2014 BMW 328i xDrive Gran Turismo Long-Term Road Test - Wrap-Up

Edmunds.com

2014 BMW 328i xDrive Gran Turismo Long-Term Road Test - Wrap-Up

Edmunds' test of the 2014 BMW 328i xDrive Gran Turismo is complete after one year and 25,000 miles. Read all the details here.

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throwback

I don't understand BMWs model strategy. this is obviously a low volume niche model. That being the case, why not send us the wagon with AWD instead? If Americans "don't like hatches" why send us the less functional hatch?

mnorm1

$36,878 when new? Maybe. But $55,500? Not now, not new, not ever.

mittzombie

Looks like an Accord Crosstour except much less reliable. "drivetrain malfunction warning." in a brand new car is not a good sign.
The best thing about BMWs were the straight 6's, the turbo 4's will be a money pit.

kiiwii

$50k for this thing? US dollars no good anymore?

stiney

This IS a unique car except for the almost identical BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe

cbrandi

I can't imagine paying $55K+ for that car, a four cylinder econo sled. Seems crazy to get one.

huntzinger

The GT was leading my short list - - until two thngs happened.

The first was that I confirmed that BMW was shipping it with the insult of runflat tires and the additional injury of *NO spare tire wheel well* The observations that Mike Magrath made (cost, downtime, being stranded in 'nowhere') are all spot-on, although here in the NY/NJ area, we have a lot more bad roads which increases the frequency rates of runflat tire failures, which merely accentuates their shortcomings. As a result, the GT which I spec'ed out was ~$50K MSRP (before title/tax/fees). It would have been $49K, but I budgeted +$1K to replace the runflats with conventional tires immediately upon delivery.

The second was that I became aware of the Porsche Macan in the same basic price range. Having driven both, I found that the Macan provided superior driver UI feel in its steering, in its throttle, in its brake pedal modulation, plus the PDK transmssion is vastly superior as well. YMMV on how much of a driving affectionado one is to say what these differences are worth ($$), but the Macan is IMO in a higher performance class by virtually every metric.

For the latter, the question ultimately came down to price, and to what degree one could resist the temptation to load up on options. Keeping it simple (and no need to replace runflats), the Macan was $53,360 (before title/tax/fees) as delivered. My biggest complaint** about it is that it's height could be dropped by ~1.5" to make entry/exit easier for my petite wife ... plus that would make its already excellent handling even better.

-hh

** Edit: well, maybe not the _biggest_ complaint: the Macan is quite a deceptive vehicle, which is quite quiet and well mannered at speed, resulting in 60 feels like 40, 75 feels like 50, 90 like 65 ... which makes it hard to not drive it fast.

expensivehobby

At one point this car would have made a ton of sense for me. I still wanted something a little sporty, with the rock-steadiness at speed that nobody seems to do as well as BMW. With a 6'1 son and a 5'9 daughter, only an X3 or a 5 series would do then. The 3 sedan back seat was too small and so was the wagon's back seat. The only way I ever bought BMWs was CPO, so 55K was just a funny joke to me anyway. Yes, this would have been a perfect car had it been out a couple of years ago. Now, with those kids in college and my wife loving the Passat TDI we bought to reduce the car budget to accommodate the former, it's just a nice thought. But I still think there's a market for this car, a smallish BMW with ample room for 4.

tenstringer009

'After 25,000 miles we averaged 24 mpg, significantly shy of the 26 mpg combined EPA rating. Our best single tank was 33 mpg and the best single-tank range was an impressive 497 miles.'

Really? A ~10% difference between EPA estimates and actuals is 'significant'? There are so many variables that go into a vehicle's lifetime average that I have a hard time getting behind that. If we got some sense as to the % miles spent city vs. highway, then we could make a better judgement call (based on there being only one real road trip documented, Austin, my guess is it spent more time in the city/rush hour traffic than cruising the open highway). As it is, your best tank of 33mpg equals the EPA highway estimates (and my guess is the editors were probably driving faster than what the EPA tests call for). From the surface, it looks like the BMW met the EPA estimates.

nyccarguy

@huntzinger - You hit the nail right on the head! What is the purpose of this car? For the same $55K I was going to say you could get an X3 which will give you more cargo space & head room. Depreciation would be much less too. Nice job buying a low optioned Macan! I remember you from way back in the day. I think you had an MB C230 Kompressor Coupe.

robinolds

FWIW, my wife and I were loaned this car while our 2008 3-series hit the shop for some minor repairs at the 130K mile mark. After four days with the vehicle, we quickly pronounced the 3GT our next purchase. With a kiddo on the way, a Labrador that needs transportation from time to time, and a wife that prefers--make that much prefers--the dynamics of a car vice an SUV, this vehicle is a homerun. Over th course of the weekend, we did a full tank's worth of driving in city conditions in notoriously trafficy Seattle. I have no idea how the Edmunds testers got 14.9mpg with this car. I can't imagine that number being realistic for normal, daily, city driving.

In the end, this car delivers 90% of the 3-series driving experience. It does this while providing tons more cargo space than a normal 3-series, a far better backseat than a 3 series wagon, way better handling and mpg than an X3 (and comparable space), at a relatively competitive price point. Why all the hate for this car?

jmnteddy

I own the 2014 328i GT and I couldn't ask for a better vehicle. I previously owned a Toyota Highlander and I love the room that this style BMW gives me. It's fun to drive, better riding, great MPG I get 36 MPG on some trips and usually average between 29 to 33 MPG with a combination of driving. I like the looks of the vehicle and hope that BMW will continue to make this model. I bought this BMW used so the first owner lost out on the depreciation factor but that's with any new vehicle you drive it off the lot after it's been titled and it's a big hit on the wallet. I've put 10K miles on the vehicle in 6 months and love how it handles on the winding, curvy roads where I live. I'll never go back to a SUV.