3 Series (F30) BMW 3-Series (F30) First Drives/Tests Thread

[Soup]

 

[martinbo]

Sheesh, 4.5 stars for the 328i. Damn impressive.

 

[Zafiro]

Sheesh, 4.5 stars for the 328i. Damn impressive.

4 stars for the 320d. Also impressive.

 

[Sunny]

Sheesh, 4.5 stars for the 328i. Damn impressive.

I drove a 528i recently and was seriously impressed with the engine - no one would guess it is a 4 pot if they didn't know beforehand. I can only guess how much more awesome it would be in a 3 which is what 300 kgs lighter than the 5?

 

[Nikos120i]

EVO says that partially the improvement of a softer ride comes from new run-flat tires.

Since next year I will put new shoes on my "si", I wonder...does anybody know what are those new run-flats? Brand? Type?

Thanks!

 

[hoffmeister_fan]

It is really looking like the car to beat, and the more I look at it, the more I like it, esp. in Sport guise. Well done, wizards of Munich, well done!

 

[Ultimate Car Guy]

CAR Magazine:

BMW 320d SE (2012) CAR review | Road Testing Reviews | Car Magazine Online

 

[Zafiro]

BMW 320d: First UK drive

....keen drivers will almost instantly notice the sharper steering, this 3 Series changing direction with the agility of a cat on the run but without any of the nervous darting. It rounds corners with such ease that it makes the outgoing model feel slightly slow-witted, though it’s hardly that.

Full review: BMW 320d Sport review - Autocar.co.uk

 

[Zafiro]

I'm really happy to read that BMW sorted out their issues regarding the steering. Media haven't been satisfied with the steering on 5-series/6-series (which I agree with after my own personal experiences) so I'm happy it has finally been improved and works very good together with 3-series and 1-series.

 

[Soup]

 

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

I'm really happy to read that BMW sorted out their issues regarding the steering. Media haven't been satisfied with the steering on 5-series/6-series (which I agree with after my own personal experiences) so I'm happy it has finally been improved and works very good together with 3-series and 1-series.

Agreed!

 

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

F30 3 Series First Drives/Tests/Reivews

If you’re like us, you’ve bored holes through pictures of the new 3-series sedan trying to discern the styling changes versus the outgoing model. Yes, there are some. A new face features headlights that puddle in toward the chrome-wrapped kidneys and a broad, blunt-faced front bumper that creates a sort of grimacing overbite into the lower grille. Move around to the sides and tail, and it all looks very familiar, even though the new car is 1.9 inches longer in wheelbase and 3.7 inches longer overall, which gives it more of a sleek, sprinter-on-blocks profile. But what’s really new about the F30, you ask? Well, after 600 miles in a brand-new 2012 F30-generation 335i Sport Line—and a couple of plates of South Carolina barbecue—we have a pretty good idea.The turbocharged N55 3.0-liter inline-six carries over its silkworm-woven symmetrical outputs of 300 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque. The six-speed manual still operates in concert with a tautly sprung clutch pedal and a spindly shifter that moves with greased precision, and the suspension and steering still make us smile. The differences are in the details: The dash controls and vents stay in roughly the same locations, but a welcome redesign of the panel—with its more pronounced instrument hood, driver-oriented center console, and traditional pull-type parking brake—concentrates the focus on the pilot. The Sport Line (the flashiest of three available trim packages) offers a decorous marriage of leather, metal, red stitching, and low-gloss plastic.The wheelbase punch-out creates a few more cubic feet here and there, most noticeably in the back seat with its extra head and knee room, plus some subtle tactile difference in the steering, no doubt due to the switch to electric assist (more on that in a second). The 2012 335i’s base price rises merely $370 from the 2011 model’s, and the weight gain from our last E90 335i test car is 77 pounds, at least some of which must be from the new optional 19-inch wheels ($900) and run-flat tires.As Porsche did with its overhauled 911, BMW played it safe, not so much redesigning its icon but giving it a scrub and polish.The company has laid to rest the bad memories of its original iDrive and brought forth an easily navigated multimedia system, though the 3’s new freestanding center display doesn’t retract, and it matches the surrounding landscape about as well as the screen in a desert drive-in theater.

The 335i loves being hurried down country two-lanes with a radar detector on guard, showing the same easy comfort with a quick pace as the previous model did. If the definition of good steering is that which allows the driver to place the car exactly where desired, the 335is still got it. Its clarity is undimmed by the switch to electric assist and a new, optional variable-ratio steering gear, even if its feedback is more opaque. Surface textures and impacts are indeed tuned out by this rack-and-pinion setup (though not by the body’s sound insulation, which lets a surprising amount of tire noise through), but the sense of control doesn’t really diminish.The on-center window of slackness is just wide enough to hold the car on a straight path but not too wide or too dead—as we’ve noticed in the 5- and 7-series—to allow wandering. Meanwhile, the effort rises gratifyingly as you turn in. Unless you’re the type that likes wheel shudders through every apex, the new 3 leaves little to complain about.The wheel does feel a little overassisted with the Driving Dynamics Control (DDC) console switch—which this year finds its way from BMW’s bigger cars into the 3-series as standard equipment—set on Comfort. But bump it up to Sport or Sport +, and a natural heft returns. There’s also an Eco Pro setting that waters down the throttle response to something closer to that of a Toyota Corolla.

We can’t say definitively that you need the optional Adaptive M suspension ($900), which adds electronically variable-damping shocks to the functions controlled by the DDC. For decades, the 3-series has gotten by fine without wires to its suspension. But we never found a setting, which varies depending on what DDC mode you’re in, that reduced either the ride quality or body control below that of excellent. Even in the Sport and Sport + modes, which perk up the throttle—and in the latter also cuts traction-control intervention—the suspension still weeds out the worst chop. The suspension option does give the 3’s character some flexibility. If you like your 3 to always be in hunt-kill mode, an optional M Sport package, coming later, will drop the ride height by 0.4 inch on firmer, non-electronic shocks, stiffer springs, and thicker anti-roll bars.As for the numbers, the 335i proved marginally slower than expected in testing. It needed 5.3 seconds to reach 60 mph instead of something in the high fours, as we’ve recorded with previous 335s. Sometimes that’s the driver’s fault, but forensic analysis revealed that the launches came off okay. However, the car then slowed appreciably even though the shifts were clean. We even tried power-shifting (keeping the gas pedal floored during the gearchanges) a couple of times, but the numbers wouldn’t budge.

A slower 5-to-60 time of 5.9 seconds—we expected mid-fives for that—also indicated that something may have been amiss. Bad gas, perhaps, or not enough break-in miles on the odometer (1365 at test time). Possibly, the new 19-inch rims and correspondingly heavier tires may have helped act as anchors. The 3’s other anchors, the brakes, did their duty to perfection, pulling several stops between 164 and 170 feet and never failing to offer a firm pedal in any situation.The upshot is that the 3-series marches on with improvements that mostly require engineering drawings to ascertain. This is either good news if you passionately adored the previous model or bad tidings if you were hoping for more newness. At some point, BMW will have to take a bigger step to move forward or risk falling behind its competitors—but not just yet.
caranddriver.com/reviews/2012-bmw-335i-sedan-test-review

 

[Human]

New BMW 335i Auto Express

We get behind the wheel of the new flagship turbocharged six-cylinder 3 Series

PHOTOS: New BMW 335i review | Auto Express

Rating: ***** Five Star AND it's a RHD!!! RSA/UK/Australia/Japan

Last year, the outgoing BMW 3 Series was still the eighth-best-selling car in Britain, despite launching seven years ago – proof that the UK is crucial to this model’s success. And to mark the arrival of the new 3 on UK roads, Auto Express has been given a world-exclusive first drive of the range-topping 335i.

This car is a sign of things to come: the next M3, due in 2013, will drop its V8 for a highly tuned six-cylinder and it’s likely to be loosely based on the 3.0-litre direct-injection turbo in the 335i.

The straight-six is also fitted to the new 535i, but in the smaller 3 Series – which weighs 25kg less than its predecessor – its performance is magnified. This car does 0-62mph in 5.5 seconds.

Throttle response is instant, with no hint of turbo lag, and the engine revs freely to 7,000rpm. On part throttle there’s a subtle growl from the exhausts, but press on and there’s a thrilling mechanical crescendo as it nears the red line.

Settle to motorway cruising speeds and you’ll notice how refinement has improved. Noise from the tyres and engine is brilliantly suppressed – only wind noise from the A-pillars and wing mirrors is audible. With 400Nm of torque, this car is also happy to crawl around like a diesel in a high gear at low speeds.

Ditch the manual box in favour of the more efficient eight-speed auto (a £1,660 option) and the 335i will return 39.2mpg – that’s 6.7mpg more than the old car. The new 328i, with its 2.0-litre turbo, is 4.9mpg more economical and only six tenths slower from 0-62mph (with a time of 6.1 seconds), but it can’t match the smoothness and sound of the six-cylinder.

In auto mode, the box blurs the ratios perfectly. Use the paddles and it shifts in the blink of an eye – there’s barely any interruption to the power delivery. We think this set-up makes the case for heavier twin-clutch boxes questionable.

Show the all-new 3 Series a B-road and it’s even better balanced than before. The steering weight doesn’t varymassively as you load up the front tyres, but it’s so direct you can place the car precisely and it always feels light on its feet. The facelifted Audi A4 seems slow-witted by comparison.

Agility hasn’t come at the price of comfort, either. All models get a switch that allows you to toggle through Eco Pro, Comfort, Sport and Sport+ modes, tailoring the throttle, steering and skid-control response. Our car had Adaptive M Sport suspension, too, and even on its firmest setting, this £750 option takes the edge off bumps and keeps body roll well in check.


Read more: New BMW 335i review | Auto Express

 

[Soup]

 

[-=Hot|Ice=-]

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BMW is making haste in relegating its normally aspirated inline-six to the dustbin of history. First it was the 528i and Z4 SDrive28i, and now the 2012 BMW 328i has made the transition to a 2.0-liter boosted and direct-injected four-pot known in BMWland as N20.
And it's not like this all-new 3 Series is a smaller car than its straight-six-havin' predecessor. In fact, the 2012 328i casts a larger shadow and weighs just a hair more than the outgoing car. Yet the N20 moves the 328i with ease, perhaps with more ease than its rated values of 240 horsepower and 255 lb-ft of torque suggest.
With that, off to MD Automotive's dyno rollers we go.
You'll notice that the devastatingly handsome speaker in the video said that the 2012 328i's factory rating is 245 horsepower. It is, if you believe the owner's manual, which is where I he found that number.
A brief conversation with BMW afterwards revealed that the numbers in the owner's manual are not correct and that the real rating is indeed 240 horsepower (and 255 lb-ft of torque).
According to our dyno testing, neither set of numbers are correct -- they're all conservative. See here:
That's 240 horsepower and 257 lb-ft of torque as measured at the wheels. It was dead-repeatable on the dyno, too, laying down the same power over nine consecutive pulls.
Like observed with the Z4, there's a dip in the 328i's torque curve at 5300 rpm, less pronounced in the 328i but still present. Also, that hole at 2300 rpm showed up in every pull and I even felt it on the road. It's so low in the rev range, though, that you really have to drive like a clown to elicit it.
And like always, our testing was on 91 octane "premium" fuel. Yes, that's the best we can get in California. Yes, it's lame.


http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/assets/f342.jpg
Now, we've previously dynoed the N20-equipped Z4 SDrive28i, rated at a near-identical 240 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque. And we found it to be similarly stout, producing nearly as much power as measured at the wheels as is claimed at the flywheel.
The 328i eked out a thin whisker more urge across most of the rev range, but you can probably chalk the difference up to run-to-run and car-to-car (and day-to-day) variation:


http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/assets/328-vs-z4.jpg
Same roll-off of torque at 5000 rpm, same end to the festivities 7000 rpm. The N20 is not an engine that begs to live near the rev limit, but it does generate a fat slug of torque that makes daily driving easier.
And in the 328i, this power delivery makes sense. Less so in the Z4. Sports cars are not sedans, and the engine's character should reflect this.


http://blogs.insideline.com/straightline/assets/f341.jpg
Another thing you'll notice in the video -- power and torque gauges on the 328i's multimedia screen. I stumbled across the display while poking around iDrive between pulls.
The gauges are in metric, but when you convert the peak numbers, it says it produced 228 horsepower and 251 lb-ft of torque. Not too far off of what we measured at the wheels during that run, actually. The display is a gimmick, but at least it's a somewhat accurate one.
Anyway, yeah, the N20 continues to be strong. I don't think anyone's going to complain about that. The low-gain throttle pedal, maybe. But not the grunt it puts out.

Dyno-Tested: 2012 BMW 328i

 

[Zafiro]

MT pick 328i instead of 335i.

2012 BMW 328i Sport First Test - Motor Trend

Want to know the real kicker? Don't tell BMW, but the 328i is better than the 335i. I lapped both at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca during BMW's launch event. We brought both home to test (you'll be seeing the 335i First Test soon), and we all agree. Yes, the 335i is a lot faster thanks to that turbo-six, but the 328i is the better car to drive. The four-cylinder car is 50 pounds lighter in the nose and the engine sits behind the front axle, making for a superb weight balance that the big-engine car just can't match.

 

[Bartek S.]

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According to the dyno run that you'll see after the break, the tradition continues with BMW's new twin-scroll turbocharged four-cylinder inline N20 engine that sees duty in the 2012 328i. The mill is rated at 240 horsepower and 255 pound-feet of torque, and on at least one Dynojet dyno, a stock 328i put down 226 horses and 230 lb-ft.

Assuming that around 15 per cent of power is lost to the various friction forces of the drivetrain, these results indicate that the engine is really spinning out 265 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque. Those are mighty impressive figures, and equal about 25 more horses than stock and at least 15 more lb-ft of torque. Suffice it to say, this engine is an extremely tempting proposition for future 3 Series owners.

 

[Merc1]

Just saw one at the dealership here, really looks good in natural surroundings.


M

 

[K-A]

Do you think it looked better, or dated the 5-Series if you saw them in the same frame?

 

[klier]

^ it's different. Doesn't suddenly make the other car oook dated or old.