Distance: 967km
Date: 26-27 May, 2023
Location: Ontario
Up front: BMW makes really sturdy tactile buttons that are satisfying to click and don’t rattle around. Unfortunately, this generation 3-series only has one of those—it’s the steering wheel heater button. The other steering wheel buttons are shiny and reflect too much sunlight, the centre console buttons are capacitive, and climate control is on-screen only. I’d very much like click buttons to come back into fashion. The digital gear stick has been replaced with a gear selector resembling a light switch.
Unlike with Mercedes’ dazzling 64-color interior lighting scheme, the BMW’s dozen or so lighting choices aren’t intrusive. The gentle glow of the light bars is mostly out of the driver’s line of sight and doesn’t distract from nighttime driving. The panoramic sunroof is a big plus as it comes standard, but leaving the shade open results in more road noise echoing inside the cabin. It’s either sunlight or quiet, player’s choice.
In the back: The government says it’s a compact sedan, but cars have inflated so much in size that this isn’t much smaller than a mid-size of two decades ago. For reference, it’s 6 cm shorter and 3 cm wider than the 5-series of the late 90s. Legroom in both rows, too, match the mid-size sedan of yesteryear. The interior room has grown so much that I managed to put my bicycle in the car without taking any of the wheels off. I used an Allen key to take the handlebar off in a minute but that’s all it needed.
Starting at just under $53,000 isn’t cheap, but it is about in line with inflation compared to 3-series pricing over the last 25 years. The modern car has screens everywhere, safety tech, and synthetic leather as standard, but I wonder how much less it would cost if I just wanted a good powertrain and nothing else? After all, I only need cloth seats, an analogue speedometer works fine, and the sunroof adds unnecessary weight.
Driving: I’ve always complained that the new BMWs don’t come standard with a straight-six anymore and the difference really shows on the sedan. The contemporary 2.0L turbo-four gets to 100 in under 6 seconds, quicker than its predecessors, the accelerator doesn’t have the same heft as a six-cylinder. The eight-speed gearbox tops out at 1:1 in sixth gear making the last two overdrives for fuel economy. But then do you really care about fuel economy in a Bimmer? I’d rather have it feel like an E36 3-series from 1995.
The brakes, like in the same-generation X3, bite too hard and don’t match the accelerator’s smoothness. The X1 and 1-series have a more mature pedal response, despite both being front-wheel-drive. The steering is precise as always and the automatic curb-side mirror adjustment makes it easy to park with an excellent turning circle. The one place where BMW tech really shines is with the non-intrusive driver alert systems; it lets you know what’s going on without taking control away from you.
