02/03/09

• Price26,680
• We like...Drive, power, economy
• We don't...Bit pricey

Latest mid-size BMW works magic: it's a dream to drive but it's also very economical and low on exhaust emissions, tooThe BMW 3-series is a car you’ll find yourself wanting to buy – even if you’d decided not to. It really is that good.

We could blather on about how it is a modern motoring icon, now more popular even than the Ford Mondeo. And it is a car that everyone has an opinion on. But none of that will prepare you fully for a journey in one.

Because it is just so sweet to drive, so accomplished in every corner that, after a spell with one, other cars seem clumsy and slung together. It starts with that driving position. Once you’ve got the (rather sudden) height adjuster on the seat tamed and the wheel just so, you settle into one of the best-sorted and most commanding cabins anywhere. You feel in touch with the road and alert.

Move off and the first you notice is the precise but forgiving steering. It’s light enough but has weight so that you can feel what the car is doing and so place the car just where you’d wish it. And, no, this isn’t something that becomes real only as you carve across a series of B-road bends. It’s there even as you inch into that too-small space in the multi-storey park.

And every other control feels as sweet, making the car feel exceptionally engineered and all of a piece. It rides firmly but with just the right degree of ‘give’ to take the edge of sharp crests in the roads and sufficient control to ease you over long sections of broken tarmac. It’s a very comfortable place in which to pass long journeys.

The cabin is well made but spare, making you wonder at first quite where all your buying money was spent. But, look harder and you realise that it is all high quality and well wrought. Cabin room, a bugbear of older 3-series, is now good for four, although a fifth makes sitting in the back a squeeze. The boot is long and square, reaching a long way behind the rear chairs.
The car’s real ace, though, comes in its ability to travel far on a gallon of diesel and yet whip you along a road quickly should you want.

BMW was among the first to bring the Stop-Start technology that is now appearing on many makes. This stops the engine whenever you’re halted in traffic and put the gears to neutral. To restart, dip the clutch and select gear – and then the engine quickly fires. This feels odd at first but within a few trips becomes second nature. You can switch it off, should you wish, and it won’t work until the engine is warmed or if there’s a big drain on the battery – when the lights, screen heater and wipers are going, for example.

It’s pricey new and demand is such that second-hand prices remain relatively strong, particularly for a 320 diesel, like our test car. But they make fantastic buys, all the same, because they last well and lose value slowly as they age.

If you’re after a mid-size quality car – this is the one to beat. You’ll struggle to do better.

To view and buy second-hand 3-series, go to motors.co.uk

• Engines2.0 diesel
• Power177bhp
• 0-60 mph7.9secs
• Economy58.9mpg
• CO2g/km128
• Insurance groups16
• EuroNCAP
• Airbags6
• Seats5

Motors.co.uk value verdict: