsp x-drive and winter tire cannot be compared. Peoples who are doing this has never driven on a hill during a snow storm.

Winter tire is ok with FWD but not super with RWD. To drive in snow, x-drive + winter tire is a must.

[1QuikWS6]

I opted for the 328ix and not sorry. Guess I'm getting old cause I can remember the days back in the late 60's, 70's when we drove rwd cars with F70 fiberglas belted tires and huge amounts of torque. We would throw on a set of snow tires and bags o sand in the trunk and off we went without a care...

Now I wouldn't own a car that wasn't at least fwd (and I've even had snow tires on them during some winters). I musta got lazy, but I don't want to have to concentrate that hard with rwd in the ice/snow anymore. Already have my winter wheel/tire setup coming from TireRack using Blizzak WS70's.

As far as the power, I'm perfectly happy with the 328 for a dd. It's light years ahead of the 02 Grand Am I traded in for it as far as handling/comfort. Not a heck of a lot of low end - but once you get around 3-4000 rpm you can really feel it start pulling & it's rock solid all the way up to the max I have gone so far @ 124mph. Actually not much chance of going more then 80mph during my daily jaunts due to traffic and road conditions where I live.

Plus I don't have to worry about some of the attendant problems with the TT cars - no worries about whether I have an oil cooler or not, oil temps, etc.

I have enough brutaly fast cars if I want straight line acceleration with my WS6 and Vette

Now if I were younger, my attitude would prolly be different as I always had muscle cars back in the days as dd with gobs of power (and totally crappy handling to match I might add). But when you're young you feel indestructible...

[kcgman]

Originally Posted by Bulldog 6

I would (did) only buy a 328i in manual transmission, much different car than the automatic transmission.

Haven't driven the manual transmission, but I have to agree with the comment based on what I have experienced and heard. I had a 328xi (automatic) loaner for a week and found the lag when accelerating from a stand still to be really annoying. The longer I had the car the more annoyed I became by the lag. OP, definitely test drive the car (along with others) to see what you think.

[1QuikWS6]

Mine is an auto - couldn't find a stick on any dealer site in my area

In normal 'D' mode the lag is obnoxious, at first I credited this to me not being used to a drive by wire throttle car vs. mechanical linkage, but Service Mngr stated they are all like that and there is nothing that can be done.

It is greatly improved if 'DS' mode is used (though gas mileage does go down) he stated this is due to different programming in that mode

Well then why didn't they make the normal 'D' programming follow the 'DS' and make 'DS' even more agressive?

Basically, I haven't used normal 'D' since the 1st couple hundred miles I put on the car...

[JaysBlueE92]

I was on the fence about purchasing a 328xi as well, but an odd situation presented itself and I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. While I loved the 335 and had plans to hop into one, luckily, I have another car to satisfy my need for speed. But I absolutely love the feel of my 07 328xi e92, with sports and premium package, and the car was a real driving pleasure after the upgrades I made. While the performance upgrades may not be as dominant as the tunes for the N54, the BMS powerbox transforms the cars "fun factor", and the suspension setups and exterior mods are some things that can keep you busy.

It has its pros (no HPFP issues) and cons (stock suspension comes to mind) of course, but after 84,xxx miles, I still enjoy the car for what it is. Don't let the 335 guys on here scare ya..do what works for you