E90 BMW 328i vs F30 BMW 328i Comparison by Road & Track

Road and Track, a U.S. publication, compares the previous generation BMW 328i E90 against the new F30 328i.  The new generation F30 328i has moved away from the six-cylinder engine and changed into four-cylinder turbocharged units, which not all 3 Series fans were happy about. The 2.0 liter I4 delivers 240 horsepower and 255 lb-ft of torque, compared with 230 horsepower and 200 lb-ft of torque found in the previous E90 328i. So what has changed and what is the direction of the 3 Series and the industry that follows it? Learn more on the excerpt from their review:

On rough roads, the F30 Sport-pack rides better than the non-Sport E90, likely thanks to its adaptive suspension. The F30 also seems quieter at first, but the racket transmitted from front-end bumps is surprising, and at highway speeds, the sunroof produces too much wind noise to leave open. Neither is a problem on the old car.

The new car’s electrically assisted power steering is quite good (and, thanks to software updates, will likely get better), but it’s not great, and when it occasionally communicates what the chassis is doing, it tells you what just happened. The E90′s hydraulic steering, by contrast, tells you what’s about to happen. That’s an important distinction as you’re approaching the limits of a car’s suspension: “Dude, you’re sideways” is a different thing from “Don’t feed in any more throttle, because your rear tires are about to break traction.”

So far, it’s a toss-up. But then we come to the engine. The E90′s musical straight-six dominates the experience from the second you start it, the cabin buzzing with excitement from idle to redline. You feel the engine’s subtle vibes in the shifter and row the gears just for the fun of it.

Read full review at Road & Track