DRIVEN: The All-new BMW 3-Series Gets DRIVEN But Does It Still Have The JUICE Needed To Win Buyer's Hearts?

The all-new BMW 3-Series has touched down but as I was exchanging notes with Agent 001 the other day, we came to a realization. Neither of us had seen one on the road.

Funny enough, the next day we did catch one on one of San Diego's northern country roads.

Although we were quite a bit let down with its all-new design, as it takes more of a Lexus-like approach, we're interested in getting behind the wheel. The current-gen 3-Series/4-Series is not aging particularly well so we're interested to see how the Bavarians are going to keep people's blood pumping with the latest and greatest.

That said, the folks at Autocar had a go in the all-new 330i. Its verdict is posted below and it seems rather vague.

Is it BETTER or WORSE than its competition, folks?!

Should I buy one?

The 330i M Sport is fast, poised and engaging to drive; pleasant, upmarket, refined and practical; advanced and well-equipped – and yet competitively priced and realistically fuel-efficient. It’s a very hard car to find a serious, reasonably held fault with.

That the executive set has cheaper, bigger, more laid-back and left-field options is true enough. But this car excels at the traditional job description of a BMW 3 Series in almost all of the important ways, and brings new qualities to the table too. It’s authentic and technologically contemporary-feeling with it; great to drive and more complete than any 3 Series before it.

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runninglogan1 - 5/6/2019 5:12:51 AM

-9 Boost

It's a good car but not blowing anyone's mind. Model 3 will continue to clobber it in sales.

PUGPROUD - 5/6/2019 7:49:21 AM

+4 Boost

Lets check back after a year to two when the full line of 3 series has been rolled out before comparing sales figures.

MDarringer - 5/6/2019 8:04:33 AM

-2 Boost

The 3 Series has become exceedingly boring and the new one is even more so. Is that the new 3 Series? Who knows. It blends in so well with the old one that no one will know you have the new one in your driveway.

Agent00R - 5/6/2019 10:19:30 PM

+1 Boost

Agreed!

SSP350 - 5/6/2019 8:49:04 AM

+2 Boost

The new rear end reminds me of a Lexus GS.

Agent00R - 5/6/2019 10:19:50 PM

0 Boost

I see Lexus IS but either way it's not good that's what we're comparing it to!

JRobUSC - 5/6/2019 9:45:17 AM

+1 Boost

"Score: 5 Stars out of 5

Brilliant handling smarts allied to greater sophistication and completeness than any 3 Series before it"

Verdict doesn't seem "vague".

GermanNut - 5/6/2019 11:16:46 AM

+1 Boost

Nice cherry picking. Here's a few other reviews to cool your enthusiasm:

"That said, while this 330i isn't the correction we were hoping for, it's only the first new 3-series we've tested. A brief drive in Europe of other 3-series—including the 382-hp six-cylinder M340i (it arrives this summer), the rear-drive 330i, and versions equipped with the $2450 Track Handling package (non-run-flat tires, an electronically controlled diff, and four-piston front calipers)—were more promising than this particular 330i xDrive. Maybe that correction is still coming."

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a26990610/2019-bmw-330i-xdrive-by-the-numbers/

"Alas it’s not the game-changing return to Ultimate-Driving-Machine form we’ve been dreaming of. But you should have known that as soon as you learned that it doesn’t come with a stick."

https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/first-drives/a25475896/2019-bmw-330i-first-drive-review/

And that's our overwhelming takeaway from the 2020 3-Series. Satisfaction. It's still not the segment benchmark, but as long as BMW continues to take a jack-of-all-trades approach to its popular compact, the 3-Series never will be. But this compact is competitive. It's likable. It's satisfying. If you want the most premium car in the class, buy a C-Class. You want the smartest tech, it has to be the Audi A4. The most engaging driver remains the Alfa Romeo Giulia. But if you can't decide between those three vehicles (and are willing to live with some poor tech), then the 2020 BMW 3-Series is once again worth considering.

https://www.motor1.com/reviews/297249/2019-bmw-3-series-first-drive/

JRobUSC - 5/6/2019 1:26:06 PM

+1 Boost

Hmm, 00R said "I am providing a link to a review from Autocar and stating the verdict they provided 'was vague'."

Then one of us followed the link to the review 00R provided and cut and pasted the very first items from the review itself (the headline and star ranking they gave it, which was 5 out of 5).

The other one of us went out intentionally looking for negative snippets from other sources that weren't referenced in the original post in order to refute the first person.

So listen up, Vizzini, you might want to look up the definition of "cherry picking", because in the words of Inigo Montoya - you keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

GermanNut - 5/6/2019 4:52:43 PM

+2 Boost

Just trying to make sure people are aware that this one Autocar review does not tell the total story of the new 3-Series by a long margin. There is far from universal praise for the new 3-Series and it's important that people are aware of that.

Truthy - 5/6/2019 10:01:17 AM

-2 Boost

I believe it looks better than the outgoing model, but that bar is low, especially for the interior. However, it continues the BMW tradition of having to add the M Sport Package and Addaptive Sport Steering package to make it drive like a BMW. I built one online and without being extravagant it ranf up to $54,000 while still missing driver assist items that are standard on a Kia Soul.

GermanNut - 5/6/2019 10:48:35 AM

-3 Boost

The BMW 3-Series is not what BMW needed if it ever wants to overtake Mercedes-Benz in global sales. The new BMW 3-Series looks just like the previous two 3-series before it. From an interior standpoint, it's the same old cheap 3-Series materials and drab looks compared to the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4.

A 330i M-Sport is hardly indicative of the 3-Series driving dynamics given most 3-Series will be a base model 328 with 4-cylinder engine and no M-Sport. BMW lost its way long ago and the new 3-Series simply ensure BMW will stay in second place globally behind Mercedes-Benz.