BMW 3 Series review

There’s a broad spread of performance and economy options for the 3 Series, although there is a little less choice than there used to be. If you want a manual gearbox, for example, then your only option is the basic 318d. 

That entry-level 150hp 2.0-litre diesel is better than it sounds though, with reasonable performance and an impressive potential of 60mpg. Of course, the more powerful 190hp 320d is the better bet. Paired to an eight-speed automatic it will scamper to 60mph in just 6.8secs, and yet can still hit the same economy highs as the 318d. 

You can also add xDrive four-wheel drive if you live somewhere that gets lots of snow (but you’ll pay at the pumps as it’s heavier). It’s a hugely relaxing car to drive, either way, with excellent refinement and the potential for more than 600 miles on a tank of fuel.

You could step up to the inline-six cylinder 330d, which has 285hp, serious performance (5.3secs 0-60mph) and can still do better than 50mpg on a long run. It’s also wonderfully refined and smooth to drive, but clearly it’s an expensive option, especially when the 320d is such a good all-rounder. 

Again, four-wheel drive is an option. For the ultimate in diesel performance, there’s the 340hp M340d xDrive, with standard all-wheel drive and the sort of performance that goes with the famous BMW M badge. It’s a £51,515 car, though and that’s before options, so you’d have to consider it a bit of an indulgence.

At the other end of the scale is the petrol-engined 318i, which makes a mere 156hp, and accelerates to 60mph in 8.4secs. Hardly all that bad, then, and a good choice for those whose mileage is mostly done in-town but perhaps not the stuff of which BMW legends are made. 

A 184hp 320i might be a better bet — it brings the 0-60mph time down to 7.1secs, and yet it should still return a real-world 44mpg. It’s not the most potent engine to drive, but it’s smooth and suits the 3 Series rather well. There’s also a faster 330i petrol model available, but it’s expensive to buy, costly to run and can’t match the performance of the 330d. BMW claims it’ll manage just 41mpg and reach 60mph from rest in 5.8 seconds.

You can also get the mighty M340i straight-six 3.0-litre turbo petrol, with four-wheel drive and a 4.1sec 0-60mph time. As an M-lite option, this isn’t quite an M3, but it packs more than enough punch, and with xDrive as standard as well, it’ll be able to tackle most conditions with ease. The claimed fuel economy for this sporty option isn’t too bad though, with BMW claiming close to 37mpg. 

If you’re more interested in fuel economy than outright speed, then the 330e is worth a look. This plug-in hybrid model pairs a 2.0-litre petrol engine with an electric motor to deliver 292hp. It’ll sprint from 0-60mph in less than six seconds and – according to BMW – return almost 217mpg.

Even on a full charge – which lets you travel for 40 miles using just electric power – you’ll struggle to match this rather optimistic figure, but the 330e is still impressively economical, especially around town where the electric motor does most of the work. Head out onto a faster country road or motorway and the petrol engine chips in to lend a hand, but it does it so smoothly you’ll barely notice.

It’s well worth a look if your commute is relatively short and you have somewhere to charge the car regularly so you can maximise the car’s electric motor.

Even though you sit quite low in the 3 Series (unfashionably so in this everything-has-to-be-an-SUV age) the visibility out of the windscreen is pretty good, thanks to relatively slim front pillars. It also helps that you can see quite a bit of the bonnet, helping you to aim the car, and there are loads of optional assistants to help you in tight spaces.

The standard kit includes parking sensors, a reversing camera and BMW’s parking assistant system, which lets the car steer into parallel spaces or parking bays for you.

There’s even a clever ‘reversing assistant’ which can remember where you’ve been driving, and memorise and repeat certain manoeuvres. It takes a bit of getting used to, though, and isn’t the simplest system to use. 

One surprise, especially if it’s been a few years since you last drove a 3 Series, is that it’s really comfortable over bumps. True, there’s always a slightly sporty underlying firmness to the suspension, but the 3 Series really is good at ironing out the worst surfaces these days.

That goes double for models fitted with the optional adaptive suspension, and even if you specced your car with the lower, stiffer M-Sport springs and dampers, it’s still very competent. If you’ve got that adaptive suspension, then you can switch it to Sport mode to stiffen everything up for twisty roads, and then switch it back to Comfort for when you just want to cruise along. All 3 Series also come with an Eco Pro mode, which helps to save a little extra fuel. 

In Sport mode, the steering — already precise and full of feel — stiffens up a bit, and the 3 Series really does set the class standard for driver enjoyment, even if the Jaguar XE and Alfa Romeo Giulia run it close in that regard. 

Overall refinement is excellent too, and on a long cruise there’s very little in the way of excess tyre roar or wind noise. That gives the 3 Series an enviable combo of long-range comfort, and twisty road entertainment. 

You get cruise control on every BMW 3 Series and it will apply the brakes for you to maintain a safe distance to other cars, but you can pay extra to get an upgraded system that’ll accelerate, brake and even steer for you on motorways. 

The driving assistant professional pack also comes with evasion aid that helps brake and steer for you in an emergency to avoid collisions. All this helped the 3 Series achieve the maximum five-star Euro NCAP rating with strong scores across the board.