[falar]

Originally Posted by netsurfr

I was totally surprised when I looked at the GT first time. Having owned a 3 series before I never in a million years expected a 3 series car to be doable for a family and I'm 6' tall & 225 lbs so not a small guy. When I measured and realized the rear seats were actually more roomy than the X5 (especially for my kid on a car seat) I was floored. Then I measured the width inside the rear seats and the GT is just 3" narrower than my X5 finally the trunk and measured that and was sold. For sure go test one out. My dealer let me borrow one for a weekend so I could do a real test drive w/ family and "stuff" to make sure it would work. Like I said I am coming from an X5M so comfort/size/performance were important. We have a 4 year old so storage for family & kid stuff was critical and although I have gotten used to M performance the 328xi GT put a big smile on my face when I test drove it but I opted for the 335 for even more performance. You sit lower to the ground than the X5/X3 and handling is much better than any SUV (even one w/ M) so you feel like you have a sports car that can comfortably carry adults in the back seat, gives you SUV like visibility as the driver due to higher stance, and have plenty of storage in the back for us.

I REALLY tried to get my wife into a GT instead of the X3 for all of these reasons but she just wouldn't have it. For her she said the ride height is important for her because the taller vehicle makes putting the car seat in and out much easier since you don't have to do any bending.

The downside is with less leg room than the GT if she's driving and I am in the passenger seat I can't put the seat back very far (with the baby seat behind me) and I don't have much legroom (6'2") and have to get creative with the way I get in and out of the vehicle.

The X3's handling and acceleration surprised me, I expected much worse since it weighs several hundred pounds more than a 535. The only real negative are the brakes--even though it is a 35i it has the same brakes you'd find on a 320 or 328. At least on a GT you can get the M-Sport brakes.........