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About two weeks ago my car was sandwiched while waiting at the light, someone decided I must have been moving because “my brake light is off”… Hey idiot, ever heard about the concept of PUTTING THE GEAR IN NEUTRAL? Just because my brake light is off doesn’t automatically mean that I am moving! Anyways, long story short, both the front and rear bumpers of my car were damaged so the insurance company got me a loaner from Enterprise while my car was in the body shop.

How I got the 328i from Enterprise you might ask… Well, the rate I was given is for a premium class car but lucky for me they ran out of premium cars on that day. Due to company policy they have to upgrade me to luxury which means I got the only luxury car on the lot, a 2008 black on black BMW 328i with about 25,000 miles. Following is the summary of my impression for the car:

Exterior: Well, there really is nothing to write home about the 328i’s exterior styling. Given that this is a base model so it comes with standard halogen headlight, which means no BMW angel eyes, bummer… Also, since this is not a sport package so the standard issue 16-inch wheels are at all four corners. I’ve stated before that I am not a fan about BMW’s paint job in recent year and this one is no exception, orange peel is very noticeable on this car given the black paint. It’s really not a surprise to me since I’ve noticed visible orange peel on BMW’s much higher end models such as 7-series and M6. Overall the styling is plain, inoffensive but very suitable for the class’ best seller, it is just like a Honda Accord in the entry level luxury sedan segment.

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Interior: The first thing I noticed when I step into the car is that it has no power seats at all, not even for the driver seat. Yes, you read me right, this $30+ entry LUXURY sedan has manual controls for both the front seats! I mean come on BMW, I understand that this is a base model but even the $20k and lower econoboxes have power seats now-a-day for at least the driver side but not on the world famous B-M-friggin’-W? After getting myself out of the shock the next I noticed is that the leather, well… pleather, used in this car is pretty horrible. That’s really another thing I don’t understand about BMW, for a $30k+ luxury sedan can’t you AT LEAST offer real leather on the surface like many of your competitors do? Ok, let me take a step back, if you insist to offer pleather on the base trim can’t you at least make it look and feel like real leather and not like my $69 computer chair from Office Depot…

Personally I am not a fan of the interior design especially the dashboard, it looks dated and does not belong in the 21st century. However I have to give BMW prop for having A LOT of wood in this entry luxury sedan, it has at least twice as much wood compare to any of other cars in the same segment. Although I am not a fan of wood in the car but in an age of “cutting back” what BMW did here deserve a hand. Other material used in the cabin are also top notch quality and on par with Lexus for the entry luxury sedan segment. Since this is a base trim 3-series the seat’s lateral support is average at best and seats are a bit hard for my taste, however that shouldn’t be a deal breaker (or maker) for anyone who’s interested in buying this car. On this particular car the moonroof was broken so could not be opened all the way and the info screen kept showing me that the roof was open everytime I turn the engine on even though it is actually closed. That’s one of the reasons why I turned it back for for a Volvo S60 after one week, which I’ll cover in the part two of this series.

Driving: Well, what can I say, it is a BMW after all so the handling is superb. It has slightly more body roll than my modded IS350 but it actually felt more confident at high speed curve (such as highway ramps) due to the heavier steering. About the steering, it is hands down one of the best I’ve driven, it is precise, has a lot of feedback and heavy, but just a bit too heavy for my taste. Don’t get me wrong here, it’s not that I am saying heavy steering is bad, if I get to drive this car a lot on the track I would love to death to have this kind of heavy steering because it is just PERFECT for spirit driving. However, for daily commutes (especially in heavy traffic such as in LA) it is kinda of overkill and  gets tiresome after a while. I have to say that BMW definitely has this suspension thing down like no others, it has the perfect balance between ride quality and handling, it will make you feel everything on the road but doesn’t have the artificial harshness like some other makes (Yes, Lexus, I am talking about you…).

The engine, on the other hand, it’s not all that rosy like the suspension and handling, the 3.0L inline-6 felt lazy and underpower when the gear is at D and DS. This 6-banger also has a long and pathetic lag between when the gas pedal is depressed and engine actually revs up. this problem is common on a lot, if not all, of the new cars with the throttle by wire feature but in this case on the 328i the lag time is longer than others. After several days with this car I’ve finally realized that the best way to get the most out of this engine is to drive it under the manual mod and keep the RPM above 3,000 at all time so more torque can be delivered faster. The conclusion is that this engine is definitely not “auto-tranny friendly”, I can see this be an extremely fun car to drive with a shift-yourself 6-speed. Well, adding two turbos should fix the problem too…

Bottom Line: This is not a car that I’ll spend my hard-earn money on but I will have no problem recommend it to anyone who is looking for an all out performance sedan at around $35k and do not care about its lack in value and features.

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