Words Abhay Verma | Photography Saidatta Naik
The BMW 3 Series has been a favourite with luxury car buyers who like to take the wheel, for long. It’s also been a few years now since BMW launched the sedan’s long wheelbase version, dubbed the Gran Limousine previously, which has added to its appeal significantly. Ever since, the 3 Series’ popularity has only multiplied, and the sedan has also added to BMW’s annual sales in a big manner. Heck, it made up for a staggering 20 percent of the BMW’s sales in India last year, making you think if the charm of traditional three-box sedans is really waning away! The 3 Series long wheelbase has made an exception for itself of course and has had little to no trouble eclipsing rivals like the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4.
The current generation 3 Series is effectively a recipe that’s working wonders for BMW India, and in order to keep its cash registers ringing, the German luxury car maker has just given the sedan yet another update. Not that it needed one in my opinion, but spending a few days behind its wheel had the car convince me that the refreshed version is even more enticing now. Changes aren’t too many, but BMW India has cleverly updated the car to ensure it feels fresher and better equipped. For instance, there’s barely any changes to the design, as the grille, headlamps and front bumper are all essentially the same. That said, the grille and headlamps both help the 3 Series look more premium, and closer to the bigger and more expensive 5 Series.
I also like how instead of going all-out with the chrome, BMW is offering a satin finish, like on the grille. The car runs on 18-inch wheels that help it look sporty. And with a wheelbase of over 2.9 metres and a length of 4.8 metres, the 3 Series boasts a commanding presence, especially when viewed from the sides. You also get a gloss black diffuser at the rear that adds a sense of sportiness, and admittedly, the rear three-quarter is my favourite angle to look at the car given its sleek looking tail lamps, low-slung stance and overall design. More importantly, the current design oozes sportiness and luxury in equal measures. This is perfectly in sync with its positioning, unlike the Mercedes-Benz C-Class which looks outright luxurious and the Audi A4 that looks more confused in terms of choosing a direction.
Inside, there’s an elevated sense of premiumness thanks to the updated surface finishes. You get a brushed aluminium finish in several places besides which quality of plastics and the textures used feel better than before. The 3 Series also gets a sportier looking steering wheel with a flat bottom now, which is again a nod to the car’s sportier intent despite its heightened sense of luxury. Air-conditioning vents are new too, and interestingly, get an external adjustor instead of one in the vents itself to channel the air and this is a design that makes adjusting the vents quicker and easier. The ambient lighting adds to the cabin’s luxury quotient as does the panoramic sunroof, along with the single, curved glass slab on the dashboard housing the large, 14.9-inch curved infotainment screen and 12.3-inch driver display. Seats feel very plush and both front seats also get extendable under thigh support, adding to comfort. What’s also worth noting is that the 3 Series is equipped with triple-zone climate control, which in my books, is yet another attempt from BMW to have the car appeal to chauffeur-driven buyers. There are features like camera-based ADAS functions besides six airbags, dynamic stability control and cornering brake control on the safety front to name a few as well. The ADAS suite integrates functionalities like collision alerts, blind spot detection, lane change warning and more.
BMW is offering the 3 Series with its hugely impressive petrol engine currently and there is no diesel on offer, for now, though we expect oil burners to join the line-up in future. You can only have the 3 Series in the 330Li trim currently thus, powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine that puts out 258PS and 400Nm. The engine is mated to an 8-speed automatic gearbox that powers the rear wheels. The RWD setup on the 3 Series has been one my favourite traits about the sedan always, and the highly refined powertrain and its excellent power delivery add to the car’s smile-inducing nature in heaps. Claimed 0-100kmph time is a scant 6.2 seconds. The engine puts its power down in a strong and linear manner and despite the ever-tightening norms curbing the sportiness of its exhaust note, the 3 Series offers a soundtrack that’s pleasing to the ears.
Besides helping you potter around town with ease the engine helps the 3 Series offer an excellent feel on open roads. The motor is also surprisingly efficient when going easy on the throttle, which is in stark contrast to the smile-inducing performance it offers. Heck, switching to Sport mode and turning traction control off also lets you hang the tail out with ease, something the 3 Series has been adept at for generations. Its brilliantly tuned engine and overall dynamics coupled with its responsive, well-weighted and feedback-y steering thus help the 3 Series impress immensely as a driver’s car. That said, the ride quality is shockingly good too – the plush feel offered by the suspension over undulated highways and on broken roads both is almost too good to believe, given how impressive the sedan is as a driver’s car.
In a nutshell, the 3 Series thus continues to strike an unbelievably good balance between being a driver’s car and a plush and comfortable luxury sedan. This, while offering a more upmarket feel and being equipped with a list of features that help it feel well-rounded as a package. And with prices beginning from ₹62.60 lakh ex-showroom, the car also feels more compelling than its rivals, which in a way also explains why the current generation 3 Series is so successful.
