BMW 328 GT x-drive

I don't really keep up on new models but I was just at an intersection behind a 328 GT x-drive with manufacturer plates.
It looks like the BMW for Saab 9-3 afficianados.

Isn't the GT the model that looks kind of like a hatchback and kind of like the sedan at the same time?

I want to like this thing, visually, but it's just... busy? Not right somehow?

Yeah there's something really odd about it, it's styled like a sedan but has the dimensions of a hatchback.

Also the difference in fender-to-beltline distance front vs. rear is MASSIVE.

In reply to JohnRW1621:

Funny how much better the SAAB/GM product looks, at least to my eyes, but then again I wouldn't have let Bangle do his number on BMW's if I had a choice in it.

I'm slightly uncertain about the looks, but enthusiastic about a five-door hatch BMW...

The back seat and trunk are much larger than the sedan and wagon; consider it a 5 series on the cheap. However, it is exactly the same price as the 3er wagon. Doesn't come with a diesel but can be equiped with RWD

I've seen a 3GT and a 5GT in the parking lots at work in the last few weeks. In person the proportions are really odd. They look stretched in length and height from the standard sedans.

Mr_Clutch42 wrote: Isn't the GT the model that looks kind of like a hatchback and kind of like the sedan at the same time?

I assume this picture is of a brand new car. Weird how the rear bumper already seems to have a mismatch in color. Maybe the bumper was painted upside down, so all the little metallic flakes are pointing in a different direction .

JohnRW1621 wrote:

I am not a fan of the GM saabs.. but that 9-3 looks a -lot- better than the BMW

Meanwhile, the wagon looks pretty well done, at least to me;

Mmadness wrote: The back seat and trunk are much larger than the sedan and wagon; consider it a 5 series on the cheap. However, it is exactly the same price as the 3er wagon. Doesn't come with a diesel but can be equiped with RWD

I only saw xDrive models on the BMW USA site. Also, it appears that the 1 series is all that is offered with manual transmissions these days.

pres589 wrote: In reply to JohnRW1621: Funny how much better the SAAB/GM product looks, at least to my eyes, but then again I wouldn't have let Bangle do his number on BMW's if I had a choice in it.

I concur. The BMW roof slopes too much and the rear side window is too pointy.

I am near one of these in traffic about once a week (same one, guy must be on the same commuting schedule as me). From behind they look ungainly and odd in my opinion. IIRC it does have some weird little pop-up spoiler (that raises directly upward on two legs from the rear lip), and that makes it look even stranger. The front half just looks like a 3-series.

I don't much like the proportions any more than I like the Accord Crosstour (which also looks strange to me).

I much prefer a regular wagon to these strange "big hatchbacks."

Also FWIW, if you fly into any airport in Germany, the standard rental car companies have the 3-series GT and 5-series GT available at a small bump-up over the basic wagon rentals (I went with an A4 Diesel 6MT wagon, myself).