328i Luxury Series loaner car

Dave2 · 01-26-2013, 09:15 AM

I dropped off my M3 for service and was provided with a 2013 328i Luxury Series loaner car.

The car drove well; but there certainly was nothing exceptional about this car. In fact it was quite ordinary. The interior and exterior styling is bland. The quality of the interior materials is average at best with many cheap, hard plastic parts. The leather seating surfaces are hard and stiff. Ugly navigation screen that looks like a tacked-on after-thought All this for $48K. Damn, I would never consider buying this car.

In fact, I recently bough two new 2012 Ford Focuses (Focci?) for my daughters. Walked out the door for $34K total for both cars. The fit, finish, and quality of the interiors of these cars is very nearly as good as the 328i.

piloto · 01-26-2013, 09:23 AM

The 2.0T is impressive, but that ZF 8AT is something else entirely. I'm a die hard manual person, but was extremely impressed with that 8AT. It's been getting rave reviews in every car it's been in, and it does wonders for acceleration at speed (it can shift directly from 8th gear to 2nd!). It's just a performance/sport program away from competing with the best dual clutches out there.

Otherwise, like yourself, I thought the car was overpriced, cheap feeling materials, especially the faux leather seat covers (a VW Jetta's faux leather feels better), and I couldn't stand that tacked on iDrive screen. For $30K, it might be doable, but not at $40K+. Short of lease deals, BMW would definitely need to make these in RSA or find a way to make them in Latin America to be able to sell them at competitive price.

dreamspeed · 01-26-2013, 09:26 AM

I agree, most BMWs are overpriced relative to what you get. The regular 3 series, 1 series, x1 and x3 interiors are awful for practically any price point.

LucWerkz · 01-26-2013, 09:33 AM

BMW sucks. Period. End of story.

SD-E93-11 · 01-26-2013, 11:16 AM

Interesting, I was pretty impressed with my '13 dealer loaner recently for the same reasons as Piloto, but was not as offended by the interior. Overall the car struck me as still better value than its C250 and A4 competitors. Especially the C class which has come a long way in looks, but is still a complete turd to drive.

01-26-2013, 09:15 AM	#1
Dave2 First Lieutenant 124 Rep 371 Posts Drives: '11 M3 Convertible Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: USA iTrader: (0)	328i Luxury Series loaner car I dropped off my M3 for service and was provided with a 2013 328i Luxury Series loaner car. The car drove well; but there certainly was nothing exceptional about this car. In fact it was quite ordinary. The interior and exterior styling is bland. The quality of the interior materials is average at best with many cheap, hard plastic parts. The leather seating surfaces are hard and stiff. Ugly navigation screen that looks like a tacked-on after-thought All this for $48K. Damn, I would never consider buying this car. In fact, I recently bough two new 2012 Ford Focuses (Focci?) for my daughters. Walked out the door for $34K total for both cars. The fit, finish, and quality of the interiors of these cars is very nearly as good as the 328i. __________________ '11 M3 Convertible \| Dinan Stage 2 suspension Last edited by Dave2; 01-26-2013 at 01:01 PM..
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01-26-2013, 09:23 AM	#2
piloto Captain 28 Rep 843 Posts Drives: 2011 E90 M3 - AW/FR Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Orange County, CA iTrader: (0)	The 2.0T is impressive, but that ZF 8AT is something else entirely. I'm a die hard manual person, but was extremely impressed with that 8AT. It's been getting rave reviews in every car it's been in, and it does wonders for acceleration at speed (it can shift directly from 8th gear to 2nd!). It's just a performance/sport program away from competing with the best dual clutches out there. Otherwise, like yourself, I thought the car was overpriced, cheap feeling materials, especially the faux leather seat covers (a VW Jetta's faux leather feels better), and I couldn't stand that tacked on iDrive screen. For $30K, it might be doable, but not at $40K+. Short of lease deals, BMW would definitely need to make these in RSA or find a way to make them in Latin America to be able to sell them at competitive price.
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01-26-2013, 09:26 AM	#3
dreamspeed Lieutenant Colonel 261 Rep 1,616 Posts Drives: 6MT Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Los Angeles iTrader: (0)	I agree, most BMWs are overpriced relative to what you get. The regular 3 series, 1 series, x1 and x3 interiors are awful for practically any price point. __________________
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01-26-2013, 09:33 AM	#4
LucWerkz Banned 78 Rep 1,237 Posts Drives: e70 X5 4.8i (Temporarily) Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: DC/VA/MD/PA iTrader: (1)	BMW sucks. Period. End of story.
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01-26-2013, 11:16 AM	#5
SD-E93-11 First Lieutenant 3 Rep 324 Posts Drives: 2011 E93 M3 Jerez Black/Black Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: San Diego, CA iTrader: (0)	Interesting, I was pretty impressed with my '13 dealer loaner recently for the same reasons as Piloto, but was not as offended by the interior. Overall the car struck me as still better value than its C250 and A4 competitors. Especially the C class which has come a long way in looks, but is still a complete turd to drive.
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