420d 2.0 M Sport Auto LCI 5dr Hatchback

surprised to be disappointed

Had this on extended rental and was excitedly anticipating having some fun drving a fine handling RWD BMW as a change from my other car. Looks nice on the drive other than the stupid boomerang decorations on the front wings.
But, I can only assume the 420d auto is just not the variant to get.
You have to put up with an unpleasant and surging buzzing vibration from the engine which is felt through the steering wheel and pedal, the engine noise itself is a truly unrefined diesel clatter although at motorway speed it does blend out some. I really dont see why BMW cant design an engine mount to eliminate this. Not a fan of the (manual) mechanism that adjust the driver's seat either.
A 8 speed auto in a diesel - honestly this is just silly. In Auto mode it simply never knows which gear to be in, regularly shuffling 2 or more gears to get to a usable one and hesitating for seemingly ages in the process. In manual/paddles it is near impossible to keep track of where you are in the box and the gear indicator is too small to glance at. 6 spd at most is all that is necessary with the torque spread of diesel and turbo petrol.
Putting it in Sport mode does help but you also get a fantastically Jap-chav option of 2 power/torque dials on the display. Laughed at once and never to be viewed of again. Chav Junk.
Nice to see a proper handbrake but even this is set too far rearwards to be anything other than a token to say it has got one.
The iDrive is indeed much better than of old but there are still too many idiosyncracies that have you fumbling around whilst trying to keep your eyes on the road, the voice command works pretty well, the touch on the joystick is inconsistent in its implementation Consdiered as a whole the interior dash though just appears to be a well intentioned but rather unsuccessful jumble of controls that begs to be streamlined.
So the driving experience - well really not what I hoped for at all. Chassis is good and stiff, though road studs (and other UK road "features" are hiit hard and thump through the cabin, but otherwise suspension is firm with enough complaince for daily use. I've always enjoyed BMWs in the past for being 10 tenths cars ie they behave nicely if you overdo it a bit and get near the limit and this is true here. Actually the harder you drive the more you can reveal its competence, but on the street you just dont drive like that all the time and this becomes the biggest frustration of all, Dive through eg a roundabout in a civilsed but meaningful way and the car is just not consistent, sometimes it will push the front wide, other times it will balance, the gearbox frequently compromises matters too as does the rather dead and oddly weighted steering, but neatly clipping apexes in a satisfying way is just an unsatisfying hit and miss affair at modest speeds. Just really exactly what you don't expect from a BMW and definitely not as BMWs I've driven in the past. I have been trying to rationalise it and can only conclude that it is a suspension issue, when lightly loaded it doesnt cut it, but when leant on hard (and far more than you really want to be doing regularly in the street) it does come alive.
45mpg fuel economy not exactly stellar either, predicatbly a mile away from the claimed 55+ mpg, you could probably get more with a lighter right foot but it is supposed to be a drivers car after all.
I really wanted to enjoy this car but came away disappointed and unssatisfied and would have to say look elsewhere in BMWs range for driving enjoyment as this model is trading on BMWs reputation not more than its ability, even if exterior styling is mostly a win.

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