[alpinewhite3]

I am coming from a G20 330i RWD. I know it may be odd for me to jump from a 3 to a 2GC and many on the 3 series forum will crucify me for heresy for even thinking about making the RWD to FWD bias switch but I have my reasons.

I liked the 3 but never really fell in love with it. While it has an excellent chassis, it's gotten way too big and it's just not an easy car to toss around. I don't particularly like the steering either. You can feel the size when driving, parking etc. I am solo commuter and i dont feel comfortable driving something that large day to day. It's just not fun.

I never really considered the 2GC until i saw one at the dealer and it *actually* wasn't in real life. It looked small and compact with similar dimensions to my old E90 330i.

Since these cars are impossible to find and drive, i thought i would ask the forum.

I test drove a base 228i WITHOUT the m sport and it was OK. To be fair i wasn't blown away or anything but it was pretty decent. I didn't particularly like the soft, loose steering. I did however absolutely love the size of the car. Even with the sloppy steering, it was agile and nimble and fairly tossable- Way better than my 330i. To be honest i couldn't tell the car was FWD. Interior quality, fit and finish, materials were actually pretty good and not far off from the 3 series.

There are no m-sport 228i's available to drive but the salesperson told me that he's driven both and the steering is much more direct and tighter with even better agility & nimble handling which really piqued my interest. I don't trust online reviews bc most of these people dismiss the vehicle for having a fwd bias. GTI?? Civic type R?? Mini?? In everyday driving those cars are arguably more fun to drive than most BMW's these days...

Opinions from someone who has driven the base 228 vs one with the M-sport. How much better ? 228i fwd m sport vs 228xi m sport drive feel ?

[cukeuk]

Can't help you with the 228 as it's not sold in our country, but just a thought, did you test drive with the different modes? Sports mode tightens things up a tad including the steering..

[alpinewhite3]

Originally Posted by cukeuk

Can't help you with the 228 as it's not sold in our country, but just a thought, did you test drive with the different modes? Sports mode tightens things up a tad including the steering..

To me the "sport" mode just adds artificial weight to the steering...it feels a bit unnatural. I prefer to leave it in comfort where it feels some what more linear.

I'm having an impossible time finding a singe 228i with the m sport package in the states. The base 228i felt agile and nimble but the front end was way too sloppy/wobbly.

I did find an M235 to test drive and it was much better. Super agile and nimble without the sloppy front end. I assume the m sports suspension in the 228i would feel similar but i have no way of testing it to confirm.

The m235 is probably the best recent BMW i've driven and IMHO far surpasses the 3 series in terms of agility and pure driving dynamics. It really gets a lot of hate and criticism but i think much of it is from people who have not driven one. I would get the 235 but its out of my budget.

[cukeuk]

I use sport individual and set the steering to comfort and the rest to sport

[J-RO]

I love my M235.