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• This 2011 BMW 328i Sports activities Wagon is one in all fewer than 400 3-series wagons fitted with the M-Sport package deal.
• The wagon’s naturally aspirated 3.0-liter straight-six makes much less energy than BMW’s turbocharged engines, however it’s much less complicated and thus extra dependable.
• The result’s a automobile that is fast, sensible, and enjoyable to drive, and the icing on the cake right here will be discovered between the seats: a six-speed handbook transmission.
“They do not make them like that anymore” is each a cliché and a double-edged sword. Hyundai, as an example, can be positively desperate to level out that its factories do not make ’em just like the outdated Sonata or Excel any extra, and good factor too. Within the case of BMW, nonetheless, energy and sheer pace have elevated, however the 3-series is now styled like a visible head butt. Right here, however, is the type of fanatic secret handshake that BMW was so good at.
Up for auction at Bring a Trailer (which, like Automobile and Driver, is a part of Hearst Autos), this 2011 BMW 328i wagon checks all of the attainable bins. To start with, this North America–spec wagon is one in all just a few outfitted with the fascinating M-Sport package deal. Together with 18-inch wheels and a few extra aggressive bodywork, the M-Sport additionally received sportier seats and a beautiful leather-wrapped three-spoke steering wheel.
Even higher, and rarer, it is a handbook. The majority of 3-series offered in 2011 had been, in fact, outfitted with automated transmissions. At the moment, it is uncommon to see even an M-car with a stick shift. On this case, the six-speed handbook and three-pedal setup unlocks fairly a bit extra enjoyable when seated behind the wheel.
Spec-wise, the engine appears unremarkable, however it’s a trick. Peak energy from the naturally aspirated straight-six is 230 horsepower and 200 pound-feet of torque. Even with BMW’s xDrive all-wheel drive sapping some energy via parasitic losses, it is nonetheless loads. It is a BMW straight-six, in any case: an inherently completely balanced engine constructed by a German firm whose center preliminary is actually “Motoren.”
In an M4, stomp the throttle and go on to jail, don’t acquire $200. However on this wagon, you could possibly wind it out in your favourite again highway, taking that straight-six to redline repeatedly. You paid for the entire tachometer, so why not use it? Then, again to work on the Monday rat race, it is a competent cruiser with gutsy torque. Plus, there’s sufficient cargo room to haul groceries or the canine or your highway bike. Throw in all-wheel drive for four-season drivability, and you have a Munich-built Swiss Military knife of a automobile.
So far as the remainder of the crossover-driving lots round you realize, it is simply one other automobile on the highway. However present up at your native Automobiles and Espresso occasion on this wagon, and people gathered there’ll know. Nods of approval. Figuring out smiles. Oh, is {that a} handbook? Candy. Too dangerous we do not get the wagon over right here. Yeah, they only do not make ’em like that anymore.
With six days to go on the public sale—which ends on Thursday, September 29–early bidding stands at $13,400. Whoever wins the public sale will likely be getting a really particular machine.
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