I have a dealership loaner car, a 2015 328i with the M Sport performance package. The M Sport package brings some M inspired gear into the normal range of BMWs. For the 328i, it includes the M Sport suspension for better handling, an M-inspired steering wheel (with similar size and feel to the M4’s wheel but with a slightly cheapened design), snug sports seats, attractive 18″ wheels, a more aggressive body kit, and some interior trim options. Gauche M-colored bumper stripes have also been optioned for this car, giving it a juvenile appearance at the everyman price of $375. The rear lip spoiler does not help mitigate the ricer image. Non-M options on the 328i include navigation, a sunroof, backup cameras, and keyless start—but strangely not keyless entry!
The car comes from McKenna BMW on the far side of LA, so my first taste of the 328i M Sport is a 30 mile highway slog through rush hour traffic. Right off the bat, I am sensing differences from the prior comfort-spec 328i I drove a few months ago. In the M Sport, I seem to be sitting much lower to the ground than before. The seating position is nice and low, and the side bolsters on the seats are fantastically aggressive. In fact, the shape of the seats is better than what I have in my 2011 BMW M3. The ride is better too. It is sportingly controlled, without the bound over large bumps that I disliked in the comfort 328i. The M Sport package has its own performance suspension, and it certainly feels higher grade. Also, the Bridgestone S001 run-flats tires are wider and lower profile than the set on the first 328i, and so some of the sidewall flex and bound has been banished.
In fact, highway driving in the 328i is charming. The Bimmer has plenty of cruising torque, rides smoothly with composure, and has a quiet cabin. I am comfortable, moving along in hushed, entry-level luxury, with plenty of grunt and grip to squirt between the traffic. It makes for a serene cabin experience. The transmission works well in stop-and-go. No problems at all!
That night I take the car to the grocery store with my wife Kay. She, too, comments positively on the seats. And she also thinks the M stripping is dumb.
Next evening, my friend Sage and I take the M Sport up to Malibu. Sage drives us there, using plenty of full-throttle stoplight departures on the way. As I noted yesterday on the highway, BMW’s 2.0-liter turbo is a quiet little engine. It makes a growling noise of sorts when accelerating hard, but it never really aurally excites. It might even sound mildly diesel-like. The torque is plenty, though—Sage thinks that the 2.0L matches the S54 engine from the E46 M3 for torque through the rev range. But the E46’s torque comes on instantly, while the 328i takes a moment for its turbo to spool. Stomp the throttle, and there is a fraction of a second as the turbo pressure builds—I would not call it lag, though, as the smooth ramping of power is similar feel in how you lean the 328i into a corner before it takes a hard set. Once ramped up, the engine pulls forward with mildly crescendoing vigor until it runs out of breath at 6k RPM. This is hardly a problem, as the 328i has so much useful torque from 2k to 5k RPM that you don’t need to rev it to the 7k redline to drive it quickly.
One of my open questions from the first 328i sampling was if the eight-speed automatic blips the throttle for downshifts. Sage plays with the downshifts as we drive the PCH, and it does seem like there is rev-matching built into the downshifts, but it’s done inconsistently. Sometimes the gearbox aces the shift, but other times the computer’s throttle application is not quite right, and a small amount of drivetrain shock is felt in the car. Sage thinks that the 328i is probably unlocking the automatic transmission’s throughput and relying on the torque converter during these shifts. Using the torque converter between gears would smother the transitions both when shifting up and down. We both agree that the automatic is adequate—no, good—for fast driving but just lacks a sporting flare to the way it does its business.
Sage drives us up Las Flores Canyon, abruptly pitching the BMW into corners to suss out how the M Sport package handles quick transitions. The car is on the understeering side of neutral; if you ask too much of it on corner entry, the front tires that scrub first. Sage can get the rear tires to chirp too on the way out of the corner with heavy throttle, but this is not really rotating the car so much as spinning up one rear tire.
Las Flores is rather lumpy, and from the passenger seat, the M Sport does not feel as composed as I expected. The comfort-spec 328i tended to float or bound over the largest bumps; it wouldn’t break traction while doing so, but the car didn’t feel as buttoned to the ground as I wanted it to be. That floaty sensation may have actually been due to the tall tires or even the soft seats. Now, from the passenger’s side of the M Sport, I still sense a hint of that float in the M Sport suspension. Float is largely fixed versus the standard suspension, but really large bumps will buck the car’s rear and threaten to chuck us off course. Seeing as I am sitting on the cliff-side of the road, this demeanor makes me nervous when Sage encounters mid-corner bumps. Thankfully the car does not do anything untoward.
A spectacular sunset is unfolding over the Santa Monica Mountains as we summit and then drive down the far side of the ridge. We discuss the lack of engine braking in the 328i. Sage notes that this engine lacks throttle bodies and controls its air intake based on the valve timing alone. Whatever the cause, in stark contrast to the E90 M3’s V8, there is hardly any deceleration when lifting off the throttle in the 328i.
It’s my turn to drive. Heading back up the hill, I see that the M Sport is more composed over the bumps that it seemed from the right seat. Sage likened the M Sport suspension to my old Evo IX MR’s, and I am coming around to his point of view. There is a bit of body roll in the 328i when you settle it into a turn (less roll than the Evo), and then the car takes a firm set and lets its longer-travel suspension soak up the imperfections in the road. The car is composed and glued to the pavement throughout the turn.
Stopped at a vista point, we enjoy what is left of the sunset. The M Sport body kit looks pretty good overall to me. Sage likes the rear valance but is not a big fan of the front bumper. Regardless, this 328i is a sleek and appealing car.
Driving again, I pay close attention to the steering on the BMW. The prior 328i had overly quick and overly light steering, which was faster than the car’s tires and chassis. It had very quick turn-in, but the suspension could not match its quickness, and instead was delayed in taking a cornering set by the tall, flexing tire sidewalls. The M Sport does not have this problem. The steering feel is good, consistent, well-weighted, and never overboosted or rubber-bandy. The ratio is reasonably quick—you don’t have to go hand-over-hand in hairpins—and the chassis is completely in sync with steering and responds to my inputs without lag or delay. I actually really like the steering in this M Sport F30, which is quite a change of heart as the other F30s I drove let me down severely. The fat M-inspired steering wheel helps warm me to the car too.
Turning left onto Scheuren, the 328i’s tail squiggles a little in the highly off-camber intersection. This is as much tail action as I’ll get driving the M Sport. Powering up Scheuren, I feel good precision and pace in the car, but also a lack of sharpness. The throttle pedal feels video game-y, without any sense of mechanical connection to the engine. I accidentally push through the downshift detent in the throttle, causing the transmission to downshift a gear. This revs the engine to redline, and well beyond the peak productivity of the little turbo, so I have to upshift to get back into the fat of the torque at 5k rpm. The engine, while grunty, does not have sharpness to it either; aggressive gas pedal adjustments do not result in sharp changes in power. This blunted response makes it harder to use the throttle to shift weight about the chassis. The 328i M Sport driving experience is a very grip dominated one then.
At the top of Scheuren, we pause again to look at the sunset. A group of young men look with interest at my bright blue BMW. “Is that an M3?” one of them asks me. Nope! It’s just a plain 328i with deceptive M striping!
Sage whips the M Sport up and down Stunt Road. I am reminded of how well Stunt’s longer turns suit the demeanor of the 328i. You can build a flow on Stunt of gently transitioning from left to right as you steam up the hill, savoring long tastes of the BMW’s ample traction and torque. This road was good fun in the prior 328i loaner too.
We switch seats for the last time, and I take us down Saddleback. I don’t feel the need to flog the M Sport anymore. The 328i doesn’t quicken my pulse like sportier cars do, so why bother ripping through the darkness?
A huge full moon is rising in brilliant orange over the Los Angeles basin. I’d call it a harvest moon, but it’s the middle of summer. Sage and I stop for several minutes to take in this sight, dark mountains and pitch purple sea bounding an expansive plain of lit streets and buildings. How beautiful LA is from a distance! Actually, LA might be most beautiful from a distance!
The next morning I retrace my highway route back to Norwalk and the BMW dealership. The 30-minute ride gives me time to reflect on the M Sport. Of all the F30s I have driven, the M Sport is the best. The 2012 320d xDrive (328d in the USA) I drove in Germany was a great autobahn cruiser, comfortable, fast and efficient. However, the steering was completely numb, and xDrive removed thrill and adjustability from the 320d when I tried to tackle twisty hill roads. The 2015 328i loaner from a few months ago was a luxury trim model, and the car thus was inconsistent in its tuning philosophy. The luxury light steering lacked feel, and the soft tires and comfort seats let down the capable chassis.
Finally, here in the M Sport optioned 328i, I have the 3-series I expected all along but never found outside of the true M-division cars. The M Sport chassis, steering, and drivetrain are all tuned for performance and work together in consistent and coherent harmony. The recipe for the M Sport is 70% sport and 30% luxury; drive the M Sport as hard as you can on any road, and it performs admirably, but it also smooths and softens hard edges and sharp transitions that are encountered on the way. With its midrange turbo muscle, long-travel suspension and unflappable grip, the M Sport feels like Bavaria’s interpretation of a 2.0L rally car, hidden under the draping of luxury.
BMW has a well-conceived and executed car in the 328i M Sport. But does it match my tastes? I like the car for town and highway journeys; it is faster away from a stoplight than my E90 M3 yet gets much better fuel economy on the highway. The M Sport seats are better sculpted, and the ride is more compliant than the M3’s. If I was configuring a 3-series station wagon for my family, I would configure it like this car. (Alas, xDrive is required on 3-series wagons.)
For mountain or track driving, though, the M Sport is not what I want. Its driving interfaces are one or two steps removed from the vivid, sharp, tactile experience I crave as a driving enthusiast. Give me the ability to break traction with a harsh kick to the throttle, feel the jab of broken pavement in the seat, or crack home a hard upshift—these experiences are not available in the M Sport. For me, there are too many smoothed and smothered responses in the 328i M Sport, and it smooths and smothers my excitement for the car.
Mike's Steering Column 