Review of the new BMW 330d

One of the occupational hazards of being a motoring journalist is answering the tricky question of what's the best car in the world. Of course there are fantasy cars like the Rolls Royce Phantom and the Bugatti Veyron to consider but most people want to know what the best car that normal people can afford. I used to have a fall back option in the Ford Focus but times have changed and the Focus is now no longer head and shoulders above the competition. My marker today is the BMW 330d.

The 'old' E46-series 330d was a fine car and one which rewrote the rulebook for diesel sports saloons. Here was a car with no appreciable Achilles heel. It looked good, went well, consumed very little fuel in the process and was a desirable ownership proposition. It's still one of the best used purchases around. The current E90 generation 3 Series improves on it in a number of ways but certain touchstones remain. It still has that wonderful ability to offer bags of performance without that curiously Catholic feeling of guilt every time you mash the throttle pedal.

Whereas the 330d wowed the crowds with first a 192bhp and then a 204bhp diesel unit, this time round BMW have got really serious. Packing no less than 231bhp from its 2,993cc turbocharged six-cylinder engine, here is a car that would force the Luddites who still harp on about 'diseasels' to eat hefty portions of humble pie. Packing comfortably more power than the original M3, this car also churns out a huge torque figure of 500Nm. Let's consider that for a moment. Think of a powerful sports car; a Porsche 911 Carrera S for instance. This manages 481Nm. A TVR T350 manages 474 and a Ferrari F430 a mere 465. Wind the 330d up as you merge into fast flowing traffic and you'll appreciate that this is one rapid car.

As with all turbodiesel cars, the sprint from rest to 60mph gives very little indication as to how rapid the 330d feels in 'real world' scenarios. Yes, 6.7 seconds is respectable but the BMW's in-gear times where it can take advantage of that mid-range muscle can demolish figures put up by so-called supercars. None of which will seat five and return a combined fuel figure of 46.3mpg. The last time I looked, none of them could be put in your garage for £30,690 either. The 330d will appeal to favoured corporate types, its Euro4 emissions compliance and modest 160g/km carbon dioxide figure offering one of the best trade-offs between big horsepower and small benefit in kind taxation. Of course, BMW have gone one better with the 335d but the 330d will be plenty for most and comes in over £3,000 cheaper.

"The 330d is a car without significant caveat"

A six-speed manual gearbox is fitted as standard but customers are also be able to specify their car with a six-speed automatic. Unfortunately there's no option for the paddle-shifting Sequential Manual Gearbox, but the standard manual box is a delight to use, offering a good compromise between light wristiness and a reassuring detent when the gear drops into position. The top speed of 155mph is reached in sixth, making this more than a mere economy gear.

The 3 Series range has been revised of late with the introduction of BMW's groundbreaking EfficientDynamics technology and the 330d is available in either SE or M Sport guises. Add a premium of around £1,200 for the Touring estate. SE trim we're relatively accustomed to, offering as it does a well-equipped but slightly softer riding package than the sportier versions. M Sport features an M Aerodynamic body kit, M Sports suspension, high-gloss shadow line detailing, an M Sports steering wheel, sports seats, an M gear knob, M Sports door sill kick plates, M interior trim and an anthracite headlining. That's quite enough branding for one paragraph.

Developing an all-new 3-Series was never going to be easy and the latest car shows that the money men and the stylists have gone head to head in the battle between shifting big numbers and continuing the trend for challengingly styled BMWs. It looks like the stylists have blinked first, the 3-Series looking a good deal more conservatively penned than the rest of the BMW line up. Although those wearing the black polo necks may grumble, it's a wise choice. With the 3-Series accounting for fully 52 per cent of BMW's UK sales, alienating this bedrock of customers with a wilfully odd looking car was never going to make a sound business case. Although sales of the latest 5-Series have swelled as people became used to its sharky lines, for the first few months that styling was manna from heaven for Mercedes and Audi.

Many of the contemporary BMW styling signatures are present although they have been toned down radically. The sill line is bowed, although nowhere near as radically as in, say, a 1-series. Compare how the rear bootlid is a chamfered and smoothed version of that worn by the 5-Series. Even the flanks betray a less aggressive concave contouring, while the rest of the traditional BMW cues such as the 'Hofmeister Kink' at the rear window and the kidney grille are present and correct.

Even amongst those of us with long memories who can remember when a BMW 3 Series was only marginally more expensive than your run of the mill medium range car, the 330d stands out as something special. You are paying a lot of money for the privilege of ownership, but the return is possibly the best all-rounder it's possible to buy. The best car in the world? Think about what the 330d can do, what it competes against and 335d notwithstanding, try to think of something better.