I recently had a chance to drive my FILs 2014 BMW 328d sedan. He bought it used, so perhaps this plays some part of me not being impressed at all by this vehicle, but it does have less than 50k miles, so I can't imagine my impression would have been any different if it was brand new.
But let's start with things I liked.
- the exterior styling looks great IMO. The proportions are just right, and it's just a good looking sedan overall that will most likely age very well, like a lot of German designs, and not look silly in few years.
- the interior is also nice, good fit and finish.
- brakes were very good.
- the automatic 8spd transmission shifted nice and smooth.
That's really as much as I liked.
Things I didn't like:
- the tacked on infotainment screen, in top of that, no backup camera.
- door lock actuators. Yeah I never though I would have a complaint with one of these. But when they engage, they make a loud CLUNK, as if something dropped inside the door. All sound the same whether you lock or unlock.
- the ride is quite harsh. But I could tell it was not the suspension, but rather the combination of 19 inch wheels and 45 side wall tires. Maybe they were run flats as well, but I don't know. I think a 50 side wall and better tires would improve the ride dramatically.
- the diesel engine is nothing special. I didn't bother looking up its specs, but turbo lag was very obvious and the engine felt lazy at low RPM. It got motivated OK once boost kicked in around 2k RPM. Also, being a 4 cylinder it was harsh and felt out of place in this supposedly luxury brand.
- the start stop was very annoying and compounded with diesel engine, the start/stop events were very obvious both in sound and vibrations. The AC performance was also reduced dramatically when the engine stopped.
- the automatic climate control was weak. I had to adjust the temperature constantly with changing sun exposure to feel comfortable as it didn't react properly by itself. And I made sure it was not in Eco mode.
- the steering feedback was poor. They are trying to match Toyota quite well in this regard.
- driver's side door had a clunk when closing, something already was getting loose inside of it.
Not an impressive vehicle to me at all. My FIL paid $15k for it and for that price it's an OK vehicle. For what they go brand new, no way I would buy one. Maybe the gasoline version is slightly better, but have my doubts.
But let's start with things I liked.
- the exterior styling looks great IMO. The proportions are just right, and it's just a good looking sedan overall that will most likely age very well, like a lot of German designs, and not look silly in few years.
- the interior is also nice, good fit and finish.
- brakes were very good.
- the automatic 8spd transmission shifted nice and smooth.
That's really as much as I liked.
Things I didn't like:
- the tacked on infotainment screen, in top of that, no backup camera.
- door lock actuators. Yeah I never though I would have a complaint with one of these. But when they engage, they make a loud CLUNK, as if something dropped inside the door. All sound the same whether you lock or unlock.
- the ride is quite harsh. But I could tell it was not the suspension, but rather the combination of 19 inch wheels and 45 side wall tires. Maybe they were run flats as well, but I don't know. I think a 50 side wall and better tires would improve the ride dramatically.
- the diesel engine is nothing special. I didn't bother looking up its specs, but turbo lag was very obvious and the engine felt lazy at low RPM. It got motivated OK once boost kicked in around 2k RPM. Also, being a 4 cylinder it was harsh and felt out of place in this supposedly luxury brand.
- the start stop was very annoying and compounded with diesel engine, the start/stop events were very obvious both in sound and vibrations. The AC performance was also reduced dramatically when the engine stopped.
- the automatic climate control was weak. I had to adjust the temperature constantly with changing sun exposure to feel comfortable as it didn't react properly by itself. And I made sure it was not in Eco mode.
- the steering feedback was poor. They are trying to match Toyota quite well in this regard.
- driver's side door had a clunk when closing, something already was getting loose inside of it.
Not an impressive vehicle to me at all. My FIL paid $15k for it and for that price it's an OK vehicle. For what they go brand new, no way I would buy one. Maybe the gasoline version is slightly better, but have my doubts.