Aircraft used: default 310 and 32N, LVFR 320, PMDG 738
Live weather: on
DETAIL
My first airport by either developer, CYUL has impressed me greatly. The detail in almost every area is rich and the textures are high-res throughout. The ageing terminal looks fabulous, particularly landside where they’ve done some of the best modelling I’ve ever seen. The landside roads look great, there are tons of detailed vehicles (they do repeat a bit though) and the signage is plentiful. Fixed objects such as lightpoles, barriers, bollards and advertising billboards have all been modelled exactly as in reality — in fact you’ll find a really good variety of different lighting structures depending on where on or about the airfield you are. While I’m talking about lightpoles, the night lighting is excellent, with each lamp emitting its own light without interference from those pesky Asobo ‘globes’.
The terminal has a partially modelled interior, much of it added over the last two updates. It’s not a particularly detailed interior but it’s again beautifully done in high-res. The second update gave us animated passengers, although only inside.
Some have mentioned a sterile look to the airside areas and I can sort of empathise with those views — however I think it’s actually down to the uniform and unnatural placing of SOME of the airside clutter, which gives the impression of blandness. There are actually tons of superb custom ground vehicles/objects, and again they’re all done using high-res textures.
The apron, taxiway and runway textures are excellent and the devs have been meticulous in ensuring these areas have the correct Canadian markings. The weathering is good and we see various marks, stains and plenty of general wear and tear.
PERFORMANCE
Although some have criticised the stability I find it rock solid. Never had black screens or a CTD which, given the airport’s size, arguably makes it one of the best airports available for the sim.
Framerate-wise, there are some noticeable dips when approaching from the east, presumably because the entire terminal complex is in frame. In fact, whenever the main area is on screen you’ll suffer a drop in performance. This can be mitigated quite easily by ensuring your camera angle is excluding the majority of the detail but the stutters can be a little annoying nonetheless. Sticking to the flightdeck largely negates this issue but where’s the fun in that?! 
Truning off live weather doesn’t appear to help much, if at all.
VERDICT
If this developer collaboration keeps putting stuff out of this quality, it won’t be long before they’re considered top-tier, alongside the likes of Pyreegue, FlyTampa and IniBuilds. BMW & Amsim’s CYUL has to be one of the most underrated airports in the sim!
It’s almost constantly on offer these days, presumably to tempt people to go with theirs over MK’s. I’ve not seen MK’s CYUL running but I have studied the promo images and, overall, the BMW/Amsim version seems to be better detailed. The jetway housings seem inaccurate in MK’s, and this is supported by BMW/Amsim’s matching those seen in the promo pics for the now mothballed FSimStudios version. The building atop which is the tower also looks better in BMW/Amsim’s. Finally, MK’s airside roads look more like the default textures — there are far fewer vehicles populating them and their telegraph poles don’t feature the overhead cables seen in BMW/Amsim’s. There are, however, bits MK’s does seem to do better, such as more realistic placement of the airside clutter and snow heaps appearing in winter.
But as much as I like to praise this airport, it’s not perfect. The stuttering can get quite distracting at times and keeping the main areas of detail out of view isn’t a particularly appealing solution.
However if you’re in the market for a decent CYUL, I’d say this likely pips MK’s. It’s wonderfully detailed, high-res throughout and, relative to the size and detail, performance certainly isn’t bad. The cherry on top is the flawless stability — although take this with a pinch of salt as other Xboxers seem to have issues.
IMAGES
Lots here, to really show off just how detailed this airport is.
A few overviews.
The airside ground textures are excellent.
The Air Canada hangar is beautifully modelled and features an interior.
Incredible detail outside the Air Inuit hangar. The entire airport road network is beautifully modelled.
Some of the clutter is placed a little too neatly, giving the impression of sterility.
The Jacques-de-Lesseps spotting park has been fully modelled, complete with plane enthusiasts!
This Cobus looks great — high-res texturing and custom logos!
While pretty basic the terminal interior looks good. Everything is still high-res and we get some dude break-dancing!
The night-lighting is first-class! Each lamp illuminates a specific area and there’s no reliance upon the mysterious Asobo ‘globes’!
