Picked up my new G20 yesterday.
330i xDrive in
Blue Ridge Mountain Metallic/Cognac interior. As tempted as I was to get a M340i, my daily commute is a lot of stop & go with little opportunity to use the 340's power, so the 330 just seemed the smarter choice for me.
Bonus pictures next to my wife's
Snapper Rocks Blue F36. Apologies for the poor garage lighting, I'll try to get both cars outside later.
Some initial impressions
Looks and feel:
-I think the G20 looks a LOT better in person than in the pictures we’ve all seen
-Build quality of the G20 is noticeably better than the F30 generation. Everything seems solid, from the dash parts to a solid door shutting sound.
-Interior design feels more upscale than previous generations. BMW’s designers must have been eyeing the C-Class and A4 when designing this interior
-The standard Sport steering wheel (not to be confused with the M-Sport wheel) finally has a nice and soft leather wrapping and feels good to grip, vs the plasticky-feeling grip of BMWs past
-However, Vernasca leather doesn’t seem much improved over Dakota. But I did sit in a Sensatec-equipped car at the dealer…wow, the G20’s Sensatec is seriously good and I actually might have picked that over leather if had the choice
Driving impressions:
-I also chose not to get M-Sport this time as I felt I could use a softer ride on the broken roads I drive daily. The car indeed feels softer and slightly bouncier than my old F30 M-Sport and even my wife’s F36 with xDrive. Yet it absorbs bumps nicely. Handling seems sharp enough in curves, and even feels better possibly due to the chassis rigidity
-Steering feels improved over the F30 generation. There is more sensitivity and precision in the wheel, and less of a “dead zone” at the center position. However, the feeling of the steering still pales in comparison to the E90.
-Power in the 330 indeed seems slightly greater than our F36 430.
Issues:
I've already have had some issues in the first 24 hours, all of which have to do with Connected Drive
-Not all features of Connected Drive were on initially. I had to go into the settings to turn on the Remote 3D View and “Hello BMW” functions. Both are now working. But the app itself last updated the car’s current status and location a few days ago.
-Profiles is something that my wife and I both use for when we switch cars. Apparently, profiles are now linked to the Connected Drive account...we're still trying to get that setup
-Apple CarPlay: My iPhone’s connection kept dropping repeatedly during the drive home and would require me to turn off/on the Bluetooth radio in order to re-connect. Eventually, I deleted the iPhone from the BMW and re-paired, and it has been flawless since *fingers crossed*