[1speedbike]

Hey guys


If you don't wanna read my little story, just skip to the bottom and look at the couple of questions I'm asking


I haven't been on these forums in a LONG TIME because life has been quite busy. I bought one of the first 135i's back in 2008 and the car has been very kind to me. I still have it, though I no longer drive it nearly as much as I should, and I don't visit these forums as much as I should, either. It's really heavily modded and a beast, and I've had (almost) nothing but praise for it.

Because of this, I kind of influenced my family to look into BMW. My mom bought an X3 after years of Volvos, Acuras, and Benzes, and then by my suggestion she now has a sport pack X1 in white / coral red which she loves.

Meanwhile, my sister had some asshole rear-end her at highway speed while she was stopped in traffic. Her old lexus IS250 was totaled. She is younger than me and had that car for about 8 years. She literally grew up in that car. (edit - it's actually sneaking into the picture on my sig over to the left).

I convinced her that some BMW test driving would cheer her up, and sure enough she fell in love with the 228i. She needs xDrive for NJ winter driving. We test drove a mid-range model with sport line, premium and cold weather package. She decided she doesn't really care for the sport package. We figure that coming from the lexus, even a non-sport 228i will feel nice. It's also much faster. The interior is also slightly larger and slightly nicer than my car, with that fancy iDrive screen standard and all that.

The problem is that she never drove a non-sport package 228i. She's very eager to have her car replaced because of where she lives - no access to public transit or anything at all. She put a deposit on a Valencia Orange (she showed interest in that color and once I mentioned it was the exclusive 1M color before BMW decided to really piss of those 1M owners) non sport pack car with premium, cold weather, and black grilles.



tl,dr- My sister is buying a 228xi. She put a deposit down for a non-sport 228 but has only driven the sport line version. I've driven neither.


So, on to the questions.

The bigger one. When I got my car, there was a HUGE difference between the non sport seats and the sport seats. The side bolsters really made a difference. The lumbar support offered by the premium package seats was alright, but it was those bolsters that really made the seats perfect. Is this still the case? Are her non-sport seats gonna be that sucky?

Also, is the suspension really that much softer? Is it unbearably soft, or is it at least tighter than a Lexus IS250?

And - does the car still have the comfort, eco, sport settings without a sport pack? If so, what do the settings do in a non -sport car? I'm assuming they don't change the suspension, or the steering feel, maybe just the throttle mapping?


The closest dealer to her (which she went to for the test drive), didn't have one on hand to show us. If you guys think it's worth it, I'll convince her to find a ride to hitch to a different BMW dealer with a non-sport version. If you think that the non sport version is at least comparable to the comfort setting on the sport version, and that the base seats are improved, then I won't bother.


Thanks in advance for all your help guys. I hope you're all enjoying this awesome new car!