BMW 320i Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: BMW 320i range
Prices: £23,140-£27,610- on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 14-15
Emissions: 146g/km
Performance: Max Speed 142mph / 0-60mph 8.2s
Fuel Consumption: (combined) 46.3mpg
Safety: Twin front airbags, twin front side airbags, twin ITS side window airbags / ABS /DSC / runflat tyres
Dimensions: [4dr] Length/Width/Height 4520/1817/1424mm WHO TO SEE

SIX APPEAL?

Our Rating: 7.0 / 10

Although there are some great four cylinder engines in the BMW line-up, many customers don’t feel happy with anything less than a sextet under the bonnet. The latest 320i shows that a four can still deliver the goods, as Andy Enright discovers

For so long, a four cylinder engine under the bonnet of your BMW marked you down as that most craven of badge snobs. It represented the skinflint’s way of buying into the marque. There were exceptions to this rule, but the image obsessed sales rep was usually the one to be found mercilessly thrashing a four-cylinder 3 Series, having ticked the box marked ‘badge delete’ to keep everyone else in the dark. The entry-level six-cylinder model has traditionally been the 320i. First introduced in 1975, the 320i now needs to work harder than ever to maintain its position, especially as it now sports a four-cylinder engine.

The truth for British motorists is that on most objective scorecards, the 320i loses out to its 320d diesel sibling. The diesel car is cheaper to run, has a beefier resale value, lower emissions and although it’s slower against the clock on most measures, it feels a whole lot more muscular. That’s the practical side covered – now for another perspective.

While the roar of that diesel engine when fully extended is purposeful at best, compared to the 320i, it’s much like putting me up at the microphone against Luther Vandross. Those who get a kick out of the finer aspects of driving are already attracted to the sheer depth of engineering inherent in a 3 Series and they’ll understand the importance of a beautifully balanced naturally-aspirated engine. Blip the throttle in a 320i and it responds instantly. Heel and toe downchanges are utter simplicity, as there’s none of the mushy response of a turbocharged engine when caught off boost. Although the 320d may offer the average motorist more for their money, in any longer term relationship between car and driver, the 320i is a more satisfying companion.

Improving the current generation 3-Series was never going to be easy and the latest car, priced in 320i form from just over £23,000, shows that the money men and the stylists went head to head when it came to the mid-term facelift. It looks like the stylists have blinked first, this 3-Series featuring changes so subtle that you’d be excused for missing them. Still, with this car accounting for fully 52 per cent of BMW’s UK sales, alienating this bedrock of customers with a wilfully odd looking design was never going to make a sound business case.

Unusually for a 3 Series, it could be that what’s on the bonnet gains as much attention as what’s under it where this revised model is concerned. The styling has been updated in a number of small ways but the raised lines that fall down the middle of the bonnet are most noticeable. Elsewhere, the BMW trademark ringed side lights are standard and the grille has been tweaked while the entire rear light clusters are now entirely ruby red in colour and the side skirts have a more pronounced crease line. The interior looks largely similar to the previous model but BMW has again updated its iDrive control interface with scrolling menu displays designed to enhance usability. There’s 8 gigabytes of music storage capacity in the system too, enough for 100 albums, while the quality of the trim materials around the cabin has also been enhanced.

These days, the 3-Series has to redefine its place in BMW’s range, no longer being the entry level model, and the range must be planned so that 1-Series buyers can easily migrate to a Three on the way to bigger BMWs. At least that’s what the suits in Munich are hoping.

The 320i uses an engine based on the architecture of the 318i motor. With improvements to the induction and VANOS systems, this engine jumps from the 318i’s 143bhp to a round 170bhp. Although only possessing four cylinders, it has the smoothness of a six. Capable of covering the sprint to 60mph in 8.2 seconds and able to hi