Comments by "Alex" (@pascutia) on "How This BMW Burned To the Ground - Respect The Drive Podcast Ep. 2" video.

  1. Enjoyed watching this in the morning. Question: why was the new 3 series so bad? Besides the rattling interior, did it not drive well? It looked pretty good in the video. I haven’t had the chance to drive one yet, so I’m curious. Also, you hit the nail right on the head with the F30. My dad owns a 328i stick, and other than it being stick, it doesn’t have much going for it. The interior’s super cheap compared to the E90, the steering’s awful, the suspension’s floaty, and it doesn’t ride well. Surprisingly, I enjoy the N20 motor. Best turbo 4 I’ve driven so far in terms of smoothness and power delivery!
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  2.  @swishchee  Yes, the NA straight six isn't nearly as potent as the N20, but it was much smoother and it sounded great. It also doesn't have the issues the N20 has. We're trying to decide right now whether to do the timing chain guides preemptively or to drive it until it goes. It's a common problem with this engine. We weren't aware of this issue when we got it, but it's fairly common. I wouldn't get an early N20 because of this issue (pre 2015). The B48 seems like it's built much better than the N20 was. The key to extend the life of the N20 is to do frequent oil changes, turn the start/stop off, and to not lug it. Ours is a manual so I always make sure to keep it at least at 2k rpms. It does get really good fuel economy, though. On the highway at 80-90, it consistently gets 31-33 mpg which I think is very good for what it is. In my mind, the rest of the car is a disappointment. The steering's awful, the interior is a step down quality-wise from the E90, and the ride is a mess on the base suspension. It has a good amount of roll, yet it doesn't absorb bumps well. Whenever I drive an E90/E46/E39, it's like seeing an old friend again. With older BMWs, it didn't matter if it was a base model as they were pretty good to drive because of the steering/suspension turning. BMW still hasn't quite figured out electric steering. I think it might actually be on purpose, as it seems like they're trying to filter out everything that's coming from the road.
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