NICK KURCZEWSKI
The BMW 3 Series has been staring down the competition for
decades now. It's the luxury sport sedan all others want to beat.
I love rooting for the underdog, always have. When I was a
kid, growing up in Wisconsin (in the pre-Brett Favre era), my other favorite
footballs teams included the New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, and New
Orleans Saints.
Want to know why?
It’s because they all stunk, each one was routinely as
god-awful as my beloved and beleaguered 1980s Packers. Oh, and for the record,
guess which formerly bad football teams I kind of can’t stand right now? (The
Saints get a pass, pun intended. Who dat’ say dey gonna hate dem
Saints?)
NICK KURCZEWSKI
The 2016 BMW 3 Series is another careful evolution of the
German automaker's most highly-regarded model.
So now here I am, with the Tom Brady of luxury sport sedans,
the 2016 BMW 340i xDrive Sedan. The 3 Series has been the standard bearer of
its segment for so long, it’s hard to remember a time when this Bavarian-built
sedan wasn’t the target all other automakers were chasing.
Mercedes-Benz and Audi certainly haven’t been asleep at the
wheel. And Cadillac is definitely taking some enormous strides to regain its
iconic, but dust-covered, “standard of the world” title from long ago.
In the meantime, BMW keeps refining, updating and improving
the 3 Series, the sedan with a bulls-eye on its back. By and large, the changes
are always for the better – though let’s ignore bizarre niche models, like the hunchbacked
Gran Turismo variant.
NICK KURCZEWSKI
The shape doesn't shout, but you instantly know from the
balanced proportions that this is a finely honed German sports sedan.
Unless you’re saving up for the wild M3 sport sedan, the
340i model is the most powerful version of the ‘regular’ 3 Series range.
Powered by a turbocharged inline-6 cylinder engine, coupled to an 8-speed
automatic gearbox, this powertrain delivers 320-horsepower and a stout 330
lb.-ft. of torque at a low 1,380 rpm.
This means there is no perceptible turbo lag, no hesitation
from the engine whatsoever as speed and revs climb. Fitting the 340i with
all-wheel-drive means foregoing the available 6-speed manual transmission,
though I doubt this is going to be a deal-breaker for many BMW shoppers. If you
want the manual, it’s available as a no-cost option in the rear-wheel-drive version
of the 340i.
NICK KURCZEWSKI
According to BMW, the 340i xDrive needs only 4.8 seconds to
accelerate from 0 to 60 mph. That's outright sports car territory, ladies and
gentlemen.
Within the first mile or two of my drive, one word kept
jumping to the forefront of my mind: Smooth. Every driving input feels expertly
and meticulously honed, from the feedback provided by the steering, to the
pressure required to engage the meaty brakes. Even the cabin has an air of
timeless elegance, by foregoing faddish displays and graphics, in favor of a
crisp gauge cluster (featuring real gauges, not screens), along with
straightforward buttons and dials on the console.
NICK KURCZEWSKI
It's not hugely cutting-edge or faddish, and that's what
makes the 3 Series cabin so endearing. It's classy, it looks great, and
everything works beautifully.
My tester’s black and tan leather interior was especially
handsome; even if the car’s white paintjob was way too bland for my taste. Just
why the heck is white such a popular color on so many cars and SUVs? The 3
Series is still wonderfully proportioned, and I love the character lines along
each side, cutting through the upper half of the doors like a freshly ironed
pleat.
I didn’t have a chance to really put the xDrive hardware to
the test – though BMW owners who opted for AWD certainly will this upcoming weekend! For my
money, I’d likely choose a fantastic set of winter tires and skip the option
box for all-wheel-drive. A big part of the reason is money; the xDrive version
of the 340i is $2-grand more than the standard model. And let’s not forget, the
lovely 328i Sedan, powered by BMW’s punchy turbo 4-cylinder, starts at $38,350
– or roughly $9-grand less than the 340i xDrive sedan.
NICK KURCZEWSKI
The turbocharged inline-6 is extremely powerful and
incredibly smooth. This is one of the best engines in the world, bar none.
The pick of the bunch could be the 328i xDrive
station-wagon, starting at $42,650. It delivers 220-hp, along with the added
utility that comes with having a wagon’s worth of load-lugging space. Better
still, because everyone is so crazy for crossovers right now, you don’t see one
on every street corner. So BMW purists will forgive that automatic-only
gearbox, for the simple fact that you chose the esoteric wagon. Oh yes, and
it's cheaper, so you’re saving money too!
Did this suave and powerful BMW have any major flaws? Well,
many competitors offer roomier rear seats, the exterior is conservative –
granted, that doubles as a positive – and the price scorches upwards when you
start adding extras. I just covered how you can minimize the damage to your
budget but, let’s be clear about one thing, nobody buys a BMW 3 Series because
it’s the best bargain.
NICK KURCZEWSKI
As much as we love an underdog, there's no getting around
it; this is the view the BMW 340i xDrive Sedan provides to most - if not all -
of its competitors.
The gap to the competition is also much thinner than it was
only a few years ago. Cadillac has finally found an identity, Lexus is getting
racy, Mercedes-Benz has shaken off a stodgy image, and Audi is far from being
the quirky outlier it was a decade ago. Even the likes of Lincoln, Acura,
and Infiniti have all taken massive strides when it comes to matching the power
and panache of the BMW range.
But the 3 Series remains maddeningly good, especially if
you’re an engineer with a competing automaker who is tasked with creating a car
to beat it.
source: http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/latest-reviews/2016-bmw-340i-xdrive-sedan-review-test-drive-article-1.2504854
by Nick Kurczewski
http://www.boscheuropean.com
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