2012 BMW 3 Series : Road Test

There are many paths to achieve nirvana. Ask a saint and they’ll guide you to a life of solitude, philosophy and better living. Ask a sinner and they’ll tread the path of destruction, violence and mutual harm. Ask a motorhead and you’ll be led to a world of luxury, horsepower and impeccable handling – a world in which there is perfect weight distribution, loads of torque, tumbling quarter mile times and rear-wheel drive. No wonder then that if there’s one car to feature on every enthusiast-worth-his-salt’s top ten list it would have to be the BMW 3 Series. 

The only conflict that arises is when you ask them which generation of the revered 3 makes it to the top because you see, the original E21 3 Series that debuted in 1975 has had five descendants now and each has been better than the previous one, or has it? Personally, the E30 has been the one to rock my boat and while a majority agrees with that, there is still a small minority that prefers the fourth generation E46. Regardless, the 3 series has always been one of the best driver’s cars that you could buy off the shelf and the tradition continues to this day thanks to some very strictly adhered to values in Munich. 

Sadly, Indian buyers never got to sample the E30, the E36 or even the E46 3 Series cars from BMW because what debuted here was the fifth generation E90 – a model that was the highly controversial poster boy for Chris Bangle’s flame surfacing design language. Yet, in all its glory, the E90 3 Series was quite the car – long hood, swept back cabin and short boot coupled with some superior firepower mated to the rear wheels. Not all was well with this generation though because while it offered some awesome pampering for the front passengers, it wasn’t as roomy for those sitting in the back. 

So while those who would drive more than be driven chose to still go for the very involving BMW, the chauffeured ones chose to walk into the showrooms of other German manufacturers. By 2011, the E90 model saga had spanned over five years including a subtle face-lift in 2009 and it was time for the 3 series to go through another major revision. Marketing-speak from Bavaria calls it the ‘Ultimate 3’ while the engineers call it the F30 – harking back to the first generation 3 Series but gaining an alphabetic progression indicating a whole lot of revolution in the car, but is this really that much better than the previous generations? Is the new BMW 3 Series enough to usurp all its predecessors to make it the most loved 3 of all time? 

WAIT A MINUTE, WAS THAT A 5 SERIES? 

With BMW design chief Chris Bangle’s departure from the brand in 2009, most of his design philosophy has faded away from the propeller-logo brand as well. This gradually was made evident in the evolution of the 5 and 7 series and if someone missed the signs, the new 3 Series puts it right in your face. There’s a complete revision of the front end with love-it or loathe-it horizontal headlamps that actually pierce their way to the massive trademark kidney grille. Then there’s the omission of the big central air dam in favour of two larger ones pushed to the outer extremities of the front bumper that incorporate very suave fog lights flanking nice, flat splitters. 

Look beyond all that angry squinting on the front end and there’s a very sculpted hood that drops violently into that cliff that makes up the headlamps. The bonnet itself transitions gradually into the windscreen to start off with the swept back glasshouse and then tapers into a short bootlid – nothing out of the ordinary there until you spot the strong character lines, one along the waist and the other more sporty one just above the door sills. And then when the new 3 series passes ahead, you get to spot the rear. 

This is the exact moment that your brain will process what it sees and trick you into thinking this isn’t the 3, but quite deceivingly a 5 series instead thanks to those family tail lights, which ironically evolved from the face-lifted E90 3 Series when BMW designed the 5! So if we’d have to sum it up in a nutshell, the F30 3 Series is actually a love child having got the ‘do not mess with me’ aggressiveness of the Z4’s front end and the subtle details of the 5 series’ back side, but still carrying over from the gene pool of the E90 3 – well done, BMW. 

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OPTIONS, MORE OPTIONS AND THE BACK BENCH 

If you’re on the verge of adding a 3 Series to your garage though, you’ll have to choose one from among three trim levels – a normal one that hasn’t been given a name and is an option only on the 320d and two other ones that have been named! If diesel isn’t your thing and you want the petrol 328i, you get only the Sport Line which boasts 18-inch wheels, black gloss touches on the exterior and a choice of leather interiors of which we think the all black with red accents and stitching befits the sports moniker the best.

The diesel 320d, which will also be the variant that brings in the most sales for BMW India gets a Luxury Line trim along with the unnamed and the Sport Line ones. This is the one with the more premium feel on the inside and 17-inch rims on the outside along with lots of dashes of chrome everywhere. And in case you forget which of the trim levels you’ve purchased, the sill plate will spell it out for you too. 

All those trims though share the same overall design theme albeit with different materials depending on which one you choose, and you can check them out in the images here but that brushed metallic red strip running across the dash and also adorning the key fob on the Sport Line cars is a detail we’ve been having extremely pleasing dreams about ever since we laid eyes on it! Of course, the F30 3 Series is a completely new generation of car so there are changes inside the cabin too compared to the previous generation model and while most of the elements are familiar BMW bits from before, the multimedia display sheds its second-dome treatment for a very flat screen that sticks out of the centre console. But the biggest change is also the one that addresses the outgoing model’s shortcomings.

The F30 3 series has been stretched in length by 93mm with its wheelbase getting an increment of 50mm which frees up that much more space for the occupants. So leg room is up and with that the BMW 3 series is no longer a trade off on space for driving pleasure. People missing out on all the fun that the 3 series can offer behind the wheel can now feel just as happy occupying the back bench. 

A TALE OF TWO TURBOS 

What BMW has brought to India at least for now are two engine options – both 2-litre in capacity but while the 320d is on a diesel diet, the 328i thrives on petrol. The diesel engine is something most BMW owners are already familiar with thanks to its long stint in the outgoing model. Typically known for a great mix of performance and fuel efficiency, the 320d continues true to tradition and will be the variant that should entice a majority percentage of the 3 Series’ buyers – hence the four trim levels to cater to everyone’s needs. Both engines sport a BMW TwinPower Turbo badge on the engine cover but the way it works on the diesel and the petrol mills is slightly different.

The four-cylinder diesel powerplant combines common-rail direct injection and a variable geometry turbocharger to make its 184PS and 380Nm of torque which peaks between 1750 and 2750rpm. All that coupled with the 8-speed automatic transmission makes for effortless driving even in the most dense traffic conditions at the same time reserving enough to easily break speed limits when you want to risk doing that (not that we recommend it though)! 

While this has been what makes the 320d such a favourite among BMW owners, the petrol 328i has gone through quite a bit of a revolution. Out goes the previous generation 325i’s inline six naturally aspirated engine in favour of a TwinPower Turbo inline four – the technology combining a TwinScroll turbocharger with Valvetronic, Double-VANOS (Variable Nockenwellensteuerung) variable camshaft timing and high precision direct injection to arrive at an impressive 245PS and 350Nm of torque. 

Now that is almost 30PS up in power but more importantly a whole 100Nm up in torque on the E90 325i! And even more important is the fact that all that power is being made at least 1500rpm lower while the torque peaks as low as 1250rpm and stays there till the revs hit 4800rpm compared to the older engine’s 4000rpm torque curve peak. Numbers are one thing, but translate that into on-road performance and you get a superb mix of driveability, performance and fuel efficiency from the 1997cc petrol engine thanks to those turbochargers. Furthermore, all that means that you can go ahead and floor that accelerator pedal without having to bear the agony of watching the fuel gauge drop as fast as my mood just after an appraisal! 

KM/H, KMPL AND GETTING THERE 

So both engine options on the BMW 3 Series are awesome and many young buyers who can afford the car will have to face a mental struggle between going for the diesel 320d for its economy and the petrol 328i for its performance. Coming to the rescue of course are our instrumented tests and despite the extended bodywork and other factors the 2012 328i is claimed to outperform the previous generation’s 335i.

The 100km/h mark came up in 6.65 seconds while it returned a decent 7.25kmpl of fuel efficiency though it will manage better with the Auto Start Stop system kept switched on. In the same light, the 320d did the 0-100km/h sprint in 8.11 seconds and as always returned 12.25km to the litre. While performance has always been one of the strong points of the 3 Series, it’s the brand’s synonymy with great handling that is its biggest USP. With that extended wheelbase the 3 Series is most definitely even more stable at high speeds than it ever was but the one thing that longer wheelbases don’t quite favour are flickability through corners. 

But this isn’t just any other car that has gained in length – it’s a BMW and that means it still retains its perfect 50:50 weight distribution and rear-wheel drive and that means it is as rock solid and engaging through a tight set of twisties as it always was. The 328i in its Sport Line trim gets electric sport steering too which is still a tad heavier than most people are used to around here but that’s just the way we like it. Switch the suspension to sport mode and you’ll have just enough liberty to get the tail break slightly out before stepping back in line without scaring you too much. And then if you’re in the mood for more you can even go ahead and switch all the electronics off and test how good you are at controlling all that power.

Even the 320d is all that but in a slightly scaled down proportion. Ride quality is on the stiff side of the norm as far as sedans in India are concerned but then again, the 3 Series leans more towards the sport sedan genre than a normal family vehicle and the comfort setting on the suspension does a decent job of ironing all the irregularities out. The overall tyre diameter on the runflats remains the same on all three trim versions – the base using a 225/55 R16 rating, the Luxury and Sport diesels using a 225/50 R17 rating and the Sport petrol using a 225/45 R18 rating for its rubber. Needless to say, the ride quality does differ from the 16-inchers to the 18-inchers and the base version has the best among the lot owing to the thicker side walls. 

TECHNOLOGY AND PRICE TAGS 

The new BMW 3 Series is priced between Rs 28.9 lakh for the base 320d and Rs 37.90 lakh for the top-of-the-line 328i Sport Line and for that tag you’re getting quite a lot of car. The F30 3 Series comes loaded with gadgets and has a features and options list that’ll take you a week to figure out completely, and then some more! BMW's commitment to green technology seeps through all that performance-oriented façade with all variants getting the EfficientDynamics package that includes Auto Start Stop as well as Brake Energy Regeneration which further helps save fuel. 

The iDrive system is a delight to use and it hooks up to your smartphone and lets you view web pages on that crisp and bright screen as well. There’s more room at the back and for those resenting the shedding of two cylinders on the 328i for an inline 4 configuration will find solace in its crisper and coarser exhaust note. This is in all essence a car that carries forward the 3 Series tradition and isn’t just a smaller 5 Series by any means despite having borrowed bits from the bigger car. This could very well be the ultimate 3 as BMW claims it to be. But personally, we have just one pet grouse with the car and that has more to do with individual taste than anything else – that front end could have looked better. Well, the 328i’s superb engine more than makes up for that though