Racking up 4,500 miles in August provided plenty of seat time in the Bimmer (and had us stressing about our lease's mileage limit).
The BMW's odyssey began in Los Angeles and took the car first to Phoenix and then to Santa Fe before finally arriving in Denver. Over the course of this journey our editor-in-chief went from hating the BMW's seats to liking them, but only after he figured out how to use them properly.
Unlike so many automotive seats, the BMW's sport seats have a very specific ergonomic design, leaving little room for error on the part of the driver. On the Los Angeles to Phoenix leg, our editor was left with an arching back and a temporary loss of circulation to his right leg. The same problems occurred on the Phoenix to Santa Fe trip, convincing our driver that the sport seats just plain suck.
But on the Santa Fe to Denver portion of the trip, Mr. Wardlaw left the cruise control off most of the time, forcing him to remain in the proper seating position for the entire drive. To his pleasant surprise, he arrived in the Mile High City feeling fine, and a little wiser as to the ways of Bavarian engineering. BMW obviously designed their sport seats with the proper driving position in mind. Stay in that position and everything will be fine. Flop in the driver's seat as if it's a beanbag (something many drivers do once the cruise control is engaged), and your body will pay the price.
Another issue made apparent during our highway jaunt was the utter smoothness of the 2.8-liter inline six. In fact, the engine's smoothness and the 328i's well-insulated cabin made it easy to forget to shift when cruising at high speeds. Before leaving the Los Angeles metroplex, our editor found himself driving at 60 mph in third gear, with only a casual glance at the tach to inform him that it was time to upshift. Doh! Maybe this is why they don't make Lexus vehicles with manual-shift trannys.
The 328i didn't spend all of its time on the freeway. In-town driving was also experienced, and while the engine remained smooth, we found it difficult to pull away from a stop or perform a first-to-second upshift without jerking our passengers' heads back and forth. A high level of concentration, along with a careful application of clutch and throttle, are required to keep the Bimmer smooth at low speeds. The price of driving a driver's car?
While the shift action could be labeled as challenging, the buzzy bass coming from our Harmon Kardon speakers was downright annoying. The problem is less severe when listening to the radio, but throw in a cassette tape and it's pure "Pffffttttthhhhhzzzzz" for the low frequencies. This is unacceptable in a $39,000 vehicle.
The BMW will soon go in for service and to check on a vibration when applying the brakes. We'll also have them check for a blown speaker and see if they can reattach the rearview mirror that was knocked off while cleaning the inside of the windshield. Our head editor doesn't normally use so much force when cleaning a car's windows, but he had applied Armor All glass cleaner to the windshield instead of his old standby, Windex. The Armor All not only didn't clean the glass, it left horrid streaks and smudges all over it, forcing him to apply Windex and a good deal of elbow grease to remove them. Unfortunately, some of that elbow grease encountered the rearview mirror.
Other notes of interest were the positive reviews of the Xenon headlights, especially during a late-night downpour in Nebraska (while the BMW was on its way to Michigan). Not so positive was our editor's realization that hitting "auto" on the climate-control panel was not as "auto" as he expected. While you can set the inside temperature for 65 degrees, you still have to push the air-conditioning button to actually cool things off. Just hitting "auto" will not engage the A/C, resulting in hot air being blown in your face.
Mr. Wardlaw insists that the rear seat deserves more respect than certain Edmunds.com staffers have given it. He tried sitting his 6-foot, 230-pound frame in the back seat while his 6-foot-1-inch, 260-pound friend sat in front of him. Both of them were comfortable, though Mr. Wardlaw does admit that only two adults would be comfortable back there, effectively making the 328i Sedan a four, not five, passenger vehicle.
Also noted during the month of August was the troublesome nature of the radio and navigation system. Because these two items are both controlled by the navigation screen, it can be a pain to switch back and forth between them. The problem wasn't as severe once the BMW crossed from California into Arizona, because the GPS system was useless after that. A new mapping CD will have to be ordered now that the car is stationed in Denver. A new CD, however, won't stop the GPS screen from washing out in bright sunlight.
The BMW is scheduled for a dealer visit to check the brake pulsation and buzzy stereo, as well as to fix the dislodged rearview mirror. We were anxious to get the car in, but a call to Ralph Schomp BMW in Denver, on August 19, got us the next available service appointment...on September 8. Call us demanding, but a three-week wait for dealer service seems a bit unreasonable. Ralph Schomp is one of only three BMW dealers in the Denver area, which likely contributes to the difficulty in scheduling repairs, but what if we had a serious problem that needed immediate attention?
Total Odometer Reading: 14,672
Best Fuel Economy: 31.0 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 19.1 mpg
Body Repair Costs: $0
Maintenance Costs: $0
Problems: Pulsation in brake pedal and steering wheel when using moderate pressure to stop or slow down, crappy bass from Harmon Kardon stereo when playing tapes.
