Price as tested: €40,200
Chassis, steering, economy, performance, space, image
– Plain styling, pricey
= Just about as good a car as it’s possible to buy
I’ve said before that reviewing a new BMW 3 Series, especially a diesel one, is a bit like reviewing a monster Hollywood blockbuster (possibly featuring monsters). I could sit here and say that it's the worst pile of dreck ever committed to celluloid, but thousands of you would still go and pay the price of a ticket. Don’t believe me? Look at the Transformers trilogy. Worst damn films ever made, and they took a bundle of bundles at the box office.
It’s very much the same with the new 3 Series. If I were to tell you that I thought it an utterly worthless, dreadful insult to the legacies of Henry Ford, Wilhelm Hoffmeister and Preston Tucker combined, would you care? No, you wouldn’t. You’d still want one and a black 320d with biscuit leather upholstery would still be the most searched-for car on Carzone.ie.
And tempting as it would be to play out this little game and to scream from a height the inadequacies of the new 3 Series, I just can’t. Because it basically has none. It’s achingly close to perfect.
This is the EfficientDynamics version which, for a price, brings with it a whole new world of being able to enjoy driving your car without your conscience being pricked.
It uses the same 2.0-litre diesel engine as the standard 320d, but its power is reduced from 184bhp to 163bhp. Torque remains the same at a very healthy 380Nm, but the key to the ED’s performance is in its emissions and consumption figures. A few years ago, 109g/km of Co2 was an emissions figure that only a Toyota Prius could claim. Now, you can have a slinky, sexy German sports saloon that does the same.
And it’s fuel consumption is just as remarkable. BMW claims a scarcely believable 4.0l/100km (68.9mpg) on the combined cycle, but frankly, it’s a hard figure to dispute. Put it this way; over a hard-driven, twisty test route, taken mostly in third and fourth gear, I averaged 5.3l/100km (53mpg). Turn off the aircon, keep your right foot light and I reckon that claimed figure is within reach.
Of course, efficiency is all well and good, but what about the desirability that has traditionally been the preserve of the German sports saloon? Well, it’s present and correct, but with a caveat or two.
The new 3 looks smart, and I do like that split around the edge of the headlamps and the beginning of the kidney grille; it looks as if the car is trying to show off a Terminator-style endo-skeleton. But the rest of the styling seems a bit plain. In fact, from dead-side on, you’d be hard pressed to tell it from the old 3 Series.
It is longer, wider and more spacious than before though. So spacious in the rear, that I reckon it’s about a match for rear seats space with the old E60 5 Series. The boot’s big too, if a trifle shallow.
Up front, there are lovely soft-touch surfaces and the usual beautifully clear and elegant dials. The seats are very comfy, but on our manual gearbox test car, the pedals were noticeably offset to the right. There is also the slight problem that the fascia looks too similar to that of the smaller, cheaper 1 Series. You can get around this a bit with careful speccing and colour choices; just avoid the plain black and grey of our car’s cabin.
To drive? Well, it’s about as good as you’d expect. Toggle the electronic Drive Performance Control to Comfort and it’s almost too soft, allowing a little too much body lean and wobble. Best kept for long motorway miles or town work, that one. Hit Sport and it feels like a proper 3 Series again; taut, communicative steering (the best electric system we’ve yet tried), perfect body control and yet a ride quality that, while firm, at last succeeds in absorbing the worst tendencies of Irish roads. Mind you, that was on the 16” wheels (with high profile tyres) of our test car. Don’t expect an M-Sport 320d on 18”s to ride with the same equanimity. The third setting for the DPC system is Eco Pro, which dials back throttle response and other items to maximise economy. Clever stuff, that.
Let’s talk about price though. Our ED test car lists at €40,200. That seems to be getting dangerously close to 520d price levels, especially when you start adding options. Leather trim, for instance, costs a whopping €1,700 (yet is standard on a 5 Series). Fair enough, BMW’s people were at pains to make the point that basic specs have actually improved and if you drove off the lot with just the standard car, you would still have a very respectable equipment level. That may be true but the options list remains a corridor of pain. Worth pointing out though that the most basic 316d ES costs just €35,600, which does seem like quite a lot of car for the money.
As I said when we came in, reviewing a new 3 Series is more or less pointless. You’re going to love it and covet it whether I reckon it’s crap or not. And while I do think that there are some things that need improvement (check out what gorgeous styling inside and out Volvo can provide you with for the same price, for instance) there isn’t much point in me saying much else other than... pass the popcorn, please.
Facts & Figures
BMW 320d EfficientDynamics
Price: €40,200
Range price: €35,600 to €61,110
Capacity: 1,995cc
Power: 163bhp
Torque: 380Nm
Top speed: 230kmh
0-100kmh: 8.1sec
Economy: 4.1l-100km (68.9mpg)
CO2 emissions: 109g/km
Tax Band: A. €160 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested
No comments:
Post a Comment