128i test drive.

[abqhudson]

Yesterday I drove a 128i convertible from Albuquerque, NM to El Paso, TX - moving the BMW "Komen Drive for the Cure" Cars to their next stop. I found the car to be very impressive and the computer said 30 MPG for the 267 mile drive at about 75 mph or so.
The Chassis/Suspension (quiet and stiff) seemed to me to be an improvement over my 2005 E46 coupe on about the same order as the improvement from E36 to E46. I did notice the shorter wheelbase on a couple of rough/uneven patches where the car felt a little more unsettled than my E46 might. The car cornering was very flat and I noticed that the Goodyear runflats were noticeably less harsh and noisy than I have experienced during drives of the new 3 series cars. This is the first car with runflats that I felt was acceptable in terms of ride quality and noise level. The sport seats felt a little narrower than the sport seats in my e46, but, no complaints.
All in all, I think this car is a winner - now, I just have to get over the runflat/no spare issue.

Jim
2005 325I Coupe
2004 530I

[Tom K.]

I'm not surprised about the Goodyear NCT5's ride as they are classified by Tire Rack as "Grand Touring Summer" tires. How did you find the handling? So far, albeit with only 300 miles on my 128i cv, I'm happy by how well they stick - at least on dry roads.

Having put 30k miles on a Z4 with RFTs and no problems, the only real issue for me is the price - and limited availability due to the sport package's staggered front/rear wheel sizes.

Glad to hear you got 30 mpg at speed - my first tank was only 23.5, but for break-in, I suppose that's not too bad.

[abqhudson]

Of course, I didn't push it too hard. I thought the car handled real BMW-like. The ride was not as stiff as the sport packages I have been used to - I replaced my sport package shocks with Koni FSDs.

[Stinger9]

It's usually easy to get 32 mpg if I'm on the highway most of the ride. I wonder why the new breeds of BMW are going backward in mileage?