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2019+ BMW 3 AND 4-SERIES FORUMS (G2x Generation) General G20 Sedan / G22 Coupe / G26 Gran Coupe Discussions G20 330i test drive review

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      02-23-2019, 06:08 PM   #1
geddylee
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G20 330i test drive review

I’m a current owner of a 2018 340i with Msport. I’ve also owned two E90’s and two E46’s.

Today I drove a well equipped luxury G20 as they didn’t have an Msport available for test drive.

What’s good

As stated in other reviews the chassis is a bit more buttoned down than the F30 but it was not drastically better imo. With the new size of the car it feels more like an E39 than a 3 series of old.

The steering, while better is still miles away from BMW’s of lore. The dead spot in center seems to be gone and the rack is noticeable quicker than before.

The interior overall is better, but there is still cost cutting to be found if you look hard enough. They also used a wide variety of materials on the dash that don’t make the interior as cohesive as an Audi A4 for example.

The new 4 cylinder motor in the car might be the biggest improvement at all. It’s more responsive, more refined, which substantially more torque across the rev range.

What’s bad

The digital instrument cluster looks awful and is miles behind the competition. Personally I’d pay more for an analog gauge cluster. The BMW cockpit lacks sharp graphics of the Audi and following the horizontal nature of it is just totally confusing.

The handling is nothing to impressive, when thrown into hard corners it understeered badly and the tires lacked grip to keep of with the chassis- it’s stilk miles from the E90 which to be fair is a much smaller car now.

While the steering has improved it’s still extremely light and numb which BMW enthusiasts will not like.


I’d like to drive an Msport for a more fair comparison but I don’t see this car being big return to BMW glory as of right now.

Last edited by geddylee; 02-23-2019 at 07:04 PM..
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      02-23-2019, 08:24 PM   #2
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Nice write up, appreciate it. But to be fair, If you want to evaluate the new car’s handling and steering capabilties. A luxury non-M sport 330i prolly isn’t the best one. Atleast an M sport , or M340i would be even better. A base 3 series will always be the most soft and less engaging of a drive.
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      02-23-2019, 10:27 PM   #3
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I drove a 330xi M-sport today. I pushed it hard through 2 roundabouts while in SPORT. The steering wasn’t light at all. Not as much feedback as a good old hydraulic set up, but definitely not light.

I got the back end to break loose for a split second. I wasn’t trying that hard since it wasn’t my car, but grip was good and it didn’t understeer.

You should try an M-sport when your dealer has one available.
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      02-24-2019, 12:59 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by geddylee View Post
The digital instrument cluster looks awful and is miles behind the competition. Personally I’d pay more for an analog gauge cluster. The BMW cockpit lacks sharp graphics of the Audi and following the horizontal nature of it is just totally confusing.
I think analog gauge is standard without tech/Nav, correct?
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      02-24-2019, 03:22 AM   #5
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I checked out live cockpit today. I've owned an a4 with Audi virtual cockpit for a bit over 2 years now and the graphics on the BMW seem just as high res if not higher for the speedometer etc than my current car. the touchscreen and responsiveness is much better. I felt like it was a very nice system, I lived that it had both touch and the know, it's so much better than being limited to just one or the other
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      02-24-2019, 06:47 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bavarianride View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by geddylee View Post
The digital instrument cluster looks awful and is miles behind the competition. Personally I’d pay more for an analog gauge cluster. The BMW cockpit lacks sharp graphics of the Audi and following the horizontal nature of it is just totally confusing.
I think analog gauge is standard without tech/Nav, correct?
Correct. My build without Navi. So no need to pay more for analog...it's free!
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      02-24-2019, 02:24 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xraymd View Post
I drove a 330xi M-sport today. I pushed it hard through 2 roundabouts while in SPORT. The steering wasn’t light at all. Not as much feedback as a good old hydraulic set up, but definitely not light.

I got the back end to break loose for a split second. I wasn’t trying that hard since it wasn’t my car, but grip was good and it didn’t understeer.

You should try an M-sport when your dealer has one available.
I'm eagerly looking forward to it.
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      02-24-2019, 02:46 PM   #8
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+1 for analogue gauges. That LCD Fab needs to die.
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      02-27-2019, 06:17 PM   #9
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Just test drove a M-Sport, felt like it wanted to be a 5er too much to me. Really plush and comfy but couldn't whip it around as much as I would have liked. Drove it in Sport mode in Manual mode.
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      02-28-2019, 08:23 AM   #10
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I'd personally say that the resolution and graphics on the digital cluster is pretty sharp and attractive. I've tried it in the new X5 so I'm not sure how different it is from that but watching it in action I noticed how sharp the display was and the refresh rate is great too as I didn't notice and laggy animations.

The one thing that bugs me is the lack of customization which is the whole point of a digital cluster. Audi 100% is the best at this and even Mercedes is ahead on this with their newer systems. I don't think the space in the middle is utilized to it's full potential and BMW should include an option to display traditional style gauges similar to the digital cluster option in the newer F30 models.
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      02-28-2019, 08:02 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TWD1775 View Post
Correct. My build without Navi. So no need to pay more for analog...it's free!
I have the base model, just picked it up. The gauges are analog looking but not physically analog. They are digital analog gauges, if that makes sense. And I feel like the speedometer calibration is OFF!
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      02-28-2019, 10:15 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RichG330i View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by TWD1775 View Post
Correct. My build without Navi. So no need to pay more for analog...it's free!
I have the base model, just picked it up. The gauges are analog looking but not physically analog. They are digital analog gauges, if that makes sense. And I feel like the speedometer calibration is OFF!
The calibration issue seems to be common. The speedos on my E92 and F30 (and my wife's Mini) all showed about 3 mph faster than the actual speed.
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      02-28-2019, 10:21 PM   #13
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Garage List
isn't that how bmw has done on purpose for ages?
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      03-01-2019, 12:48 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TWD1775 View Post
The calibration issue seems to be common. The speedos on my E92 and F30 (and my wife's Mini) all showed about 3 mph faster than the actual speed.
That's a regulatory safety buffer. Manufacturers sure could get into trouble if they shipped a car from the factory that understated the speed you're doing.
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      03-01-2019, 06:24 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NYC_340i View Post
I don't think the space in the middle is utilized to it's full potential and BMW should include an option to display traditional style gauges similar to the digital cluster option in the newer F30 models.
Amen!
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      03-01-2019, 11:34 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RichG330i View Post
I have the base model, just picked it up. The gauges are analog looking but not physically analog. They are digital analog gauges, if that makes sense. And I feel like the speedometer calibration is OFF!
This sucks, but I'd still take them over the Digital Cockpit garbage. I wouldn't remove NAV for it though.
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      03-02-2019, 03:47 PM   #17
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Test drove a msport 330 about a week ago. Didn't care for the map in the center of the digital dash as you really couldn't do anything other than turn it off and on and there is so little detail to it. Also the brakes seemed really weak. Was feeling like I really had to apply pressure the last few feet of a stop. More than my x5.
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      03-03-2019, 03:34 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BLU135i View Post
Test drove a msport 330 about a week ago. Didn't care for the map in the center of the digital dash as you really couldn't do anything other than turn it off and on and there is so little detail to it. Also the brakes seemed really weak. Was feeling like I really had to apply pressure the last few feet of a stop. More than my x5.
The brakes appear to be garbage. Back to the single piston front calipers from the early F30's.
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      03-03-2019, 08:31 PM   #19
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I've owned an e90 and f30 335 RWD. Both through European Delivery which was memorable. It's subjective but I find the G20 to be a very bland car. If I didn't know that it was a BMW, I wouldn't know what brand it was. I also wasn't impressed with the interior. I saw the Genesis G70 the other day at a dealer and it looked great; inside and out. I'll take a test drive of the 3.3T and see how I like it. There won't be a G 20 for me.
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      03-03-2019, 08:44 PM   #20
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How does one try and compare a Hyundia to a BMW? At the end of the day there is no substitution for the quality of materials you will find in the BMW versus the Hyundia. Plus the Hyundai will loose 50% of its value the day you sign the papers. Just my 2 cents.

Quote:
Originally Posted by martyl View Post
I've owned an e90 and f30 335 RWD. Both through European Delivery which was memorable. It's subjective but I find the G20 to be a very bland car. If I didn't know that it was a BMW, I wouldn't know what brand it was. I also wasn't impressed with the interior. I saw the Genesis G70 the other day at a dealer and it looked great; inside and out. I'll take a test drive of the 3.3T and see how I like it. There won't be a G 20 for me.
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      03-03-2019, 08:46 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by martyl View Post
I've owned an e90 and f30 335 RWD. Both through European Delivery which was memorable. It's subjective but I find the G20 to be a very bland car. If I didn't know that it was a BMW, I wouldn't know what brand it was. I also wasn't impressed with the interior. I saw the Genesis G70 the other day at a dealer and it looked great; inside and out. I'll take a test drive of the 3.3T and see how I like it. There won't be a G 20 for me.
I think I agree with this consensus. I think the F30 was so disappointing that a modest improvement just isn't' going to bring the 3 series back. This car needed radical change to bring it back to the top of the heap and it just isn't there.


Biggest changes I can remember that stood out -

Digital dash - which I think looks terrible but your mileage may vary

Steering is marginally better

The car is longer

The brakes are a downgrade

The interior materials are mostly nicer
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      03-04-2019, 02:08 AM   #22
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Serious question - why do they have to keep increasing the size of the 3 series with every generation? I mean it has to stop at some point right? The F and now the G series are so big, it's almost comical.
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