My apologies. This won’t be the standard, authoritative road test expected from your resident loud-mouth shnook. You know, the one where — after exhaustive combing of the media kit, not to mention a kilometre or two behind the wheel — I definitively state that, yea or nay, this car is the cat’s meow. Instead, this evaluation will be filled with the ifs, ands and buts of the possible and probable as I grapple with both the car BMW will be immediately offering, what it will offer in the future and what it all means for the brand in the long run.
I hardly need to remind you that the 3 Series is BMW’s bread and butter. Yes, in recent years, the company has diversified into Sports Activity Vehicles (its semi-pretentious name for SUVs), fortified its larger cars (such as the 5 and 7 Series) as well as started an entire new entry-level line (the 1 Series). But it still remains that whither goes the 3 goes BMW.
Almost as obvious is that the 3, like the rest of the BMW lineup, is undergoing significant changes. As complex as the automotive world may be, these influences can be summed up in two simple categories: one represented by BMW’s recent (and now defunct) Joy marketing campaign that saw the company trying to broaden its audience, and the other forced upon it by governments legislating increasingly stringent fuel economy standards. The latter has seen BMW drop its traditional high-revving engines in favour of turbocharging when seeking more power (i.e., in topline trims and M-badged models), while the former still sees BMW paying as much attention to comfort and comportment as it does to the handling and steering for which it is legendary.
Indeed, the 328i I recently tested is a perfect example of both influences. Immediately recognizable as a BMW 3 Series despite its styling revisions, under the hood is yet another of BMW’s increasingly ubiquitous N20 turbocharged four-cylinders. Already tested in the X1 and more recently in the up-market 5 Series, the four-banger punches well above its weight, its measly 2.0 litres pumping out a boast-worthy 241 horsepower and an even more impressive 258 pound-feet of torque. Compared with the naturally aspirated 3.0L in-line six it replaces in all cars with the “28” suffix, that’s a gain of 11 hp and 58 lb-ft of torque respectively.
It shows. The new 328i four-cylinder is actually one second faster to 100 kilometres an hour than the previous 328i six. Most noticeable is the surfeit of low-end power, the combination of the turbo four’s abundant torque and the new eight-speed automatic transmission making the new 328i feel much more robust. Launch is forceful (BMW Canada claims a creditable 6.3 seconds to 100 km/h) and, when passing on the highway, the 2.0L feels twice as large. No need for high revs or gnashing of valves, the 328i scoots past traffic with ease. And did I mention that Transport Canada rates the new 328 at 6.8 L/100 km overall, a 22% improvement over the outgoing model?
