Has The BMW 3-Series GT GROWN On You? Are YOU Starting To Come Around Or Has BMW Lost YOU With THIS Design?

Odd that these photos have it with a 2-door coupe instead of a proper 4-door sedan.

Sorry but the looks just aren't right for me. I would rather get a crossover if I was interested in storage space. The Q3 and X1 are what I would go for if I needed that.

I'd rather drive a 3 series station wagon.

I've been a hatchback fan for decades, but the lack product in the German Sports Coupe marketplace had been forcing me to contemplate the 3er Touring, X1, and Audi Allroad. So when news of the GT came out, I've been highly interested.

Here's my take, no particular order:

Exterior Appearance: the lines are fine. Compromises must be made to have a hatch and they've done well (better than average) here.

Performance: the GT has an edge on the Crossovers by having a lower Center of Gravity ... but it also isn't as low as the 3er Sedan or Touring.

Size: the GT is just short of 16ft long, which will just barely fit in my garage bay, but not with enough clearance to even get into the car without first opening the garage door...or to be able to get my snowblower out of its corner. I'd preferred it if the GT hadn't been made any longer than the touring...and for that matter, I'd really not have minded if two doors had gotten chopped off too. Advantage here to everyone else.

Interior: the GT has a "hard" deck behind the back seat...this is a big advantage on reducing interior noise levels, as this sort of design typically provides a -2dB benefit. It also automatically covers over the trunk space which makes for better anti-theft security (in the Touring, the roller shade is only deployed when there's something valuable to hide). Advantage GT.

Price...not much of a difference between the GT vs Touring. Unfortunately, a big price jump up from the X1, Audi Q5 and probably the forthcoming Mercedes GLA (IMO, the Allroad and the Porsche Macan are roughly the same). Overall, it makes for a hard decision of if I'm really willing to pay an extra 20% ($8K) to have a real sport coupe hatchback versus just a crossover. Given that not all of the above are clear positives for the GT, I'm afraid that the answer is "not quite good enough".

Other: runflat tires and automatic transmission only. Both are major negatives as far as I'm concerned, although I do have to recognize that these evils are unfortunately being imposed on enthusiasts across more and more of the industry. Things are pretty pathetic in the higher end enthusiast when I'm actually seriously reconsidering putting a Jetta Sportswagon back on the short list against the likes of this BMW. Maybe even a Subaru too.


-hh

The 3 series touring, while decent looking, is much smaller in the back and doesn't have the road presence of the 3GT. An alternative for us would have been the 5 series touring if available. But in the US it isn't, and none of these have the individual character of the 3GT. It does polarize, but less so once you see it in the metal. And I consider that actually a good thing as I don't necessarily want to drive the car my neighbor has.

Better than the atrocious 5GT....but it's still ugly....

Well, it's more pleasing than a Pontiac Aztec, but only slightly.

It's like asking which car (the 5GT or 3GT) is less ugly. Bottom line is it doesn't matter because at the end of the day you're still driving an ugly car.

BMW is going to lose customers to the Audi Q3 and Audi Allroad.

Neither of which are competitors. There's an X1 abd 328xiT for those.

Having actually seen and driven the 3GT, I'd rather have a 335xi GT than a 5-series sedan. It's got more room, it weighs less, and it's less expensive. And to anyone complaining about the looks, it doesn't look like a 5GT. It's much sleeker. From the back the "height" of the rear end is basically the same as a sedan, there's none of the elevated bulbousness of the 5GT. Anyone who says otherwise hasn't actually seen it, they're just regurgitating what they read about the 5GT.

I find the 3GT much more attractive in the metal than in photos, with a real presence that more than offsets some awkwardness in the way the C pillar flows into the rear body side. Driving dynamics are about 90% of the 3 wagon's, but the interior is much roomier and, especially in the rear seats, more comfortable. I'm coming off a 2011 335xi sedan, which I've liked but found just too tight inside, and I'm putting my money where my opinions are, as I have a 328xi GT on order.

+1 on this and the similar positive comments: somehow, there's simply none of the ungainly "bubble butt" factor that the 5GT, the 6GT or even Honda's 'Crosstour' suffer from.

Unless, of course, the viewer is one who assumes 'ugly' at the merest hint of a fastback-based slope in any form...they must have been utterly traumatized by 50 years of Porsche 911 back windows ;-)

From a pratical standpoint, I'd personally like to see the option to include a rear windshield wiper on this car. Yes, I know that many folks will say that this makes the 'ugly' even worse, and/or otherwise ruin the lines, but the simple reality is that if one lives in a region where there's rain or snow and multiple lanes, the flatter the rear glass is, the more that a wiper becomes a pragmatic necessity to maintain visibility and driving safety.


-hh

Yeah, I'm coming around. So much so that I will be taking delivery of a 335 GT MSport in two weeks. Coming from a 320 MSport sedan, the GT wasn't even on my shopping list due to its higher price and mixed reviews (not to mention that it doesn't seem to photograph all that well.) Echoing James Higgins above, the car looks much better in real life and in MSport trim looks downright mean. It is a bigger, nastier looking 3. Handling was great; perhaps not as good as a 3sedan on the track, but I won't be tracking it anyway. I frankly preferred the higher seating position to that of my 320, though snowy/slushy road conditions during my test drive probably didn't work in the favor of the ActiveHybrid3 and 328 sedan I also tested. Drove my brother in laws 328 GT Sport trim loaner a the next day on clearer roads and was completely sold. That is one impressive 4 banger! So much faster than my 320 even though it's a bigger, heavier car. But the real clincher was the back seat. My wife sat up front while the salesman drove and I had to lean forward to hear the conversation. I'm six feet tall and my knees were nowhere near the front seat. I could actually stretch my legs out a bit, and the higher positioned seats mean a less pronounced driveline hump. You could be 6'6" and sit in comfort back there. Was clearly more room than either the 5 Sedan or X3. Supposedly as spacious as a 7. Lots of cargo space. I mean, with the back seats folded down you could carry our dresser back there. Overall just a very impressive and very practical package.