What is it?
We live in times, most honest road testers will tell, when it can occasionally feel a touch overwhelming. So much metal, so many niches. Strange cars of weird shapes, weirder sizes, powertrains of unproven efficacy, answers to questions of which few even thought, let alone asked.
Sometimes you wish you could just press reset. If only there were a ‘revert to factory settings’ button, somewhere you could go where, just until your brain fills up with clutter again, everything seems normal. And there is: it’s called the BMW 320d saloon.
For successive generations, the 320d has sat calm at the centre of our universe while ever increasing amounts of madness have swirled around. Or at least it has for people with real needs and real limitations to their lives, be they budgetary, geographical or logistical, who crave a car that works on all levels, none more effectively than its ability to appeal to the enthusiast driver within us. You know where you are with a 320d. Six gears (in the manual), five seats, four doors, three boxes, two driven wheels, one 2.0-litre turbo diesel. Simple.
And yet I felt with the previous, F30-generation model not so much a blurring of the picture as just a slight fuzziness around the edges. Maybe it wasn’t helped by Mercedes-Benz taking such a strong step forward with the now very dynamic Mercedes-Benz C-Class, but I felt the 320d’s default position as the absolute weapon au choix for normal enthusiasts living in the real world threatened as never before.
This new one came into my life shortly after a Dacia Sandero and Lamborghini Aventador SVJ had departed and I was feeling more than usually ready to reset. So I got up early and went for one of those delicious drives without destination, where the 320d would have no choice but to reveal all about itself and its suitability to our roads.
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BUYER BEWARE
Late to the game i appreciate, but this review is significantly off mark. After owning this car for 8 months i can assure you the steering and accelerator are numb, the ride is rough (something i would happily forgive if i felt the same sensation through the steering wheel) and the automatic gearbox is an appalling slushmatic system that may well get you to 60 in 6.8 with a following tailwind, but can take 1-2 seconds to remember its job and select a gear at the lights or changing down, before taking 5 gears to get to 30mph, and reaching top gear at 50mph (handy for the occasion you want to suddenly accelerate, useless for the fuel economy that rarely tops 48mpg)!!! Needless to say this is infuriating when you finally get fed up with the automatic and try out the daft flappy paddle rubbish.
I use this car for motorways and a bit of B roads, and can assure any potential buyer that both were better in my old 13 reg Seat Leon than in this
Which BMW 3-Series?
I read with interest the review (5 star, no less) of the new 3-Series and all sounded good if perhaps a tad gushy, never mind...
When I eventually reached the data page at the end, I was staggered to see that there are no fewer than 124 versions of the car of sale! One hundred and twenty-four! And I may have made a mistake soewhre: cross-eyed towards the end...
A cat would not find its kittens in that catalogue! Are ALL these versions SO different from each other? ALL 124 of them?
Really?
The dash is a mess. I always liked the BMW big round dials, but these games console look alikes don't do it for me, I guess I am too far past my 14th birthday. Copying the pig's ear that is the new Merc dash board is not a good idea - OK, it's not quite as bad as the Merc. Next is the typical BMW twisted driving position - looking at that footwell, it is not cured and may even be worse - what do they expect people to do with their left feet? Lastly price - at £38k for the basic M Sport, this is looking very pricey, especially alongside the revised Jaguar XE - it is even expensive compared with the new Evoque - which I have priced and specced as a replacement for my 4 Series Gran Coupe - I can get a high spec. (new) Evoque for just under £40k - you won't do that with the BMW and then you can look forwards to £460 a year for five years on VED.