Styling
Headlight clusters with no bumps in the bottom of them are the hallmark of the post-LCI (that's BMW-speak for facelift) 3 Series of 2022 onwards, so really the main changes here are a fresh design of 19-inch alloy wheel, plus two eye-catching new body colours called Arctic Race Blue and Fire Red (both metallics). Saying the 3 Series is one of BMW's better-looking modern cars feels like we're setting the model a very low aesthetic bar to clear, so perhaps it would be more fitting to say this is a mighty handsome three-box saloon in the wider automotive scheme of things, especially in desirable M Sport trim.
Interior
Again, in terms of specific changes, there are only a few. Principally, it's the 'polygonal' steering wheel (BMW's word, not ours), which... we're not big fans of, to be honest. It's over-padded once more, a common BMW failing in the modern era, and it makes the 'wheel' odd to hold in the first place, but then the bit above the flat-topped bottom is basically egg-shaped as well so it just all adds up to a rather bizarre experience. We're not sure what you find so objectionable about a circular wheel, BMW, but whatever it is, perhaps it's time to swallow your pride and just go back to it ASAP.
Anyway, beyond that, there's a more sustainably sourced eco-material for the seats, called M Performtex, while the widescreen digital interface that serves as the 3 Series' dashboard now runs Operating System 8.5, which cleans up the way various functions of the climate control can be operated. Brilliantly, while it is quietly disappearing from other BMWs, the 3 Series retains the iDrive rotary controller on the transmission tunnel, so interfacing with its main infotainment screen doesn't have to all be done through the medium of touchscreen alone.
Practicality
For a four-door saloon, the BMW 320i has an impressive boot capacity of 480 litres. It's also comfortable in terms of rear legroom too, so it's not hard to imagine a quartet of adults travelling in the car with no hardship. If a little more headroom in the second row, and/or a bigger boot is required, then there's always the 3 Series Touring, isn't there?
Performance
It's a strangely minimalist drivetrain range for the 3 Series these days, or at least it is in right-hand-drive markets like ours. In the levels below the full-on
M3, the diesels have been quietly taken out to the back barn and treated to a 'kindness', so you're looking at three petrol choices. There's the 320i as the base point, the 330e plug-in hybrid in the middle (which is basically the 320i with an 80kW electric motor bolted to it, plus a now-larger 19.5kWh battery pack for greater one-shot electric-driving range), and then the only straight-six is found under the bonnet of the
M340i xDrive.
In various overseas markets, the super-low CO
2 of the 330e makes it the ideal choice due to key tax breaks, and there's certainly some benefit to running the PHEV here as a company car for the same reasons. But, having driven the 330e back-to-back with the 320i it is based upon, it's the plain-petrol version we prefer, so that's why we're reviewing it here.
Let's be clear, a 184hp/300Nm four-cylinder 3 Series is no road rocket. Nor is the most exciting regular model of Three that's ever appeared in the past, mainly because it lacks that straight-six snarl that a similarly underpowered classic version - like, say, an E30 320i - would have had. But, shorn of xDrive AWD and a plug-in hybrid's battery pack, the G20 320i weighs a gnat's under 1.6 tonnes, which is admirably trim in this day and age. So it's actually quicker than you might expect, even if you pay close attention to the 7.4-second on-paper 0-62mph time, which is markedly brisk.
It never sounds thrilling, but the 2.0-litre engine in the 320i is a willing performer and it rarely loses its composure, even if you push it out to the redline. It remains smooth in terms of vibrations and admirably subdued for noise, and as it is coupled up to the tremendous eight-speed Steptronic auto, the way the 3 Series goes is more than pacy enough for anyone's reasonable real-roads needs. Both the crisp throttle response and the lack of any appreciable turbo lag should be highly praised, too.
The 320i is also pretty economical. BMW claims 42.2mpg, and even on a spirited thrash through some sinuous lanes on the fringes of the Cotswolds it gave back more than 30mpg (30.5mpg) in our hands. Cruise this thing along the M40 at a steady-state 70mph in eighth, and we have no doubt that well in excess of 40mpg will be achievable - probably nearer 50mpg, in all honesty.
Ride & Handling
Again, like the soundtrack of the four-cylinder turbo engine, we're not going to pretend the 320i has a scintillating chassis, even though it is purely rear-wheel drive as a 'proper' BMW should be. But it is so supremely polished in the way it blends off ride comfort with some keen handling balance that it's hard not to be mighty impressed with it.
If we have one criticism, it's that on the M Sport springs and dampers, it can sometimes have vertical body movements in the wake of compressions that are too abrupt; the shell of the car moves quickly up and down, and it's a bit jarring. But the reason for that is that everything else the 320i does is supremely slick and controlled, and as the wheels (18-inch items in the case of our test car) never thump nor crash as they're dealing with surface imperfections, save for those infrequent vertical control issues then you have to say the BMW's ride comfort is largely exemplary. Ditto its rolling refinement, with few disturbances to report when it comes to wind and tyre noise.
On the other side of the coin, the 320i is not really set up to be a performance model of the 3 Series family, but that sporty DNA of any BMW manages to shine through nonetheless. Both and wheel control are both excellent, while the G20 has plenty of grip and traction to play with, despite being rear-driven. The only fly in the ointment here is the steering, which is not bad in and of itself
per se, but that stupid, chunky wheel in the cabin only serves to rob the driver of a few crucial degrees of feedback and feel at the helm.
Nevertheless, while you'll rarely be grinning maniacally behind the polygon (sigh...) of the 320i, you'll be quietly approving of the way the BMW goes down the road. Even in its most benign specification, the 3 Series remains the dynamic benchmark in this class.
Value
Rather amazingly, the 320i is now the entry point to the range and it's more than 40 grand in Sport specification before you've done so much as even looked at the tick boxes for the optional extras. Careful when you do, mind, because our test car was an M Sport with £11,850-worth of fripperies bolted onto it, meaning your four-pot 'repmobile' 3 Series suddenly costs a mere 31 quid shy of an eye-widening £53,000. You don't need to load tonnes of pricey bits of kit into the Three to get a good, well-equipped car at the end of it all, so try and show some restraint if ordering a 320i to keep the first of its five figures as a '4'.
Verdict
Little more than a chance for BMW to keep the G20 feeling fresh as it heads into its seventh year of service, this latest round of updates is so subtle as to be near-impossible to discern. But, underneath it all, the 320i is just a splendidly well-sorted executive saloon car. It doesn't sound terrific, it won't sear down the road with the sort of performance that would shame an EV, and though it's capable in the corners it's rarely mesmerising. Yet it's just so crushingly good at all the various jobs it has been tasked to do that you can't help but deeply admire it; this is a vehicle which thoroughly aces its design brief. At the end of the day, the G20 320i proves this is still the 3 Series' domain - as it has been for the past five decades.
