I have to say. Having read this review before buying a 330i and now owning one James must like his ride pretty cushy.

For comparison. I'd say the ride in comfort mode is a tiny bit firmer than a VE commodore SV6 and softer than a Mazda SP25GT.

Honestly, any softer and I'd probably go to sleep given how quiet it is. The experience as is is probably already a bit too isolated for a 'sports sedan'.

I've also noticed that the steering is pretty numb at suburban speeds (say up to 60kmph) but gets a heap better at higher speeds

james, how would you rate this compared to the a3? you really loved that a3!

Kinda hard to compare them properly given they're different segments, but the 3 Series certainly feels a class above in most aspects. There's a $20k price difference as well mind you!

fair enough. this 3 series looks and sounds great. the bombers won, mind you if you cant beat carlton theres something wrong. carlton tanking yet again!

Hahaha

330i used to mean 3 Litres of engine capacity and an inline six not a boosted 4 popper.
Ripped off buyers.

yeah and you used to get a cramped car getting 13.7l/100kms (literally my own figures) with performance to 100 at just under 7 seconds that cost you $90k

now you get a larger and better equipped car (remember how much m sport pack used to cost? you dont want to) that gets real world figures of 8.5l/100kms (literally my own figures) with performance to 100 at just under 6 seconds that costs you $70k

buyers should start a class action as its so unfair - theyre totally being ripped

Long time ago it did. Plus, current 330i is more powerful, faster, and more efficient. Hardly ripped off in my opinion.

Yes James but have you compared the sound and smoothness of those superb inline sixes to these fours ?
You cant measure everything.
The BMW 6 cylinder petrol engine cars feel pretty special.
i havent felt very good about any of their 4s so far.

I had an e46 330i and the sound was fantastic, but the modern 4's that BMW puts out are smoother, more efficient and more powerful. You get a lot more car for your dollar now than you used to.

There’s positives and negatives for both, yes. Having tested the latest one though I’d suggest not writing it off purely based on displacement

James, great review - you really are the underdog!!!

also, if you want to know how sitting in a real bmw feels, ill take you for a spin in the E46 so you can cry out in pain over bumps and have the heavy steering steer you, not the other way around.

theres a reason bmw conformed and went soft, but its refreshing to see some of their traits still do slip through for the old school enthusiasts

- Thanks man!

- No thanks man!

hahaha

Everyone complained the 3 series had gone soft. Now they make it firm and the reviewers (must be old) all complain.
I understand it can be a fine line.
That said, I would I would get the base model with the smallest wheels and no M suspension option.

Just to clarify the steering of the new one is too soft for my liking but the ride is a little to firm. The ride was also a little too firm with the previous model too imo.

Unfortunately we are limited with wheel/tyre options in the Australian market. The 330i comes standard with 19in wheels with front/rear mixed tyres. There is an option in the Luxury line to despec to 18" wheels but your are still stuck with the mixed tyre arrangement. Tyres are of course runflats with no spare tyre. While in European markets there is the option to de-spec to 17in wheels which allows the option of conventional tyres in a square setup with a spare. The 330i comes standard with Adaptive M suspension which you can not remove.

Isn't the M sport equipped 330i available with Pilot Sport 4S tyres?

I've no idea what actual tyre is on these new 330i. I'm only going off the Australian specification guide on the BMW Australia website which indicates for both the currently available 320d and 330i, both for standard fitment and optional wheels, and for both Luxury and M-Sports trim options, only run-flat tyres are available.

Bridgestone Turanza T005 RTF is emblazoned on the close up shots of the car in this review.

I'm pretty sure that James Wong is in his 20s...

Regardless - I think Porsche (or even the VF Commodore SS) has proven that a car doesn't have to have an unsettled, bone-jarring ride to be a proper driver's car. I'm not saying that it's an easy balance to find, but it is possible.

Can confirm I'm in my 20s, though I do feel old at times ;)

Good read. Agree firm ride. Affects most German cars on our roads. A tad annoying.

Hopefully doesn't set the bar excessively high for Alfa to match it when the Giulia's mid-cycle update comes out in 5 years.

Don't start the Al-fanatics please

5.8 secs to 100 for a commuter saloon - BMW bravo, if only the "hot hatches" were so fast!

M340i is the “sweet spot” if comparing it to the previous gen 340i. But far worse than the upcoming M3 as that will have an all-new 3.0L straight-six making 375kW.

A thorough review as well as being a good read.
Another review from CA with context to achieved consumption. Big TICK James.
I'd 2nd the comment on excessive tyre pressures. I have experienced 12psi over recommendations on a new car.
Run flats would not help and a reason I would not buy a BMW even if I could afford one.

i had to change a friends tyre the other day. it was fine, annoying at best because it was in a side street. the time before that was when I took our audi to a tile shop somewhere around 2011 and mustve run over an offcut and ended up losing all pressure on the M4 on the way home and had to sit there changing it while semis slapped air into me doing a hundred clicks past me.

since then ive personally had 4 flat tyres and just drove the car to the tyre shop whenever i damn well wanted and paid $40 for them to fill the hole and stick some air in it.

sure its a little firmer than a conventional soft sidewalled tyre, but it doesnt bother me, and may not bother you either

I got rid of the run flats on my G30 520d... two got punctured on dirt roads. Once switching back to regular tyres I got no punctures on the same roads, and they were noticeably quieter and better at absorbing some shock than the run flats.

i cant comment on dirt roads, but id assume what they put at the contact patch probably doesnt differ so much from that of standard soft sidewall tyres so could it have possibly been a brand/spec issue or did you replace the RFTs with same brand and model non RFT version?

glad the non RFTs are softer and quieter for you, but as i mentioned, im willing to give both of those up for convenience

I couldn't disagree more. The best thing I ever did on my E90 was get rid of the run flats. It literally transformed the car. In my 15 years of driving so far I have not once had to change a tyre on the side of the road. Usually its just a nail and it can be driven to a tyre shop. Run flats are the worst thing ever invented and I don't know why (lets be honest) only a few manufacturers continue to use them.

It's not a little firmer, it's a lot firmer especially if the roads you drive on aren't that great. The difference is really night and day. They also tend to tram line a lot more because of the hard sidewalls.

e90 was literally the first iteration of runflats and subsequent suspension set up and we are talking at least 15 years ago now, so im sorry but im not accepting that and will respectfully disagree. also, ive had 0 tramlining on either square or staggered RFT set up but used to get tramlining all the time prior to having RFTs (mostly on the staggered E46)

things change mate, you need to be up to date with opinions otherwise youre just spreading false information

and for the record, my M sport F30s have had much better ride than me M sport E46 - with and without adaptive susp

Probably explains why F30 forums are full of "Dumping Run flats, best decision ever". But I guess your right, they so much better lol Literally f30 forums are full of "Ditched RFT, best decision ever". So really doesn't look like they improved that much.

and forums are generally full of socially inept individuals trying spark conversation to self-justify saving $100 over 4 tyres and having literally no contingency other than a tow truck or goo pack if something went wrong for a slightly better ride that initially buying a lexus wouldve sorted, but you get that

Nah RFT's just suck. Probably explains why Jame's new 3 series felt jittery and never settled. The technology is just not there. I understand they are not as horrible as the E90's were, but in my opinion they will never be as complaint as regulars.

ive literally listed some of the fors for RFTs above so if the against is solely a jittery ride (which is already expected from BMW prior to RFT days), then im not sure how the againsts outweigh the fors

but someones always going to complain about something

I'm just sharing my experience. When I switch to go flats the ride improved a lot and I didn't feel like I lost any performance. Sure there is a benefit that you don't have to stop when you have a flat, but to me that's not worth the extra cost and ride sacrifice.

thats fair man, in your instance it sounds good

Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts, Jerrycan, appreciate it! As for tyre pressures, press cars are generally done to manufacturer specs as per the placards in the front door.

Should be a 318is. 320 and 330 should be reserved for 6 cylinder models!

E36 318 had around 100kw and 200nm... the previous gen F30 318 had around 100kw and 200nm

why exactly should this be a 318 when the power and torque figures are almost double that?

You just quoted the same power figures

yeah mate that was literally my point, that bmws nomenclature has stayed the same power-wise

For the reasons I just explained.

ok well last i checked, bmw always stuck number on the back of its cars describing displacement, not number of cylinders, so when you now move to the current times and there are cars with the same displacements running differing tunes, then why should they list displacements or cylinder counts? it was you who said 330 should be reserved for 6cyl no?

Yes the base 3 cylinder 1.5L should be rightly called a 315i not 318i.

the E36 316i hatch used to have around 80kw, so then this one should have 70kw? is that what youre saying? because thats what it comes across as

lol why are you arguing with these people

i dont know but i feel like will smith at the end of i am legend when the zombie dudes are trying to eat him despite him yelling out that he has the cure and can save them all. theres no point. no point at all