Octavia TSI owner drives the BMW 330i GL LCI & shares his observations

At 4.8m it is long, but never felt it’s length on narrow roads. It filled up our apartment parking space like a champ.

BHPian sandygordon recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Just took a brief test drive of the 330i grand limousine LCI

I've been driving the Octavia 1.8 TSI for two years now. I have been dreaming to buy a 3 Series from the E90 days when one of my distant relatives had one 320d.

Circa 2019, bought a Seltos, the experience changed my life. Sold it and bought an Octavia as lateral upgrade. Extremely satisfied with its performance and pleasantly surprised with the Skoda service.

Was waiting to buy a 330i lci but the SWB version is no longer there. So decided to think about getting a 3gl 330i. M340i is once in a lifetime car as per enthusiasts, but way out of my budget. Even the 70 odd for GL is a huge stretch, but hope it would be worth it.

My observations:

• The overall car looks odd. The long silhouette and the longish cabin with a stubby boot. Though it maintains the 50:50 weight distribution, it looks like a long shouted daschund with a short tail. At 4.8m it is long, but never felt it’s length on narrow roads. It filled up our apartment parking space like a champ. See the “looong” side profile in the attached picture.
• Ride of the car is much better than 330i swb, does not have the nose diving nature of the g20 320d SWB luxury line. I was pleasantly surprised by the ride quality and nimble handling. It took narrow and bumpy cochin roads with minimal fuss. I ve always considered my Octavia as a “sedanish” SUV but 3 GL rode like the softly sprung Octavia without the pitching and floaty ride quality.
• Sport mode makes it a beast. You do get a push, got this mad rush which I missed after the swift days. M340i would push harder but it does feel like softer 330i SWB.
• The large touchscreen though a treat to watch is cumbersome to use.

Waiting for the M340i test drive. Everyone s saying YOLO.

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