New engine puts the BMW back in BMW

Author's Rating:

Pros: More power, more aural feedback, more fun

Cons: More money

The Bottom Line: 
Love the new engine, not so crazy about the price.

Author's Review
BMW has had a problem on its hands lately. For 2000, they offered two engines in the 3-Series, a 170 hp 2.5 liter and a 193 hp 2.8 liter. Now, 23 horsepower is nothing to sneeze at, but with BMW charging about $5500 more for the larger engine (after adjusting for additional standard equipment), it seemed a touch on the pricey side. To make the difference seem larger than it was, the 2.5 liter car was called the 323i, not the 325i.

For 2001, they’ve fixed this problem. The 2.8 liter is stroked to yield 3.0 liters of displacement. This together with many other refinements adds 32 horsepower, substantially more than $5500 used to get you, for a total of 225. The new car is called the 330i. And, come fall, the 2.5 liter car will be called the 325i. Now that there’s a significant power and displacement difference between the two models (41 horsepower even after the 2.5 gets 14 more in the fall), there’s no need to cloud the issue.

How much does the extra power cost? Well, it looks like power seats ($945) are no longer standard and the price went up $590, so roughly $1500 more than the 328i. Not too bad. But this means it’s $7000 more than the 323i. Even allowing for the larger wheels that are standard on the 330i, we’re talking a lot of money here, even for 55 horsepower. As you’ll soon read, I loved the extra horses, but I’m not sure I’d be willing to spend this much to get them.

I reviewed the basic car when I reviewed the 2000 323i. To recap the key points (to skip this recap go to END RECAP):

The first thing I noticed after getting into the car and starting it was that there was nothing to notice: I had to check the tach to make sure the engine was even running. I actually checked it a few times. It's that silent at idle. Like, well, a Lexus. The engine only makes itself heard when given quite a bit of gas, and then its a refined, high-pitched, mechanical whine. The sort of sound I associate with fine European engines. Though this is the 323i, power is easily sufficient. The surge is not quite invigorating, but the needle on the speedo climbs fast enough. Actually, you had better keep an eye on that needle, because the lack of any strong sensation even at full throttle makes it hard to sense how fast you are picking up speed. Like in, yep, a Lexus.

Once underway the dominant impression is smooth, quiet luxury. Lexus is currently trying to copy BMW with its GS and IS series. But I think BMW may be doing an even better job copying Lexus. The shifter and clutch operate smoothly and with little effort. I never had trouble executing flawless shifts.

The ride is fluid and hushed. You feel the road a bit through your seat and the wheel, as you should in a driver's car, but the sensations are desirable communication. They are never harsh, at least not during my drive.

The steering is nicely weighted and responsive, combining with the well-tuned suspension to make the handling...well, what was the handling like? BMWs are known to be the best handling cars there are, and I'm sure this one lives up to that rep. It always went where I wanted it to, hung in there in hard turns even with my foot to the floor on the exit, and presented no surprises. But I didn't fall in love like I expected to. I suspect this car's handling gets the adrenaline flowing on very challenging roads at quite substantial speeds. In regular driving, the high level of refinement makes the dominant sensation a lack of sensation. Can a car be too good? BMW used to criticize Lexus for depriving the driver of sensation, but was this only a ploy to buy time?

I've never cared much for the driving position in BMWs, and this one is no exception. I prefer a low cowl and beltline, such that you sit well above the bottom edge of the windshield and side glass. BMWs have tended to mount the instruments high so that they are just below your line of sight, and to have high beltlines. The new three is faithful to that formula. You sit down in this car. Some people prefer this seating position, but I'm not one of them. Aside from this seating position, you can generally see out of the car well.

This is the smallest BMW, and a small car by any measure except weight--it's just a touch larger than a Honda Civic on the outside. But this is the size I'd want. The driver has plenty of room now. All of the controls are easily within reach, but you don't feel closed in like you did in some earlier BMWs. And a rear passenger up to about my size, 5'9", does OK. You'd want a larger car is you regularly need to haul 6-footers back there in comfort, but the same can also be said about the 5-series. (Checking the stats, the 3 and 5 have about the same rear seat head and leg room now that the 3 has grown a bit.) The trunk is a bit on the small side, but at least its usefully shaped.

I'll close with a few words about the styling. The previous 3-series had very distinctive exterior styling. I wasn't crazy about the grey endcaps it sported at first, but over time it really grew on me. The new 3 looks like what you'd get if you took the previous car and either inflated it a bit or threw it in the ocean to get the edges worn off. It looks like it drives, like the previous car with the edges smoothed off. Actually, that might be too charitable. It looks like the previous car would if it put on a few pounds. You know, pudged up a bit. And guess what? The new car is about 150 lbs. heavier. Maybe just truth in styling? (I will grant that the two door and convertible managed the transition better. These comments largely only apply to the four door.)

Finally, the interior styling. The previous three always seemed a bit cheap and hard inside. You know, too German. Not anymore. The new interior both looks and feels much higher in quality. It may even have a few things to teach the 5-series. I suspect BMW feared being trampled by the Japanese in this area. Now it doesn't have to.

I realized some years back that the more refined a car gets, the more extreme its powertrain and suspension have to be to make it exciting to drive. And the resulting machine still isn't all that exciting when driven at legal speeds on typical roads. I for one would like a car that's exciting to drive to and from work at a reasonable price. With cars getting more and more refined, courtesy of the example set by Lexus, such a car will be harder and harder to find...except maybe in the classifieds. Perhaps a late model M3? Or maybe, just maybe, BMW will offer an entry-level 3 once again stripped to its essence? One can only hope.

END RECAP

First, some additional comments on the basic car. I spent more time in the car this time, and took it through quite a few more hard, full throttle turns. What I said before about the ride and handling still holds, but I did have more fun this time. I still didn’t come away dying to have the car, but my mild disappointment from last time was gone. And I now suspect that the more I drove this car the more my affection for it would grow. (Since I don't have this kind of money to spend on a car, I'd best avoid testing this hypothesis for now.)

The driving position may have played a part. While I usually set the power seats in the cars I drive on their lowest positions, this time I raised the seat about an inch. This made the cowl and beltline seem lower, and the cabin airier. These are things I like, so I enjoyed driving the car more.

I also paid a bit more attention to the rear seat this time. I’d just come from driving a Lexus IS300, and was disappointed with that car’s rear seat. The BMW’s is much nicer, largely because the cushion is much higher off the floor. This affords a decent amount of thigh support, which often cannot be had in much larger cars. The extra few inches of legroom compared to the IS don't hurt either. While the BMW's rear seat is hardly roomy, it is comfortable for someone of my size (5ֽ”). If you’re much larger than me, though, your head may come into contact with the headliner.

In both the front and rear seats, I was once again impressed by the quality of the interior materials. They are far superior to those in the IS300. I even find them better than those in the more expensive 5-Series, which also is not much roomier. Overall, I’d have a hard time spending the extra cash for the 5.

Now, there were a few things I did not like about the car I drove. I would have liked to tilt the seat a bit. But even with the optional power seats this was not possible. I also would have preferred if the seat held me in place when I took turns aggressively. Quite flat, wide, and short on bolstering, it did not. Finally, the wheels on my car had a lot of thin spokes. Going for the refined luxury look, I guess. I hate them. They make the car look even more egg-shaped. I would much prefer a wheel with a smaller number of edgier, beefier spokes.

I mention all of these dislikes together because they can be easily solved together: just plunk down $1200 for the Sport Package, which includes a tilt adjustment on more heavily bolstered seats, a sport suspension, wider tires on more aggressive looking wheels, and a nicer three-spoke steering wheel. And a few other things as well. BMW charges somewhat outrageous sums for most of its options. This is the exception. In my book, this one’s a no-brainer: spend the $1200.

OK, I guess that’s enough dawdling. Time to get to the main event: So, is the 330i worth the extra $7000? It depends on your priorities. As I noted, the 323i is quick enough even for me, and I love to drive aggressively. You do feel the 330's extra horses in the small of your back when you floor the throttle, but how much is that worth? Unless you are racing another car, the 2.5 will get you to whatever nearly legal speed you car to go as fast as you would want to get there. In most other respects the cars are the same. So at first glance the extra money seems hard to justify. Sure, the wheels are larger on the 330i, but a grand or two could close that gap.

It turns out that the 330i is about more than extra power. The engine subtly transforms the spirit of the car. It’s not just more powerful, it’s also more visceral. Less Lexus, more BMW. When cruising, the 3.0 is just as quiet as the 2.5. But every time you tip into the throttle, even just a bit, you hear the somewhat boomy snarl of the exhaust. In most cases, the engine responds more urgently and more sharply. The exception being some mushiness I continually sensed after a hard 1-2 shift. It’s somewhat like the M engine in these respects (aside from the sogginess after the shift). The overall effect is to make the driving experience more involving and thus more fun, if less refined. If you like this kind of feedback from an engine, those extra dollars might suddenly seem well spent. If you prefer your engine to do its work smoothly and silently, then save your dough.

About that sogginess: programmed into the electronic throttle for emissions reasons, perhaps? The 3.0 liter meets ULEV (ultra low emission vehicle) emissions standards. I think it's the only BMW engine to do so. These standards are only met by a few engines currently, and likely require some tricky engine module programming. Engines hooked up to manual transmissions are especially hard to make clean, so this may affect shift quality. (The 2.5 even after it is upgraded will still only meet LEV standards, by the way, so it may do better here.)

So the choice seems fairly clear cut. To get a BMW that feels like a BMW, you're going to have to spend the big bucks. Or will you? In the fall the 2.5 will get all of the changes that the larger engine received when it was upgraded, with the exception of more displacement. So will the 2001 325i also provide the same, more elemental sensations that the 3.0 has returned to the 3-Series? If so, I must say I’d have to advise waiting until then and going with the less expensive car. The extra 55 horses are welcome, but the 2.5’s 170 are more than sufficient as long as you get the manual, and these will be joined by 14 more once the revisions are made. How much are 41 horses worth to you? Seven grand for a larger version of the same engine (i.e. roughly the same production cost) seems a bit steep to me. On the other hand, if the revised 2.5 remains more Lexus than BMW in spirit, then I’d say dig up the extra dough to get what BMWs are supposed to be about in the first place.

$40k is a lot to spend on a compact, but at present there are no less expensive substitutes. No less expensive car offers this blend of refinement and driving excitement. The only comparable car is the Audi S4, but it costs roughly the same as the BMW. (The cheaper, non-turbo A4 lacks the performance to compete with the 330, or even the 323.) Ah, but the Audi has all-wheel-drive you say. Well, BMW will soon offer this feature on the 330 for $1750. So the choice between the two becomes more difficult. The Audi has more low-end punch and more style, while the BMW has an edge in handling, refinement, and rear seat comfort. Which is the better car? My head says the BMW, but my heart says the Audi. Without a back-to-back test, it's too close for me to make the final call. You can't go wrong with either.

Reliability

People often email me asking about the reliability of the cars and trucks they are considering. Existing sources of reliability information just aren't helpful enough.

In response, my website, truedelta.com, will more clearly identify what difference it will make if you buy a 330i rather than something else by providing "times in the shop" and "days in the shop" stats (among others). Those who help provide the data--which will require just a few minutes a year--will earn free access to the site's reliability information. To encourage participation, this access will otherwise cost $24.95.

For the details, and to sign up, visit www.truedelta.com.