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-   -   Crossing the thin redline into madness. Meet Red, my old new BMW 328i (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/204534-crossing-thin-redline-into-madness-meet-red-my-old-new-bmw-328i-2.html)

Thank you, thank you. I aim to please.

Thank you! Very pleased to hear I made sense. Always a bonus with me.

Thanks man! Will figure out how to share a video of it, but will share a few more pics of the setup.

Arre don’t cry, Pushpa. I’ll stick around and keep updating things. For sure.

Thanks man. Hope you find a fantastic steed worthy of your stable.

Very, very similar indeed, almost everything including our rides of choice. Even the fact that we switched from the devil’s juice to dino juice!

I’ve heard of your 3 with the adaptive suspension, it sounds fantastic. Would love to check it out soon-ish.

I know, I moved as quickly as I could on this since I really, really wanted to close this one. There was a blue 328i, roughly the same vintage, run less up for grabs in South Bombay at the time for a few lakhs more. But this was the one.

First of all, congratulations on your beautiful car. Red 328i is one of the best looking cars on Indian roads. And it is a rare combination (in the red color). You are very lucky to have found one. Congratulations once again!

And what an awesome write-up! This is one of the best reviews I have read. Very entertaining and yet very insightful. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. You have a great writing style. And what amazing pictures! The photos here are the great examples of best angles to photograph the 3-series.

In fact, you are driving my dream car. See here, this is my screensaver. Same car, same color, in the same alloy wheel design too.




Last year, I too was on a lookout for a pre-owned 3-series, and would have loved to have a 328i. However, I wanted cars within warranty and BSI, and with that constraint added, I did not find even a single 328i in the market. Finally settled on a 320d - but it is still a Red 3-series with the same black sports interiors with those lovely sports seats - and I do share your joy to a large extent!

You are spot on with your observations about most things in the F30 3-series. Regarding the suspensions, thankfully the suspensions were improved in the LCI and a lot of floatiness that you mentioned is gone in the post-LCI 3-series.

My apologies but but could not resist sharing a couple of pictures of my Red 3-series here:


She looks beautiful even when dirty:


Congratulations once again and wish you many happy miles!

Congratulations man. The 328i is one hell of a car. Had driven one during my search for a used one last year. Thoroughly enjoyed the review. Your writing style is on another level.

Thank you saar. Glad to have hit the spot.

Amazingly, a friend of mine picked up a red 328i 2 months before me. Despite being a 2013 car, it still has a few years worth of BSI left on it. Lucky guy!

Yes, so I hear. Glad they sorted it out.

No apologies needed. The world needs more red BMW's!

You're too kind. Muchas gracias.

What a fantastic report on a great little car! Thoroughly entertaining and a joy to read!

The 328i was launched at a time when the only other remotely affordable petrol car available from the BMW stable was the Z4. Everything else was north of 1 CR, and the fact that BMW made it available in limited numbers meant that it was that much more special.

The colour too is spot on! How you managed to find such a clean example with so few kilometers on the clock is beyond me! You've struck gold, as far as I and most other petrol heads here are concerned!

A video of the exhaust note would be nice! ;)

Looking forward to the update on the Bilstein installation.

Enjoy in good health, and do keep this thread alive with periodic updates! :)

Finished reading in one go - quite an achievement for me in my own procrastinated world of khyaali pulao.
Still not able to figure out whether your red hawwt chic has more flair than your charismatic penning of so vivid emotions. As someone rightly said, bas kar yaar, rulayega kya!!!

Thanks man, glad to hear you had a fun time poring over it!

It's quite amazing really. My friend and I were both looking for 328i's, and we went to see one at Infinity Worli. It was a rattlesnake, and just so poorly maintained. Really bummed me out. But then he found one 2-3 months before me, and this popped up out of nowhere, and the rest is history. Really quite incredible that such a clean example landed in my lap when I wasn't even looking.

I agree, will put up that too. I'm just figuring out how to do it right since I don't want to record it on mobile, even if in 4K, since it simply wouldn't capture the audio correctly. I'll figure this out and put it up soon, promise. The Bilstein's have arrived, just need to go get it installed soon-ish. Can't wait to slap them on.

Rest assured I will. There's too much to write about, with the cosmetic and mechanical mods I have in mind.

Thank you saar, much appreciated. Always fun to pour a bit of myself into my writing, and even better when it resonates with those reading it.

Lovely review. Thanks for sharing. Reading the review was like gently floating down a river of thoughts. Very well written. The car and the pictures complemented the flow of the review so well.

Seems to be an immaculate buy. Congratulations and wish you all the very best.

Lovely review, and a thoroughly entertaining writing style. The fantastic photos are totally drool worthy, and I am sure I will remember the BMW ad for a long time :D, and hopefully use it in a few years time!!!

Congrats buddy! What a car and what a review! I had to look up some words in dictionary though :D

I've noticed on tbhp reviews that most of the people who upgrade to BMWs used to drive Jetta. Maybe in one of the VAG meetings, the Audi guys told VW to stop selling Jetta in India so that they could compete better with BMW lol:

Quite an imaginative mind you have there! Those analogies you've drawn all throughout that review are so vivid, yet very relatable.

What a brilliant piece of machinery and a thoroughly enjoyable review. Rating this thread five deserving stars clap:

God speed.

Congratulations on getting the beauty in red, but more than the car I loved the way you write iliketurtles, very gripping and lucid......happy miles!!

WOW!! Now that's a review written by a human being with emotions, with a heart, with a personal touch and not by a robot tasked to write a user manual of a car!

Loved reading every word and connected with your emotions during this buying & ownership journey. The car, the color, the pictures are all just perfect and your writing style makes it a refreshing read.

Enjoy the car and drive safe!

PS: You have got me thinking on my next car! Need to search the classifieds for 328/330 as keywords

Amazing car, amazing colour, but the most amazing is your writing style! Congrats on the red beast. Enjoy that lovely petrol engine + the supremely talented ZF 8-speed. They'll keep you smiling for years to come.

I upgraded from a Civic to a pre-worshipped German, you did from a Jetta and so did many others (including Kurla West's Kanye West rl:). This trend will only expand among BHPians because of the vast choice in the pre-owned market & very tempting prices.

If you don't mind sharing, how much did you pick her up for? Hope you join us at one of our Sunny lunch meets. Would love to see it in person.

This thread is on our homepage & I must say, the car is making our homepage look better :thumbs up.

What a write up! I thoroughly enjoyed it. You, sir, do have a penchant for writing. Those photos are delicious for sure! If you don’t mind, can you share the price?
The 3 series is possibly the only true upgrade from the Jettas and Lauras of the world (unless you significantly stretch your budget, of course. Just my thoughts.)
:OT You have just got me searching for pre-worshipped beauties and looks like luck is on my side! Of course, I may just be making some khayali pulao! :D