ROAD TEST:
BMW 320i
LUXURIOUS YET POWERFUL
We don’t celebrate base models enough around here. It’s not that we don’t love the cheap versions, but carmakers usually loan us models tarted up with more options than sense. But the stripper, the price leader, the key-and-a-heater—that’s the way to obtain the goodness of a particular car for the least amount of money.
The lowest rung on the 3-series ladder is now the 320i, starting at $33,475. We can almost hear the sales pitch: “This 320i is $4550 less than the 328i, and you get the same 2.0-liter turbo engine.” That’s true, but what your salesperson might not tell you is that you give up 60 horsepower to the 240-hp 328i, and the 320i’s zero-to-60 time of 6.5 seconds is 0.9 second slower than the 328i’s.
But mid-range acceleration is really the only sacrifice the 320i asks of its driver. From a stop, the short first and second gears of the eight-speed automatic assure that there’s plenty of punch. The 320i doesn’t start falling significantly behind the 328i until it reaches 50 mph. Fifty-to-70-mph passing times are a second slower in the 320i, so the freeway merge requires a bit more planning.
Content from Car And Driver Magazine
The rest of the car is just like a 328i, from the quiver-free structure to the noisy idle of the four-cylinder to the spastic startup every time it awakens after shutting down at a stoplight. Weight distribution (50/50 front/rear) remains unchanged, as does the flavorless steering feel. It’s a new 3-series to the core. Avoid the temptations of the optional power leather seats, sunroof, and navigation system, and you’ll still get every bit of what’s great about the 3-series.