[yerffejleahcim]

     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com

Nice to see the F30 number one in the Luxury Sport Sedan category on Motor Trend.

Makes me more excited to see my ordered F30 328i.


http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...urce=pulsenews

Sporty Luxury Sedan Comparison
The More Things Change: Eight Contenders Vie For Sport Sedan Supremacy

1ST PLACE: BMW 328i Sport Line
2ND PLACE: Volvo S60 T5
3RD PLACE: Mercedes-Benz C250
4TH PLACE : 2012 Audi A4 Quattro
5TH PLACE: 2011 Lexus IS 250 F-Sport
6TH PLACE: 2012 Acura TSX V-6
7TH PLACE: 2012 Infiniti G25
8TH PLACE : Buick Regal GS

1ST PLACE: BMW 328i Sport Line
That's First Place With a Competition-Killing Bullet
By: Jonny Lieberman

I want to talk about the big albatross hanging around the new 328i's neck right up front: price. This car rings the bell to the tune of $50,560, by far the highest as-tested price of the competition. Shock! Horror! You all will cancel your subscriptions en masse, or say stuff like, "Of course the most expensive car won, get a brain, moran," etc. However, the Bimmer came straight from the U.S. launch of the 3 Series loaded with every option possible. Using BMW's online configurator, you can spec out a mechanically identical 328i Sport Line for $41,095 that would have beat up and choked out the competition just like the one in our test did.

As mentioned, we sat around screaming at each other for over an hour trying to determine if the Buick was in fact a lamer duck than the Infiniti. We spent all of three minutes declaring the BMW best in test and best in class. This is not just a win for the 328i -- it's a massacre. A slaughter. Doomsday. Armageddon. I say this with a straight face: There is no competition. Not only was the BMW's first-place finish never in question, I can't remember a comparison test with such lopsided results. We had a hard time finding bad things to say. Aside from the as-tested price (see above!), the worst anyone could come up with is that the new 2.0-liter twin-scroll I-4 sounds like a diesel. But, as Evans logs, "That's hardly a complaint," and you only hear the clatter-clatter-clatter at idle. Let's call it the sound of efficiency.

The BMW was the fastest car here (0-60 mph in 5.6 seconds and through the quarter in 14.2 at 97.8 mph), beating even the AWD Audi. The 328i rode the best, had the best steering and transmission, is the only car here with start/stop technology, gets a class-leading 36 mpg highway, has the best-laid-out interior, is the most comfortable, has an unbelievable nav screen, and, to top it all off, has the biggest back seat. Ultimately -- and this cuts right through the heart of the sport sedan segment -- the BMW was without question the most fun to drive.

A sampling from our notebooks. Kiino: "Does everything well. The epitome of a luxury sport sedan." Evans: "What a car. There really isn't anything this car does wrong." Jurnecka: "Last week I was telling a buddy that there isn't a single new BMW I'd even consider buying. I was wrong. I'd buy this car." Martinez: "Seriously, where's the M badge?" Nishimoto: "BMW does what it does best with this new 328, and thus the bar is raised yet again." And from me, "They picked the appellation F30 for a reason. Like the E30, the new 328i is the ideal blend of engine, transmission, and chassis." Folks, I'm awed.

In full, glaring, retina-searing contrast, this BMW wins this competition because it does everything better than the rest. For now, all the competition can do is head back to their drawing boards. Like I said before, I'm shocked.

[Vong]

Only with BMW, can a fanatic's biases be redeemed as truth..

[shoptb]

Originally Posted by yerffejleahcim

The BMW was the fastest car here (0-60 mph in 5.6 seconds and through the quarter in 14.2 at 97.8 mph), beating even the AWD Audi. The 328i rode the best, had the best steering and transmission, is the only car here with start/stop technology, gets a class-leading 36 mpg highway, has the best-laid-out interior, is the most comfortable, has an unbelievable nav screen, and, to top it all off, has the biggest back seat. Ultimately -- and this cuts right through the heart of the sport sedan segment -- the BMW was without question the most fun to drive.

[justinnum1]

Ownage

and that was with those crappy goodyear efficient tires

[DrivenByE30]

Originally Posted by Vong

Only with BMW, can a fanatic's biases be redeemed as truth..

................









The E30 was the one that made me fall in love with BMW...
I was confident already since well beyond last year that i had to have the F30.
I was confident already that upon release, BMW would furnish us with an F30 that would be on-par with the competition...
I wanted to have my very first brand new BMW to be the F30, the forth generation since the E30.
no matter what, the F30 would be the one to renew my vows with BMW.

For now i will still continue to enjoy my 16 year old E36! which still distill the most pleasure for me as a driver!
And i will keep my E36 just like i still have my E30! (i cant believe my sister traded in her E46 MT, instead of selling it to me)
Within our family:

we would have the E30, E36, E46, E90 (her new car now), and my soon new car F30
.... just exactly 5 more weeks !!!

[beemer3]

Originally Posted by justinnum1

There is plenty wrong with the 2011. I own one. The power is decent but the I4 is a caler upgrade imo. both efficiency and performance wise. The F30 looks so much better than the E90, which is dated imo.

I own 3 other E90 328's and the F30 is worth the price difference, no doubt in my mind. But im happy you are enjoying yours.

Can you comment on whether the ride of the F30 sport line is more compliant than the E90 without Sports Package?

Just curious, why do you have so many E90 328i's?

[justinnum1]

Originally Posted by beemer3

Can you comment on whether the ride of the F30 sport line is more compliant than the E90 without Sports Package?

Just curious, why do you have so many E90 328i's?

f30 with sportline is stiffer than e90 without sportline

[adamsclubs]

Why was MT comparing the F30 328i to the Infiniti G25?

[bimmerjph]

Wow I was on the phone app all the title said was "F30 328i massacres seven" i was like oh god. This cant be good. Glad I was wrong.

[justinnum1]

Originally Posted by adamsclubs

I don't understand the reference to having a family above. I thought the reason why the F30 is getting bigger is to make it more a family sport sedan. In fact I think BMW will sell more 3ers now, at the expense of losing sales on the 5.

Also why was MT comparing the F30 328i to the Infiniti G25?

Im guessing they wanted to keep the engines similar. But i have driven the g37 manual and auto, its fast but no where near the refinement of the bmw. Also, the steering sucks and the engine has way to much vibration in it

[gatoman39]

As mentioned, we sat around screaming at each other for over an hour trying to determine if the Buick was in fact a lamer duck than the Infiniti. We spent all of three minutes declaring the BMW best in test and best in class. This is not just a win for the 328i; it's a massacre. A slaughter. Doomsday. Armageddon. I say this with a straight face: There is no competition. Not only was the BMW's first-place finish never in question, but I can't remember a comparison test with such lopsided results. Honestly, we had a hard time finding bad things to say.

The F30 isn't perfect, but compared to the other new cars in this segment. Its' supremacy remains largely unchallenged.

[DrivenByE30]

Originally Posted by adamsclubs

Why was MT comparing the F30 328i to the Infiniti G25?

Because it's the right car to compare to...
The G37 is to be aimed at the 335i
Sadly for Infiniti and their marketing/engineering choice is wrong:
the G25 underpowered engine is principally marketed for GrandPa and GrandMa or women who have no interest in a sport car...
just to have an nice luxury sedan to run errands with while saving fuel cost.
Infiniti knew that for anyone remotely interested in mechanical sport, or driving dynamics, they (Infiniti) was hoping and is forcing those type of buyers (like myself) to spend the extra cash on the G37...

But unfortunaly, i really dont like Infiniti car design at all..
It's not as timeless as the lines found on the BMW...

Originally Posted by bimmerjph

Wow I was on the phone app all the title said was "F30 328i massacres seven" i was like oh god. This cant be good. Glad I was wrong.

LOL

[adamsclubs]

Originally Posted by justinnum1

Im guessing they wanted to keep the engines similar.

That was where the bias came from.

But i have driven the g37 manual and auto, its fast but no where near the refinement of the bmw. Also, the steering sucks and the engine has way to much vibration in it

Fair enough, but I think MT should have compared to G37 and let the chips fall where they are. One can lease a G37 for a lot less than the new F30 328i, the G25 isn't even targetting the same buyers, like the above poster mentioned.

In fact even comparing to the Volvo S60 T5 isn't 100% fair because of the price difference. You can lease the S60 R design for pretty much the same as the F30 328i.

Actually the same goes to the MB C250 too.

[NGuyadeen]

Originally Posted by bimmerjph

Wow I was on the phone app all the title said was "F30 328i massacres seven" i was like oh god. This cant be good. Glad I was wrong.

LOLOLOLOL THAT MADE MY DAY!!!1!!!!!

I would have felt sorry for the car haha

[NGuyadeen]

Originally Posted by adamsclubs

That was where the bias came from.



Fair enough, but I think MT should have compared to G37 and let the chips fall where they are. One can lease a G37 for a lot less than the new F30 328i, the G25 isn't even targetting the same buyers.

I honestly hate Infiniti my mom owned one it was horrific and ugly to.

[jgrasty]

The only opinion that matters is when someone opens their pocketbook and buys a car. The rest is huffing and puffing.

[middleagedhippie]

Originally Posted by AlexM

There will always be ppl who like to save few bucks, buy and old model, which is still very good of course
Some of us suckers just love to have new toys I mean, if you like it and can afford it, then enjoy it. Money has no other real value in lifUe, it can bring misery, or in our case >

I get it, but my point is that when evaluating a product, you must also evaluate the price. The price is ignored in the review above. The increase in price is 25% greater than the prior model. Its certainly not clear to me that the new car is any better than the old, although certainly bmw must convince the public that it is. I do know that i like smaller and the e90 is at the edge of too large. The f30 is past the threshhold.

[shoptb]

Originally Posted by middleagedhippie

The price is ignored in the review above. The increase in price is 25% greater than the prior model.

How do you calculate this? The difference in MSRP is $300.

2011 BMW 3-Series (E90): $34,600
2012 BMW 3-Series (F30): $34,900

As mentioned before, you cannot compare sales/negotiating prices for discontinued models, just the MSRP at the time of sale.

[7or8]

Originally Posted by Vong

Only with BMW, can a fanatic's biases be redeemed as truth..

Which fanatic? I seem to recall the motortrend article saying that multiple motortrend reviewer's discussed and came to the same conclusion. So all the reviewers that took part in this test were fanatics? Nice to know..

[ATX78703]

utter domination as expected... pricing aside

[ATX78703]

i think audi's response to this slaughtering will be to introduce the 265hp/258 lb-ft tune on the EA888 as std fare for the a4 (now only in the TTS here in states)

[MoeM3Power]

Not surprise, I already had a feeling that new F30 3 series is the best car.. Gotta love the BMW!