F30 vs G20. What’s better?

[anonymous-user]

I once had a 335d (F30) and thought it was the best all rounder for me. Until it caught fire (EGR). Technology felt like it was getting a bit old and it had a manual handbrake etc.

I have a G20. 320d and it doesn’t have bags of torque but it feels sufficient. It has laser lights. Parking assist plus. Yet I still find myself missing the F30. Not just for the engine I had!

I am not looking for anyone to make me feel better about my buyers remorse. I guess I was connected with the F30 and invested in it (ACS RS, exhaust etc.).

Genuinely found myself questioning which is the better car. Doubting myself. Is the G20 really everything the F30 should have been?! Driven 16k miles but still not connecting with it.

Edited by Super_G on Saturday 13th February 15:48

[anonymous-user]

Which is why I said. Engine aside. Handling, interior, comfort, steering... looks... is the previous gen better?

[anonymous-user]

MarkJS said:

Funnily enough, I just added my thoughts on the G22 (v the F32) in this thread:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

I know it’s the coupe, but essentially the same car.

Thank you. I shall have a read now.

[anonymous-user]

g3org3y said:

Super_G said:

I once had a 335d (F30) and thought it was the best all rounder for me. Until it caught fire (EGR). Technology felt like it was getting a bit old and it had a manual handbrake etc.

I have a G20. 320d and it doesn’t have bags of torque but it feels sufficient. It has laser lights. Parking assist plus. Yet I still find myself missing the F30. Not just for the engine I had!

I am not looking for anyone to make me feel better about my buyers remorse. I guess I was connected with the F30 and invested in it (ACS RS, exhaust etc.).

Genuinely found myself questioning which is the better car. Doubting myself. Is the G20 really everything the F30 should have been?! Driven 16k miles but still not connecting with it.

Edited by Super_G on Saturday 13th February 15:48

What is it you miss about the older car?

I think it's difficult to make a fair comparison with a modified 335d and a standard 320d.

Touring442 said:

The big advances were made a long time ago. If you drove a very low mileage 325i from 2006 it would still be a really nice car. Not as fast/quiet/economical as a new one but it was exceptional then, good enough now, and you certainly knew you were driving a BMW. That seems to have been lost.

The E9X is an objectively good car despite lacking the tech/features of the newest stuff. How much the newer models bring the game forward in terms of actual driving experience (rather than infotainment etc), I don't know.

For me I think the seats were more comfortable. I regret spec’ing laser lights as LED were just fine. Clever marketing worked on me. The dash was less busy. The iDrive was more friendly. The technology was user friendly too. No navigating menus to turn the air con off. Press a button that’s it. No complicated main screen - even when you customise it, it looks busy. The Harman Kardon was louder than on the G20. The car was smaller. The steering was okay and didn’t feel as vague...

[anonymous-user]

Less electronic gremlins too. In the span of 1 year... my virtual live dash has died... cured with a software update... my keys stopped working... receiver and ring antenna replaced... two new keys provided... the auto hold had a mind of it’s own and was coming on even when not selected... a drivers mirror refused to unfold... the air con feels weak... the HK amp (RAM) was replaced under a PUMA as the bass cut out. I have had many BMW’s in the past but this takes the biscuit. The following day I had a medical appointment but couldn’t use the car and had to ask a neighbour for help. We don’t have Uber in rural Devon.

[anonymous-user]

Lane detect. No thank you.

[anonymous-user]

I made a really tough decision yesterday. Decided to throw in the towel on the G20. Personally for me I don’t think it’s the game changer it is made out to be. First year (and first world) problems aside, it’s not a massive leap forward. The suspension is a marked improvement but as said the iDrive is needlessly complicated, the dash cluttered, it feels numbing to drive and, soulless. If I could sum it up in a word it has no soul and feels anything but BMW. It’s good BMW have managed to keep handling and fun in mind for a car of this shape/size but I don’t jive with it and I think BMW performance is amiss. That’s what people may want in a car of this class. Something that can rival a C class for comfort. Had it since new and never really connected to it. No matter how hard I tried. It never excited me. I never felt happy to see it parked on the driveway. It’s a boring car. Period. Yesterday, the left active grill stopped working. The replacement? A 4 gran coupe, 440i. It will be nice to have electric memory seats as I forgot to tick the box on those. May be if the G20 was in manual guise I may have felt different. It’s a great car but not the car for me I am afraid. The sequential turbo trick of the old E series works well to a point. May be I just have a syndrome about 4 pots being lesser than 6. Typical BMW woman driver that I am about how size matters.

Edited by Super_G on Tuesday 16th February 10:53

[anonymous-user]

Olivergt said:

OP,

Does the new Gran Coupe have the "soul" that you were looking for? I know this seems to be a complaint on a lot of modern cars, they are too insulated and electric steering can be a bit wooden.

Hopefully the G20 has put some of the soul back in, as it does make all the difference between a good car and a bad car.



I have an old 3 series (2003 E46 325i) and it has plenty of "soul", all the touch points are nicely weighted, no iDrive, no fancy tech to go wrong (plenty of old tech to go wrong though )

I do know that the interiors on the E46's were better than the later F30's. Haven't been in a later G20 though.

I still have my ex-husbands E46 330ci!!! So I totally agree with the comments on the E46. Yes I think with a bit of TLC the GC can be a great car. May be ACS RS. Let’s see. Out of the box it’s not bad at all.

The G20 is so numb. The acoustic glass reduces noise. It just feels boring though. Then I thought gosh if all these bits are going wrong now imagine life out of warranty. It’s a shame. It’s great to look at. Might not be to everyone’s taste but it’s an example of too many electric nannies taking away from a true experience.

I read on here a while ago and it was quite true... BMW fans always kick up a stink when a new model comes out. How it’s not as good as the previous gen. Then people come around to the idea. Certain cars can get overhyped. The G20 had a lot of media for its Lexus design queues. Anyhow time to eat tea. Must dash.

[anonymous-user]

Ninja59 said:

Super_G said:

Less electronic gremlins too. In the span of 1 year... my virtual live dash has died... cured with a software update... my keys stopped working... receiver and ring antenna replaced... two new keys provided... the auto hold had a mind of it’s own and was coming on even when not selected... a drivers mirror refused to unfold... the air con feels weak... the HK amp (RAM) was replaced under a PUMA as the bass cut out. I have had many BMW’s in the past but this takes the biscuit. The following day I had a medical appointment but couldn’t use the car and had to ask a neighbour for help. We don’t have Uber in rural Devon.

The virtual Live dash was down to a bad OTA update that could brick the cars.

The mirrors are super common but bmw refuse to provide both are replaced until they are broken. One owner had his break on day 1, another got the driver side replaced only for the passenger to break the following day.

The amp issue seems common as well.

It is staggering that these basic fundamentals seem to be getting worse not better. As an owner of 640D I even find the G30 5 series penny pinching in some areas and the recent G20 I had I must admit I thought it was a step back from the F30's I had driven. In pure tech, it was a step on, but in so many ways it was a highly frustrating experience to drive around in the hvac system in particular for me the designer(s) should try to use whilst on the move.

As for the laser lights I honestly did not notice much rwal world difference.

Enjoy the 4 series GC driven a few and whilst the interior was not quite a 6 I enjoyed the smaller dimensions and slightly less weight than the 6.

Thank you that’s very insightful. I have a soft spot for the 640d but drive some tight country lanes. So bought an MX5 for that purpose after recommendations on here.

[anonymous-user]

RammyMP said:

Ninja59 said:

Super_G said:

Less electronic gremlins too. In the span of 1 year... my virtual live dash has died... cured with a software update... my keys stopped working... receiver and ring antenna replaced... two new keys provided... the auto hold had a mind of it’s own and was coming on even when not selected... a drivers mirror refused to unfold... the air con feels weak... the HK amp (RAM) was replaced under a PUMA as the bass cut out. I have had many BMW’s in the past but this takes the biscuit. The following day I had a medical appointment but couldn’t use the car and had to ask a neighbour for help. We don’t have Uber in rural Devon.

The virtual Live dash was down to a bad OTA update that could brick the cars.

The mirrors are super common but bmw refuse to provide both are replaced until they are broken. One owner had his break on day 1, another got the driver side replaced only for the passenger to break the following day.

The amp issue seems common as well.

It is staggering that these basic fundamentals seem to be getting worse not better. As an owner of 640D I even find the G30 5 series penny pinching in some areas and the recent G20 I had I must admit I thought it was a step back from the F30's I had driven. In pure tech, it was a step on, but in so many ways it was a highly frustrating experience to drive around in the hvac system in particular for me the designer(s) should try to use whilst on the move.

As for the laser lights I honestly did not notice much rwal world difference.

Enjoy the 4 series GC driven a few and whilst the interior was not quite a 6 I enjoyed the smaller dimensions and slightly less weight than the 6.

I’ve got a 2 year old Audi A6 with all sorts of electrical gremlins, I can’t wait to get shut of it and was thinking of either a 330i or 330d but after reading this it’s put me off!

I think if you know a decent service department and have time/patience to get things fixed then the findings seem to be that once things are fixed they generally don’t seem to be going wrong again.

I started a separate conversation in general gassing how technology is taking away from driver experience.

The A6 is nice. Shame you have problems with that.

Good luck with your decision when you do change.

By the time the lci model is out most issues would have been ironed out one hopes.

Edited by Super_G on Sunday 21st February 21:16

[anonymous-user]

ashenfie said:

Sounds fab to me, enjoy

Thank you

[anonymous-user]

RiccardoG said:

I don't understand why people are so focussed on quickly aging "tech" or things like soft vs hard plastic around the cabin as indications of "better". But aspects such as comfort / vibrations / noise are not brought into the mix.

And on this note, isn't one of the main improvements in G20 vs F30 the rolling refinement? From my (4hrs) experience a pre-LCI F31, it had a lot of road and wind noise making conversation even at ~70mph difficult front to rear.

From what I've read this is much improved in the G20/1? Genuine question, as I'd love an F31 but would be very dissapointed if its noisier than my E39. I do long road-trips where, over many hours driving, noise is one of the large elements of fatigue.

The G20 over-suppresses noise. There are strategically placed acoustic foam pads throughout the car. The cabin felt too pressurised for my liking. It reminded me of my Tesla Model S. Have a read up on Tesla cabin pressure. Yes you can have a conversation. Yes the stereo sounds better and therefore a lower powered amplifier is used. However, after a few hours the seat felt hard and I had to crack a window open. In fairness I have noticed cabin pressure issues were slightly decreased with air con on. With all the electronic nannies and single buttons being replaced by three sub menus... it seemed less driver focused to me. Other than people asking me whether it was a Lexus when I was getting the shopping out stood in front of the badge... I really didn’t connect with the car. The over engineered thing is not exclusive to BMW. The new S class will be a hoot with tech.