The first thing to say about the 3-Series in general is that, as of September this year, it now looks slightly different from the way it did up to August. I would describe the changes in detail and follow this up with my own views on the matter, but BMW's PR boss - a very nice man who is about to embark on a well-earned retirement - recently told me and a few colleagues that he hates reading journalists' opinions about appearances, and that whenever he does this he's inclined to start shouting, "Don't tell me if it looks good or bad! Let me decide for myself!" Fair point, so I won't raise the subject again. You can see the pictures. Make your own decisions.I will tell you what I think about the revised 330d M Sport, but before that I'd better tell you about its engine. Sorry if you're not interested in engines, but this is important. This one is new, and it's significantly more powerful than the one in the previous 330d. The three-litre six-cylinder turbo diesel produces 245bhp, which is 14bhp up on the last one, so the 0-62mph time has come down to a very impressive 6.1 seconds for the manual version and 6.2 seconds for the automatic. (Top speed remains electronically limited to 155mph).
It's not a slow car, then, and even more impressive than the 0-62mph stat is the way the engine sounds as you push it up towards its maximum of around 5000rpm. Don't ever let anyone tell you a diesel can't make a thrilling noise - this one sounds just fantastic.
Not that you have to rev it to make it work. Floor the accelerator at not much over tickover speed and the engine booms into life, giving you proper acceleration virtually any time you want it. In fact, it's so powerful at low revs that it can sometimes threaten to overcome the efforts of the back end to transfer all its ability into forward motion, and there can often be a bit of squirming, accompanied by warning flashes from the traction control light on the instrument panel, as you fire out of a slow corner.
And that's with the uprated suspension and serious rubber that come with the M Sport package. Wow. But at least in this case the package still leaves you with a car that can be driven sensibly if you're not in a hurry to get anywhere. There have been BMWs in the past which were comprehensively ruined when they were turned into M Sports, but the 330d version retains a good measure of ride comfort, even if the suspension does occasionally feel busier than would be ideal.
So this is a quick car but a comfortable one. Good, but things are about to become even more delightful. Here goes: this rather wonderful car officially has combined fuel economy of 49.6mpg, and according to the EU it emits 152g/km of CO2. How close you get to these figures in real life depends on how you drive the car, but the fact remains that they are better than the equivalent numbers for a 1.4-litre Ford Focus. Yes, really. The cheapest Focus in the world manages 42.8mpg and 157g/km, so the two cars will cost the same to tax (about £150 per year) at least until 2011. There is something rather wonderful about this, wouldn't you say?
However much I like the 330d, though, there's no getting away from the fact that it's a lot more expensive than a Focus, unless your local Ford dealer has commissioned Damien Hirst to create a diamond-encrusted special edition. The list price of the 330d is £33,885, and in true BMW fashion (well, premium German manufacturer fashion if we're being strictly accurate) you can spend a lot more than that.
For example, the test car was actually worth £38,870. Most of the difference was made up by leather upholstery at £1025 and a Media Package (Professional Multimedia interface, Bluetooth preparation, BMW Assist, BMW Online and voice control) at £1935. Fair enough, I suppose, though I did blink once or twice when I saw that full electric adjustment for both the front seats adds a further £890 to the bill. I rather thought that would have come as standard.
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