New BMW 3 series 320d Sportline India review: Sensibly Insane

Words : Amit Chhangani (With inputs from Arjun Dharve)

Images: Amit Chhangani and Deepak Dongre

The world is fast becoming a bad place to live. Dumb phones which cannot last half a day are termed ‘Smart’. Hot looking celebrities are getting their assets removed fearing cancer and Youtube has become the no.1 tourist destination in the world. Like all of that was not bad enough, we heard someone say – ‘the new BMW 3-series is too soft to be driven hard’.

We’d better be dead than live in a world with soft, not fun-to-drive BMWs. And if we really had to die, we’d rather be caught dead testing the new BMW they allege as soft. So we left all our worldly belongings behind and headed straight into the cabin of a BMW 320d Sport to see whether our time here was over.

And since we’re still here tapping the keys and telling you a story, you should know that we care two hoots about those who discarded the new 3 as too soft. The new 3-series is a legend reincarnated, and all the ‘hard’ liners who think the new 3 is ‘Soft’, really need to read on!

Design

The new BMW 3-series, or the F30 has grown in all dimensions in comparison to its predecessor, the E90. The Melbourne Red color we got on our test car only added the charm of the overall fresher design. The newly incorporated ‘evil eyes’ touch at the front makes the new 3 series look like a sinister creature, especially when viewed head on.

Like a typical 3 series, the F30 maintains short front and rear overhangs lending it the long wheelbase look. The trademark kidney grill is now slightly forward tilted and the wider headlights are of flatter rather than the round bangle design. They still maintain the corona ring feature albeit slashed at the top and bottom; these also double up as the daytime running lights.

The F30s engine hood has a straight cut akin to the Z3 and it no longer meets the top of the kidney grill to maintain a clean look. The Sportline version comes with a distinctly crafted front bumper which supports BMWs claim of improving the efficient dynamics. BMW claims that to improve the overall efficiency, they have gone to the extent of aerodynamically optimizing the wheel design, lower rolling resistance run-flat tyres and lowered the suspension to minimize drag. The overall design maintains tight surfaces with pronounced creases. The front apron having been aerodynamically optimized further aids the efficiency apart from lending sporty looks to the front end and giving it a dynamic character.

The wedge shape of the new 3-Series’ silhouette and its wider track (+ 37/47 mm at the front/rear) underline the sporting appearance of the new BMW. By clearly accentuating the width of the car, the multi-faceted surfaces of the expressive front end give the BMW 3-Series a sportier face than ever.

The BMW 3-Series replaces the central air intake of its predecessor with two larger intakes, which are positioned underneath the headlights to the outer edges of the front end and add extra depth to the car’s sporty styling.

In profile, the trademark BMW Hofmeister kink at the base of the C-pillar injects the silhouette of the new 3-Series with unmistakable brand identity. Alongside it runs a fine line from the roof into the boot lid, giving the roof an even lower appearance from the side. On the sides, the slightly rising shade line on the heavily contoured side skirt adds further sportiness.

The new 3 series has strong horizontal lines to emphasize its width. The treatment continues at the rear with the rear lights in customary BMW L-shaped design positioned at the outer edges of the back end. The traditional 3-Series design trait of slotting two lines between the spoiler and the rear bumper have been duly incorporated in the new version as well.

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