Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
BMW cars are so famous and popular that they need no introduction, but 3 Series GT is
here to prove us the contrary. To put it simply, BMW 3 Series GT combines
the comfort and the sportiness of a sedan with the versatility and the higher driving position of a SUV.
To the uninitiated, for things to be even simpler, BMW 3 Series GT is the third body version
of the 3 Series family. So we have the Sedan, the Touring or estate, and this GT – which stands for Gran Turismo.
From the aesthetic point of view, BMW 3 Series GT hardly looks like 3 Series, and this creates confusion.
among those who see it and do not know what it is all about.
We can also add the fact that the car is almost as long as a 5 Series Sedan.
Along with the new front of the car, the new back and the silhouette that reminds us of its
big brother, 5 Series GT, this 3 Series Gran Turismo is distinguished by details such as
the lack of frames for the doors and the tailgate with a generous opening.
It hides a huge trunk with double floor. It has 520 liters, 25 liters more than 3 Series Touring.
Also, on 3 Series GT debuts for the first time an active spoiler, never seen before on other BMW models.
This rises automatically when the car reaches 110 km/h and goes down automatically
when the speed decreases under 70 km/h.
If you want to impress your friends, you can manually turn on and off the spoiler from a button
placed near the windows control buttons.
This spoiler was not created for the show, but to increase the downforce on the rear axle by 60%,
reaching the values of 3 Series Sedan. Without this spoiler the car would be less
controllable at high speeds.
BMW 3 Series GT stands out as a car especially designed for traveling.
The front seats are very comfortable and easy to handle, even if the adjustments are manual
on the tested version.
You can also sit comfortable in the back. The space for the legs is huge, but the seats are low profiled
with the seat cushion too narrow. That makes the difference between
the front and the back seats to be significant and easily observable by anyone.
3 Series GT also brings news for the multimedia. The menus have new animations
and in the left side of the menu you can view the menu you came from.
For extra comfort when parking, you have the possibility to opt for a system with five cameras
that make a bird eye view image of the car.
A minus goes to the instrument cluster, which is not illuminated during daytime with
white light like other BMW models. Thus, if outside is cloudy or you go through a forest,
the instrument cluster becomes hard to read.
I also identified another minus for the air conditioning: there is no way to
simultaneously adjust the temperature for the driver and the passenger.
The driving Experience Control Technology is standard on 3 Series GT and allows you to
choose between four driving modes: ECO PRO, Comfort, Sport and Sport+.
If you use for a few kilometers the Sport or Sport+ modes, switching to Comfort or ECO PRO
feels very different. It is comparable to the feeling that you have when you sit on a bed
after you've returned from running. You feel how the whole car gets loose and invites
you to a relaxing driving style.
The engine on the tested car is the well-known 2-liter turbo diesel of 184 PS/HP.
It is worth to note that, as against 3 Series Sedan with the same engine,
the soundproofing of 3 Series GT is much better.
The dynamic performance of the tested car is rather close to those of 5 Series with a similar engine.
Specifically, BMW 320d Gran Turismo reaches 100 km/h in exactly 8 seconds
and it accelerates like this.
It is 0.5 seconds slower than BMW 320d Sedan and only 0.1 seconds faster than
BMW 5 Series with the same engine.
BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo starts at 37,882 Euros with VAT, and an identical version to the tested one,
Modern Line, cost 58.454 Euros including VAT.