I happened to get a '11 BMW 328i as a rental recently. I usually don't drive BMW's so it was kind of neat to drive it around for several days and compare it to my Maxima.

The steering on the BMW felt overly heavy, a bit of a pain to turn especially at slower speeds. The throttle felt heavy as well, not nearly as responsive as the Maxima. Suspension felt firm, but not as responsive as my Maxima (which has a bit of feel as if it's on rails and gives more feedback as to what the car is doing). The BMW suspension felt heavy, firm, and definitely not nearly as communicative, which was surprising to me.

Driver ergonomics was inferior on the BMW 328i as well. The cruise control lever is just below the turning signal stalk, and to turn it on, you have to pull the cruise control stalk towards you. I must have flashed the poor drivers in front of me a dozen times when I accidentally pulled the turn signal control stalk instead of the cruise control lever LOL. The driver controls in general were far inferior compared to the Maxima.

The rear wheel drive was nice, but not as great of difference as I expected as I put the 328i through the paces on the freeway. My Maxima does exhibit some torque steer if I stomp on the throttle while turning a bit, but it's manageable.

All in all I much preferred my Maxima to the 328i. After my experience, I read this comparison and thought it was pretty much spot on: http://carsort.com/compare/BMW-3-Ser...-Nissan-Maxima

I love my Maxima even more after my 328i rental experience.

 

I looked at the review, and I don't know about your Max, but mine has 2 subwoofers and an infinite number of gears!!

 

your maxima has 0 gears

I'm just trolling don't get mad :-)

 

right on dude, thx for the review

 

I also tried a 328i, mine a 2010. Handling and interior were up on the Max, but the engine was totally gutless. Didn't expect that with 250-odd horsepower. Between that and the Max, I'd take the Max. Between the 335i and the Max, though, it's no contest. And that was in 2010; if Motor Trend is to be believed, the new car is a generation or more up on its competitors, and certainly the Max as well.

 

You know what I mean!!!!

 

nice ! i was actually expecting you to say the opposite of what you did

 

Interior, I dunno from the style to the materials used. The 06-11 and current 12 one the interiors suck and the materials used are not better than whats in the Max or G.

 

bmwww!!! love there rides

 

I came from an '07 328i that I traded in on my '12 Max. The Max is a much nicer car--I miss some of the sportiness of the BMW, but the interior is far nicer, the ride is a lot smoother (runflat tires suck!) and I expect the reliability will be a lot better--my 328 was a POS.