I was saying this myself after we leased that F30 328i Michelle had for a few years. It was a really nice car, but not a driver like the D. I remember the 1st time driving the 328, thinking to myself “this can’t be a BMW 3’er.” It wasn’t bad, just not the same. It’s an important nuance only true car enthusiast drivers notice.
BMW’s tone-setter is the 3 Series. It’s the car that BMW built its reputation on. So when the 3 Series goes soft, the rest of BMW goes soft too and the F30 seems to be the point when it all changed for BMW, when it began chasing mainstream success and widespread consumer popularity. There’s no question, the F30 had a broader customer appeal than the E90 and it probably made BMW more money. But the E90 was a better BMW and there hasn’t been a better 3 Series since.
