DukeTrout Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 I rented a BMW 320d 6MT in Berlin last week. That was a nice little car to play with. Very good in the city. Not sure it's what I'd want for driving around our more open country roads, though. If I live in one of the more traffic-congested cities in the US, I'd be dying for one. First off, the diesel engine is very nice. Prodigious torque available right at idle. Very easy to drive the 6 speed, light and responsive, and all that torque means that it's easy to drive in heavy, stop-n-go traffic, too. No left-leg workout, just shift on, shift off, shift on, shift off... You can break the rears loose on acceleration without trying, with a 2.0l engine. Nice. The down side is that the engine is alive in the low rpms, but falls flat at about 2500. Where our turbo 2.5s come alive, the 320d dies off. For me, that's not as much fun. But if you're stuck for an 1.25 hours in crappy Berlin rush-hour traffic, it's easier to get around in and gets good mileage, even at Euro diesel prices, too. The only other complaint I had was the Nav unit. Very difficult to use, and sent me in the wrong direction several times. I can't believe anyone complains about the OEM Nav in the spec.B after driving around with the BMW Nav for a week. The only person who could really feel comfortable with that interface would have to be someone who was raised from the age of 5 to use iDrive. Ich bin echt viel netter, wenn ich nuechtern bin. Echt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 If you liked the car you should look into the Alpina version. Alpina fixes the higher RPM shortfall I think they get like 200hp out of the motor and some nice torque gains too. IDrive can be a pain if you've never used it before, I did a lot when I worked for BMW so I'm used to it and like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeTrout Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 I doubt Hertz rents the Alpina version. Too bad, though... I could see iDrive growing on you after a while, but why make something that should be so simple, so complex? So that it's hard for someone who steals the car to use the Nav?? Ich bin echt viel netter, wenn ich nuechtern bin. Echt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penguin Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 I doubt Hertz rents the Alpina version. Too bad, though... I could see iDrive growing on you after a while, but why make something that should be so simple, so complex? So that it's hard for someone who steals the car to use the Nav?? Once you find out where things are, you can use the system without looking at it as much. You can just reflexively get to the function area you want to be in and start doing stuff just by glancing over at it while you make commands. Like I said it takes time to get used to it, but once you do it's like having a mouse to make selections vs. an idiot touch screen designed for retards that work in fast food (no offense to retarded people they didn't get a choice in the matter). One big advantage is that you can use iDrive when the vehicle is in motion, the touch screens and other systems force you to be at a stop to enter nav inputs. The problem it sounds like you had was in route selection, next time go in and select the route selection and it will give you a bunch of choices on what kind of route you want. For all we know the previous renter told the car to avoid toll roads, or highways, or take only highways, or avoid ferries. Who knows, but I have found that selecting the shortest route is almost always the best idea. just for future reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeTrout Posted May 3, 2007 Author Share Posted May 3, 2007 Thanks for the tips! Ich bin echt viel netter, wenn ich nuechtern bin. Echt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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