[QUOTE=MarkDemma;22692730]I've been looking at quite a few 2'ers of late as I'm finally willing to replace my E46 330Ci ZHP. At one dealer I went immediately from a 2018 M240i to a 2016 M235 and the thing I noticed the most was that the interior of the refreshed model was much MUCH nicer. The Nav system in the 2018 refresh looked to be a pretty big improvement as well with a bigger screen, better resolution, CarPlay etc. I think they put a lot of effort into the interior for the refresh as they are wanting silly Americans to pay $50K for their economy car.
But that's not what you care about as much as handling, right? My main issue with any of the new models is that I hate, hate, HATE the electronic steering. When my 330Ci was in the shop for a week (which happens a lot of late) I had a 440i for a few days and I audibly sighed with relief when getting back into my own car I hated the steering so much.
It may have been in my head, but the M240 did have a ever so slightly better steering feel than the M235 and quite perceptibly better than the 440i I tested. I honestly think that the steering on my E46 is still better, but the M240 was the first of the new BMWs I thought I could handle. I haven't gotten to drive a M2 yet, but had a M4 for a week and found the steering better than the 440, but it still felt way too heavy.
==
Very well put Mark. I test drove a pair of E46 330Ci back in the day, one with ZHP, one without. I thought they were the usual good German steering (Audi was always rubbery, including the Ur-Quattro.) I didn't buy one, but liked the car and the dealer quite a bit.
Evo magazine rates the M240i as 4.5 stars, and that's a correct assessment. If BMW would fix the steering feedback, I believe it would rate 5 full stars. Some people call it "numb", but it would be more accurate to say "mute." You just don't get any information from the contact patches.
Moreover, the weighting isn't convincing, either. A Mk V GTI has convincing weighting, even though there's no actual information there. The Mk VII Golf R (a car I cross-shopped) has much better steering feel. Over 80 MPH the M240i weighting in Sport mode is okay, but in the U.S., one doesn't do those speeds often.
I almost stopped at the M test center at Nurburg and asked about it, but didn't know what their reaction would be to some guy with a new BMW essentially complaining about the steering.
I don't know how much of the equation comes from EPAS itself, and how much in the way it's tuned? Porsche does a very good job with their EPAS, even if it's not up to the 987 Cayman R or Boxster Spyder levels. Good enough it's not really worth complaining about.
BMW, on the other hand, well the one thing that really bugs me is the lack of steering feedback. I haven't driven an M2 or M4, but I noted with interest Motorweek's (U.S. tv show) review of the M4 they complained about lack of feel, so even the pure M cars have an issue. To me, if it is a BMW car, and has an "M" somewhere in the name, it should have at least very good steering feel. I understand why an X-series buyer would want significant filtering, but I'm not that kind of customer, I want the historic high quality BMW steering feel.
Everyday Driver's ICON film (worth picking up the disc, IMO), where they compare every M from the M30 onward, finishes up with the M2, but they rank the 1M very highly, largely because of its hydraulic rack.
Only McLaren still uses hydraulic steering racks, so far as I know. Of course the only BMW-powered McLaren, the F1, didn't have power steering at all, nor power-brakes, ABS, et al., Gordon Murray designed it as a peerless driver's car, a title it still owns.
Car and Driver talked to BMW about steering, and now I don't know how much of the non-feedback is due to EPAS vs. what the marketing dept. *thinks* the "typical" customer wants?
https://blog.caranddriver.com/steer-...steering-feel/