320d EfficientDynamics saloon

Good, but handling and early reliability/parts backup disappoint.

Chose this as a company car to replace a 2010 E90 318d. It was delivered 2nd week of March, making it one of the first "customer" F30s on the road. Unfortunately, I feel I may be paying the price for that privilege, more of which later.
I find the exterior styling much more pleasing than the F30s, with lots of nice design touches, particularly around the nose. Inside too, it is a vast improvement with better quality materials, and a nice mix of textures. Rear seat space is much improved over the E90, and as with all BMWs, the driver environment is first class. There is a huge range of adjustment on both seat and wheel, and a lovely sense of sitting "in" the car. The stubby gear lever falls perfectly to hand, the pedals (including the trade mark floor hinged throttle pedal) perfectly to feet, and the three spoke wheel feels chunky and is well positioned. Kit is good too, even without raiding the massive options list. Cruise, dual zone climate, parking sensors, i-Drive, electric windows and mirrors, keyless start and auto lights and wipers are all standard. That said, I was surprised to see that folding rear seats, and for proper iPod integration are options (albeit fairly cheap ones) on a £28k car.
On the move, the 2.0 diesel initially feels rather flat and reluctant, until you realise the car starts in its default 'ECO PRO' mode. This winds back the throttle response and the air conditioning for maximum economy, and tells you, via the computer readout, how many miles such economical driving has added to your tank range. It's nonsense, doesn't improve economy in my experience, and it's frustrating to boot. Best off to switch straight into SPORT mode, where the car performs quite frankly, brilliantly. Gutsy, responsive, and with a deeply impressive reserve of midrange shove, it rarely, if ever feels underpowered in any situation. It's very noisy though, with a rather uncouth grumble under hard acceleration. In fairness, it's very smooth, thanks to its sophisticated flywheel, and will happily take 1500 RPM in top without complaining, but refinement seems a generation behind the relative sweetness of a Renault dCi or Ford TDCi.
Calculated economy so far is averaging 52 mpg (against the computer's suggestion of 58 mpg), and is on a gentle upward trend as the engine loosens up. ECO PRO or SPORT mode seem to give similar results. 52 mpg is a mile away from its ridiculous combined figure of 69, but still impressive for a 140 mph, 5 seat saloon car in my opinion, especially as I do not drive it with economy in mind.
Although it rides better than the E90, handling is a huge disappointment in comparison. Every early review of this car involved a test example with the expensive optional Adaptive Suspension specified, and you can see why. Although it has beautiful balance, and classic RWD throttle adjustability, the set up on standard springs and dampers is disappointingly soft, with the resulting body roll making press on driving a fairly unpleasant affair. Perhaps more disappointingly, the lovely, unflappable feel of the old E90 is also missing, with the car bucking, floating and wallows, and feels out of its depth when driven as a BMW traditionally could be. I've driven a car with Adaptive, and it is completely different. You need to tick this expensive option if you want proper BMW handling.
So, it's a quick, well equipped, well screwed together, and economical car, there is no doubt about that. What it isn't so far, is particularly reliable. At just 8 weeks old, it not only has two faults (wipers have a mind of their own, don't self park, and stop at random, and the stop/start disable button no longwe works), but the replacement ECU to repair the problem is on back order from Germany, with a 3 week wait for the parts. The dealer is the same one I used for the E90, and they are faultlessly attentive and sympathetic, but they are hamstrung by BMWs parts backup.
A mixed bag, then. Definitely there is more good in this car than bad, but I don't equate it with the gushing reviews. A good car, yes. Perfect? Not even close.

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