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Car of the Year - Overall Champion
20.01.2006 |
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BMW 320d ES 4dr
What we were looking for:
Our champion of champions has to be very special indeed - not just good, but great. We’re looking for a car with supreme strengths that has done more than any other to raise standards in its class.
Usually, this is the tricky bit. Choosing an overall champion causes more headaches than any other Car of the Year decision. This year, however, the discussion was short and to the point. The BMW 3 Series emerged as a clear winner.
We’d expected BMW’s compact exec contender to be good, but we didn’t expect it to be this good. In recent years, the best compact execs have been separated by the smallest of margins. The BMW, especially the 2.0-litre diesel version recommended here, has raised standards more than we thought possible.
Whatever your priorities, it delivers. The 320d is every bit as sharp as you’d expect of a BMW. It’s still the keen driver’s choice, yet it combines this driver appeal with an impressively supple ride.
Refinement, however, is the area in which BMW has really rewritten the rules. This used to be Mercedes’ patch but now BMW is the quietest car in the class, making it the preferred choice for any journey you plan to tackle. An empty road, a city at rush hour, a long haul on the motorway - we’d take the BMW every time.
Any 3 Series is good, but the 320d is the pick of the crop. The 163bhp 2.0-litre diesel hits the sweet spot of performance, fuel economy, low emissions and refinement. There’s little reason to spend extra to obtain one of the more powerful engine options.
Space and practicality used to be a weak point of the old car, but not this one. Now four adults can get comfortable in its attractive, well-built interior. Go for the ES model and you get a decent equipment level at a price that, while hardly cheap, makes the 3 Series a car to which many buyers can realistically aspire.