It was a dream come true, when I finally picked up the keys of my alpine white beamer 3 series - a G20 330i M Sport(2019) - the 7th generation 3 series, on the 2nd of October 2019. Delivered by EVM Autokraft, Kochi, the booking and delivery of the vehicle took hardly a weeks time. This model was launched world over by March 2019 and it came to the Indian market by September 2019, it is a BS VI engine - a 2 litre 4 cylinder twin turbo petrol which delivers 256 BHP power to the rear wheels with 400 Nm of torque. The 0-100 KM/hr coming up in 5.6 seconds it has only automatic gear box with paddle shifters at the wheel and no manual version as of now. It is 185 inches(4709mm) long, longer by 10 inches over the previous E36 model and The wheel base(2851mm) of the car has gone up by nearly 70 mm thus adding more space inside - especially reflecting in the back seat leg space(unlike the predecessor where the rear seat passengers often felt cramped). The curb weight of the car is around 1400 Kg, having been reduced by nearly 25 kg but the rigidity of the chassis being increased by nearly 50%. 18 inch alloys shod with Michellin tyres - front being 225x45x18 and the rear being 255x40x18, that is "staggered wheels" for you only on the M sport version.
The interiors look more up market with luxurious brown leather seats, a leather clad chubby steering wheel with M logo at the bottom, a gesture control 12.5 inch infotainment screen which is tilted towards the driver side, the mood lighting with 7 colour options which turn into red blinking lights as one opens the door. The puddle lamps come on as one steps out, coming to aid in lighting up the ground as you alight. There is the apple car play, wireless charging, the solid built of the console, the fit and finish of the dash being good. Front and rear cameras which partly takes care of the corners and sides of the car too. The Navigation assist with voice control which works upon the command Hey BMW! The I drive helps twirl around the control wheel and go for your final choice. There are 3 drive modes Ecopro, comfort and sport - the sport plus provides the extra sporty growl to the exhaust note which also gets artificially accentuated inside the car too. The Steering wheels has all the audio controls and the cruise control settings on it as well. There are 8 speakers - Harmon Kardon provide good audio output for the music enthusiast with gentle tones being delivered both on the low and high pitched sides of the music. The seats are with 3 way electronic control switches which could be preset into 2 settings of your choice, with lumbar support which could also be tightened and relaxed with a separate button by the side of the seat. One can set the ORMs to retract automatically upon locking the car - for which one has a large remote control. The start and stop of the engine is done using a press button situated on the center console. The all digital instrument cluster display with speedometer and reverse motion tachometer change with each drive mode showing the fuel consumption and the temperature, fuel reserve and traction control locking. USB charging points being there in addition both in front and the rear seats. The rear passengers have separate AC ports and control switches too - the central drive shaft tunnel stealing quite some space in the center. A large sun roof is also provided which when kept open provides that extra sense of space and lighting too when the weather is cool. The front acoustically reinforced windshields hardly lets in any growl of the engine or the road noise - thus the cabin being quiet and comfortable, to the extend that one might feel it as smooth as an electric car. The headlights are LED with DRLs which are linear and conforming to the BMW design followed in the earlier generations. The rear lights are also LED with a reverse hockey stick design - and the twin exhausts are for ones are real and functional. The front kidney shaped grills are now larger and with automatic fins - blackened up in the M sport version, which opens up only upon reaching 85 km/hr to let in more air to cool the engine, which otherwise has inlets on the side of the bumper. The boot is large which holds two large travel bags - and the rear seats can be completely tumbled over to provide more space. There is a space saver wheel provided for cars in India(that actually steals a bit more of your boot space) which affords speeds upto 80 km/hr when the situation demands - as in a puncture in your "run flat tyres".
Having driven almost 7000 km within a matter of 5 1/2 months - I am just getting adjusted to the power and pick up the engine which is totally new to me. Most cars on the highway would be left far behind if one steps on the throttle for a second - but I have noticed that cruising at around 70-90 km/hr provides excellent driving pleasure and also returns nearly 15-18 km per litre on the EcoPro or the Comfort mode even. In the city traffic manoeuvring the machine needs some getting used to. But the smooth drive and handling is a pleasure that needs to be experienced. And by now I feel it is truly engaging to drive it is without any doubt and also "the best driving machine" around.