Car Enthusiast - click here to access the home page


 



New M Sport models join 3 Series line-up. Image by BMW.

New M Sport models join 3 Series line-up
Back in his days as BMW-Williams employee, Jenson Button drove a BMW 330d as his company car, and was once famously caught speeding excessively in Europe. The 3-series BMW has moved on since those days, as has Jenson.

   



<< earlier review     later review >>

Reviews homepage -> BMW reviews

BMW 330d Saloon

Back in his days as BMW-Williams employee, Jenson Button drove a BMW 330d as his company car, and was once famously caught speeding excessively in Europe. The 3-series BMW has moved on since those days, as has Jenson. The Car Enthusiast tested the new 3-series earlier this year, and took the opportunity to get back behind the wheel at the launch of the 330d version.

The new 3-litre 231bhp straight-six diesel engine is available in both Saloon and Touring (estate in BMW speak) body styles. Our saloon test car was fitted with the standard 6-speed manual gearbox, although an automatic option is available with this engine. As with most diesel engines, the bhp figure is not the one to look for first; diesel means torque. In this case, 369lb.ft of it, available between 1750 and 3000rpm. Plainly this is not an engine that needs to be revved to make progress. But is it sporty?

As with most modern diesel engines, the BMW 330d is of common-rail design and does away with the need to pre-heat the glow plugs before starting up. BMW has fitted the same system as is filtering throughout the BMW range, with a dummy key and a start button: pop the key in the slot and hit the button; the engine fires up immediately, settling to an even idle but with just enough noise to betray the fuel type.

Moving off on our test route (comprising mostly A and B-roads with little traffic) the torque was fully in evidence. Unlike the petrol BMWs, this is an engine that does not need to be revved hard to make progress, and as such is a more relaxed, more mature if you like, way to travel. The engine pulls hard from barely above idle revs and the car gained speed very quickly in any gear from almost any speed. Once adapted to the more relaxed style of driving, the BMW 330d could almost be driven as an automatic; certainly there was little need to change down out of sixth gear once outside the town limits. There was more than enough pull out of bends to keep the chassis behaving as in any other 3-series.

BMW claims 0-62mph arrives in 6.7 seconds and the top speed is limited to 155mph, yet this car has an official combined fuel consumption figure of 43.5mpg and certainly this figure should be approachable in real world conditions. The extra weight of the diesel engine was not really noticeable on the road; perhaps it would produce a small amount of added understeer on the track, but at sensible limits, the 330d just went where it was pointed, pulled hard out of the corner and on towards the next bend. There was just the slightest hint of vibration through the clutch pedal to betray that the engine was not quite as smooth as the petrol versions, but once concentrating on driving rather than looking for faults, it went unnoticed.

Inside, the 330d is just the same as any top line petrol-engined 3-series although the leather seats as fitted to our car really should be standard fitment. As with any BMW the options list is long and comprehensive and it's not difficult to get carried away and spend a small fortune, or even a large one. Keep the specification more down to earth, and the 330d SE can be bought for less than £30,000 in saloon form, although with the sensible options added, you're more likely to be looking at around £33,000. Add £1,200 more and you can have the Touring body, and for those with bigger wallets, the Sport model will come in around £3,000 dearer than the equivalent SE.

It's easy to take the view that £30,000 doesn't go that far these days when buying a new car. The old BMW 330d was good enough for Jenson, the new BMW 330d is certainly more than good enough for you and I, and almost certainly a better bet than the petrol equivalent which is barely quicker and costs a lot more to run.

BMW 318d Saloon

For those who can't quite run to £30k, or whose performance needs are not quite so high, BMW has thoughtfully brought out an entry-level diesel 3-series, the 318d, just for you. With prices starting at a little over £22,000 there is a big saving against its bigger brother, as well as the current 320d.

The main thing that struck me about the 318d is that you didn't need to adapt your driving style in quite the same way as with the 330d. Although producing its maximum power of 122bhp at a low (compared to petrol engines) 4000 rpm and 207lb.ft of torque at 1750 rpm, to make halfway decent progress this engine needs to be revved, using all 4,000 revs available at every opportunity. It's a lot slower than the 330d; the claimed figure for 0-62 mph is 10.6 seconds with a maximum speed of 128mph. However, it's not so much inferior, as just different.

Drive the 318d on a diet of revs and it doesn't feel too slow, it doesn't really feel like a diesel at all. Only the noise at idle and a touch more vibration through the clutch pedal than the 330d give the game away. With a lighter engine up front, there is a hint less understeer than in the 330d and of course the potential fuel economy is that much better, with the 318d achieving 50.4mpg on the combined cycle, although if you drive it on revs, it might not be so easy to achieve this figure.

Trevor Nicosia - 30 Nov 2005



  www.bmw.co.uk    - BMW road tests
- BMW news
- 3 Series images

2005 BMW 3-series. Image by BMW.2005 BMW 3-series. Image by BMW.2005 BMW 3-series. Image by BMW.2005 BMW 3-series. Image by BMW.2005 BMW 3-series. Image by BMW.

2005 BMW 3-series. Image by BMW.2005 BMW 3-series. Image by BMW.2005 BMW 3-series. Image by BMW.2005 BMW 3-series. Image by BMW.2005 BMW 3-series. Image by BMW.



2005 BMW 3-series. Image by BMW.
 

2005 BMW 3-series. Image by BMW.
 

2005 BMW 3-series. Image by BMW.
 

2005 BMW 3-series. Image by BMW.
 

2005 BMW 3-series. Image by BMW.
 

2005 BMW 3-series. Image by BMW.
 

2005 BMW 3-series. Image by BMW.
 






 

Internal links:   | Home | Privacy | Contact us | Archives | Old motor show reports | Follow Car Enthusiast on Twitter | Copyright 1999-2024 ©