BMW 328i Convertible: Rough Going In Gotham

By Gunnar Heinrich

NEW YORK is brutal on cars. Brutal.

The City is home to streets and bridges that will literally chew through a set of rims. Sometimes entire cars get eaten and people go missing. Yes, it’s that bad.

Our “Crimson Red” BMW 328i convertible seemed like the better choice to venture into town than the “Monaco Blue” 128i ragtop. There’s more interior space to hold three and four occupants and on highways the suspension is a little more compliant than 1er’s; better to cover distance.

That was the logic, at least.

Trouble is our $49,825 Bimmer has the $1,200 Sport Package that, aside from being sprung on tighter springs, rode hard on 18″ wheels covered thinly with Bridgestone performance rubber.

So when the front wheels encountered their first two-inch asphalt ridge that spanned three vehicle lanes, the impact damn near broke my teeth.  On the instrumentation display the traction light briefly flashed in protest and seemed for a second that the car had its wind knocked out – or maybe that was just my own.

Broken, uneven pavement is a fact of life in much of the US and while a standard 3-Series sedan is typically able to provide a buttered glide while maintaining the requisite performance jilt, this droptop lost its composure time and again on surfaces that even my own hard riding Saab 9-3 ragtop manages to take with a grain.

More intriguing, the 128i Convertible, also equipped with low-profile tyres seems to track better over broken pavement and under passenger load than does its costlier cousin.

Take one of the sweeping corners that directs traffic over washboard pavement toward the Triborough Bridge, and the 328i’s rear seems to want to track away from the front – while proceeding at reasonable speeds.

The 1er by contrast will train true – almost Benz like – in its quest to round a corner.

The 128i probably would’ve been the better choice to take on Gotham’s mean streets.