Jul. 9, 2005.


The new BMW 325i starts at just under $40,000, a few hundred dollars more than its predecessor, but with options the price can quickly climb into the stratosphere. The six-speed manual transmission is as slick as ever, and cabin features are thoroughly high-tech.





BMW's new 3 remains brand's defining ride


LAURANCE YAP

MONTREAL—The 3 Series remains not only BMW's bread-and-butter car, but also its core competency and the vehicle that truly defines its brand.

The most Mercedes-like of Mercedes is always the biggest and most expensive Benz; the car that best exemplifies BMW has been, and will likely always be, the 3.

As such, the new car's designers and engineers not only had big shoes to fill but were under huge pressure to produce a car that would be as much of a winner as the old one.

Were it not BMW, this would be an easier task; a lot of car manufacturers these days are content to recycle old ideas and refine them to perfection. But that's not what BMW has ever done with a new car, or ever wants to do.

So the new 3 not only had to be better than the old 3, but it also had to be tangibly newer, incorporating not only the company's new, razor-edged styling theme, but also a raft of new features and technologies designed to push it ahead of the pack it already leads.

The car that ultimately emerged from this process is simultaneously exactly what you would expect of a 3, as well as a big surprise in the way it looks, drives and all comes together.

The first surprise is, indeed, how much bigger it is, disguised by the sharp new exterior styling. The rear seats, for example, are now much more habitable over long trips and the trunk is bigger and more usable.

Up front, it's not so much the increase in legroom or headroom that's noticeable, but extra width in the cabin, making for more elbow room and a larger centre console with extra storage.

While the cabin's quality is as good or better than any other car in the class, there are some elements of the design, like the cupholders that spring out from below the trim strip on the passenger side of the dash, which look tacked-on rather than designed-in.

Depending on which equipment packages you pick, the new 3 Series comes with one of two almost completely different dash setups, one that will be pretty familiar to drivers of the previous-generation car and one whose two-binnacle iDrive set-up mimics those in the 5, 6 and 7 Series.

The tester I drove up to Montreal for Grand Prix weekend had the former, with a complete set of button-profuse climate controls and a radio whose chiclet-style buttons and dim red screen were oh-so-'80s. No complaints about the performance of either system, though: on a 32C day, the A/C blew ice-cold and the sound quality from the "professional" stereo was excellent.

Maybe it's because I grew up playing video games, but the iDrive system actually seems like the more attractive option to me — not only does it significantly clean up the dash and console controls, but its bright 7-inch screen is much easier to read and its modular interface design means extra features are but a flash-memory download away.

But it's not just inside the cabin that BMW has been pushing technological boundaries. The new 3 Series is high-tech everywhere. The 3.0-litre engine now features Valvetronic technology that does away with a conventional throttle and produces more power and lowers fuel consumption; in the entry-level car (confusingly called the 325i), it produces 215 hp, almost as much as the outgoing 330. The new 330, with some more engine tweaks, produces 255 hp, more than the old M3 did.

My 325i performed just like you would expect of BMW, with a strong surge of low-end torque blending into a seamless snarl of power as the revs built. The six-speed manual transmission — up a gear on the old car — is as slick as ever, with significantly shorter throws and, combined with the engine's precise throttle response, means you always look like a smoother driver than you actually are.

On the chassis front, development has also continued apace. There's an extra link now in the rear suspension, the dynamic stability control system has been enhanced for increased sensitivity and more seamless operation and the tires are now run-flat units with a pressure-monitoring system, so there's no spare.

It all comes together, though, in an entirely familiar way: the new 3 is still a masterpiece in motion, as stable and confident as you would wish when carving through corners, but with an incredibly well-judged ride on rough roads whose comfort seems entirely contrary to its racy back-road attitude.

The car I drove was not, however, fitted with the optional active steering, which is the one BMW chassis advance I'm not entirely convinced of.

Depending on road speed, it quickens or slows the steering ratio, meaning parking manoeuvres are but a finger-flick away, while high-speed lane changes feel more stable and secure thanks to slowed-down steering.

My problem isn't so much that the system doesn't work; it's just that BMW's steering has always been great to begin with and the added electronics and motors rob the wheel of a little bit of feel.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that BMW has pretty much held the line on prices. The 325i starts at just under $40,000, a few hundred dollars more than the smaller old car, which had much less horsepower, a five-speed and a less sophisticated chassis.

As with any BMW, however, options can quickly push the price into the stratosphere. With a moonroof, premium package (leather and other goodies) and sport pack, my tester topped $47,000, which was less of a steal.

Then again, given the way 3 Series have a record of retaining their value, the newness of the car relative to its competitors and the increased power and space, the new car's pricing no longer seems as intentionally "premium" as the old one's.