If you had 300,000, what type of car would you choose? Is it the Volvo S60, which focuses on safe driving, or the Mercedes-Benz C-Class with luxurious interiors as the selling point, or the BMW 3 Series, which is known for its handling?
BMW New 3 Series
For the domestic middle class, 300,000 is a relatively reasonable budget, and this price point is also one of the most competitive price segments. According to the data of the Association, in the domestic luxury car sales list in November, the BMW 3 Series ranked fourth in the list with 11,643 units, beating the old rivals Audi A4L and Mercedes-Benz C-Class, becoming the first luxury car sales in China with a price of 300,000. Why can the BMW 3 Series stand out from the many models of "masters like clouds" and become the most popular 300,000-priced sedan among domestic users? With this question, the Smart Car Faction is ready to experience this BMW family's "handle" model, and the actual driving feels how it is.
The interior is so nice it's not like the 3 Series
From the appearance, the new 3 series has a very big change compared to the previous generation, although it still has a family-style double kidney shape grille, and the angel eye shaped headlights on both sides are more "squinting" than the previous generation 3 series, which may be in order to move closer to the current mainstream flat design, as to whether it is more good-looking, it can only be said to be a matter of opinion. In addition, BMW's classic "Hofmeister Corner" (Huo's Corner) has also been changed on the 3 Series, from the previous rounded shape to a hard and straight turn, although BMW still calls it "new Huo's corner", but many old BMW fans do not buy it. It can be seen that the new 3 series codenamed G20 (long wheelbase version is G28) has changed a lot compared to the 3 series of the chassis of the previous generation F30 (long wheelbase version is F35), and this change is not only reflected in the appearance, but also in the interior and drivability.
New BMW 3 Series long wheelbase version
After entering the car, we can clearly feel that this generation of BMW 3 Series has a visible improvement in the interior. The 12.3-inch LCD dashboard replaces the previous generation of mechanical instruments, so that the car's sense of science and technology has been greatly improved, the 10.25-inch suspension central control is also much more exquisite than the previous generation, and the addition of driver's seat memory also allows the car to have a better driving experience, after sitting in the car, you can feel that the seat has a better wrapping, and the material is also very comfortable and soft.
New BMW 3 Series interior
Comfort improves a lot, but lacks the exercise gene
First of all, let's look at our test drive model today, the 2022 BMW 3 Series 325Li, as a static performance model, we can't wait to explore its performance in dynamic scenes. We first tested the car's zero hundred acceleration time and braking distance. The car's 0-100km/h acceleration performance is 7.5 seconds, compared with many 7.2s, 7.3s or so results on the Internet, there is a certain gap, but it can be felt that there is a significant slippage in the rear wheel of the starting stage, which is also the main reason why the acceleration performance is not satisfactory. In terms of braking, the car's braking performance is not too good, only 37.58 meters were measured, which is not too good compared to competitors. During the braking process, the stroke of the pedal is relatively linear, but due to the soft suspension, the phenomenon of nodding when braking is stopped, and the feeling is not crisp. However, after 3 brake tests, it was found that the car's brake heat attenuation performance was good, within 40 meters, even considering the impact of the test site caused by weather reasons, it can only be said that this performance is not very satisfactory.
New BMW 3 Series 325Li
After testing some extreme performance, we put the car on the road and got ready to experience the car's daily driving experience. Probably because of the new chassis, the new 3 series has a big improvement in the comfort of driving compared to the previous generation. The chassis of the car can filter most of the small vibrations in the case of passing through some small potholes, so that the car can maintain a relatively stable state, and in the face of larger obstacles such as speed reduction belts, the suspension rebound of the car is crisp and clean, and there will not be too much dragging mud and water, so that the advanced sense of the chassis can be better reflected.
In terms of driving tranquility, the new BMW 3 series has also had a good upgrade, because the previous 2019 3 series was not equipped with soundproof cotton for the engine was complained by netizens, this time BMW after listening to the user's suggestions, for the new 3 series installed soundproof cotton, the most intuitive feeling in the car is that the sound of the engine is almost difficult to enter the car. In the case of idling, the noise in the car is only 37 decibels, making people feel like riding on an electric car, even at a speed of 60km/h, the noise in the car is only 56.8 decibels, and it is mainly based on tire noise and wind noise, and the sound from the engine end is still very good and the noise in the rear seat is slightly improved compared to the front row, and the noise mainly comes from the tire noise of the rear wheels.
The interior of the new BMW 3 Series 325Li
The above are all the advantages of BMW's new 3 Series in daily driving, but is the performance of the car really so perfect? The answer is no. The biggest change is mainly in terms of handling. The car has a lot of regression compared to the previous generation in terms of steering feel and steering wheel control reaction, specifically, due to the soft adjustment of the chassis suspension, the car will have a significant roll phenomenon when making sharp turns, resulting in a bad experience when wanting to drive fiercely. Moreover, there is also a certain delay in the execution of the operation instructions of the vehicle, which is not a small regression compared with the control experience of the previous generation of 3 Series clean and decisive, pointing to which to fight. It is also due to the soft suspension that the new 3 series will also have a more obvious "nod" phenomenon when braking sharply. In general, in the more intense driving experience, the sense of security brought by the new 3 series is not as sufficient as that given by the previous generation.
Sales are rising but also becoming increasingly "moderate"
In general, since the replacement of the new generation 3 series in 2019, although a number of modified models have been launched, there has not been much change in the overall driving experience, but compared with the previous generation of 3 series, the change can not be said to be untouched With the continuous improvement of residents' living standards, the BMW 3 series has also begun to become less distant. In BMW's view, due to the increase in audience, ordinary users are more concerned about luxury and comfort. However, in the impression of "luxury choose Mercedes-Benz, comfortable choose Audi, sports choose BMW", BMW does not seem to have an advantage. For most ordinary users, the advantages of good sport control of the old 3 series are not strongly perceived in daily driving. So BMW adjusted the positioning of the 3 Series after thinking, weakened its sport control attributes, and enhanced the comfort and luxury, and the change of this strategy not only did not let the new BMW 3 Series sink from then on, but also achieved good results, and even long-term at the forefront of domestic luxury car sales.
This approach has been very effective for BMW, and it has also achieved an immediate increase in sales. However, for those old BMW 3 Series users who have been in the pit because of manipulation, there may be one less option to "play". However, it is not particularly sad, it is said that the new 3 series of the standard shaft version is very different from the long axis version in terms of drivability due to the retention of the original factory tuning, and perhaps this is the real inheritance of the 3 series in sports.