Test Drive: 2014 BMW 328i xDrive Sports Wagon

Update: See how the 328i did against its competitors in our Bike Month Wagon Comparison Test.

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with BMW. Most BMWs I have driven have been good fun and the engineering that goes into them to keep their weight balance as close to 50/50 is certainly nothing to scoff at. However, over the years, they have also gotten progressively less Germanic in their construction and there is always the negative reputation of BMW owners to contend with (we've all heard the joke about the different between a BMW and a porcupine). Still, when it comes to cars that offer solid driving dynamics, good power, and tons of customizability, few manufacturers can match BMW, with that annoying caveat of "so long as you can afford it." Still, with as few options as there are in terms of wagons, it would be remiss for me not to test the 3-series wagon in looking at this segment.

Test Drive: 2014 BMW 428i xDrive Sport Line

Let me start by saying that snow sucks.

The only thing worse than snow is ice. Of course, here in the Boston area, we have gotten an ungodly amount of snow this winter. The car-sized piles of white stuff, now frozen into little ice mountains, lined both sides of the road when I set out to get a test of the new BMW 428i. Since the sun was bright in the sky, but the air temperatures were low, the ground had plenty of black ice and so a RWD version was out of the question. However, an xDrive version was readily available and so I happily took the keys while the car was dug out and defrosted.

Test Drive: 2014 BMW 535d xDrive

Diesels and sport together seems counter intuitive. The oil burning motors are better known for providing superior torque for towing and superlative fuel economy in passenger cars. But when a manufacturer best known for its sport sedans throws its weight behind diesel motors, any enthusiast worth his salt has to at least sit up and pay a bit of attention. This is why I recently found myself behind the wheel of BMW's latest entry into the sport diesel market, the 535d. Combined with BMW's xDrive AWD system, the twin-turbocharged inline-six, this luxury sport diesel (that seems like quite a contradicting mash-up) seems to be the model that BMW is banking on as its volume seller in the 5-series line-up for New England.

However, given BMW's reputation for providing excellent sport sedans, can a car that plays on so many contradicting ideas continue to deliver the ownership experience that make BMW's so popular with their buyers? Or is this just the latest in a long line of odd disappointments from what was once the most storied sport sedan manufacturer on the planet?