VIDEO REVIEW: 2012 BMW 328i-Does It Deliver The Knockout Punch Again To Audi, MB, Lexus And The Rest?

Sounds like a solid upgrade from the E90.

Love the driver oriented dash, 4 cylinder has shaped up to very competent.
Don't like the storage area, cheapens the interior IMO.

Is the engine really that quiet at idle (didn't hear the engine at all even though it was on according to the tach)? And how does it sound at full throttle?

Has stop start technology so it turns off.

Very quiet when turned off ;)

001

Sounds great a full idle plus it has the best exhaust sound ever on a 328 with some real flap to it.

001

The twisty interior dash looks goofy. Stay with what works; clean, ergonomically flowing lines. The exterior's profile looks good.

Nice! With the improved interior, we can expect the competitors to step it up! :D This is going to be FUN! Let's hope the flagship models get heavily influenced as well!

Who cares? Each car here as its pluses and minuses. People buy what they like and what suits them. That's the way it always has been and always will be.

I dont like the Nav, looks gaudy, love the seats, and front head lights.

Totally agree with Willis! Also agree with WorldofLuxury, we should expect the competitors to step it up which is great for us the customers!

Interior still screams cheap compared to Audi and Lexus.

001 your intro starts off well, but then you forget to cover some of the same things you say car magazines don't cover. For example, what you didn't you like about the car?
Also, the interior is a small improvement from prior models that lacked any artistic influences or style, but nowhere near an A4 or C class. Its trying to catch up and doesn't succeed how much more redefine the benchmark.. Contrast stitching? Its about time they started using contrast stitching because the competition has had it for years.. I had a 3 series over 10 years and it was the class leader (by far) from a driving dynamics point of view..The competition has since closed up and done better on some models. 335 best engine..on what basis?? Not really.. it is consistently being outperformed by Audi's 3.0 in the S4. That said everyone has an opinion, so here's mine:

328 vs A4 2.0?...TBD
S4 > 335i
M3 > RS4

Thank you for your comments but here's the deal.

We only get the car for a short time and we must drive it with a partner so you are limited in what you can do because you don't want to impose on your partner from another media outlet and limit their time doing what they need to do.

And to do video, you need time, a good spot with reasonable lighting and privacy so it can be quiet etc. but unfortunately we don't get that.

So most to the time is spent finding nice spots to photograph the car in detail.

Basically, I have a 30 minute window at the end of the drive when I drop my partner back off at the hotel to race and find a reasonably quiet place and pretty much one or two takes on the video that I do myself (setup, filming, EVERYTHING). And then we need to edit quick and post because I believe the MOST important thing is not a perfect video review but one with LOTS of details about the car that is posted QUICKLY so you get it FAST.

NOW, if I was with one of those mags, 85 PR people would be falling all over us, they would get a private place to have the car by ourselves for a day and have many other resources at our disposal.

Unfortunately, that's still the reality today.

Even though they invite internet people, deep down in the fabric of the auto companies they truly believe the only coverage of real value is glossy mags.

To them, the internet is a necessary evil.

They still don't get it that the premium buyer gets their info here and a from other websites MORE than they get it from magazines.

So yes, I miss some things in the videos because the segments are shot totally under the gun, so sorry.

But that's also why I think they are more valuable because they are not SLICK and super produced. Just REAL.

The good news is YOU the readers like outs stuff better than theirs and we constantly get more views.

How many more views?

Here's just a sample:

Audi A6 review YouTube- AutoSpies.com review 343,815 views. Motor Trend review of same car from same event 63,437 views.

That's the only thing that matters to us. That we WIN.

001

Spending money in no way makes you qualified or unbiased about a car review. Some individuals are trustworthy and some are not. Overall, your reviews are trustworthy if a little corny.

I think ,performance wise, it will be good, but design, inside and outside, the C and the A4 are better (IMO). Specially the design of the hood that like the ISF, looks likes was designed wrapping the engine.

001 understood that you get limited time, and the review was good for the amount of time you had.. but there must be something you don't like about the car. There are things I don't like about cars I love overall.. Also, everyone is biased..the real question is to what degree. Numbers can help level the playing field, but you always wonder how they were generated.. Then styling, interiors etc... gets more subjective

For those making comments about the interior, it does not look cheap in any way. Will be interesting to see how long that turbo 4 lasts under normal driving conditions.

Ummm, yes it does...
The BMW crowd really seems to have pretty low standards for their precious. Yes this is an attractive car and I am sure it performs as it should but by no means is it perfect. It has plenty of flaws...

The front of the car is slowly growing on me. Overall it's a winner, from engine, transmission,fit and finish, design inside and out, to performance, best in class - period.

Design is outdated........

I have a feeling this car is going to look great in person! Every review on it so far has been very positive so far.