BMW 330d Coupe 2010 Review

BMW 330d Coupe

Road Test

Price Guide (manufacturer's list price, excluding on-road costs and dealer delivery): $94,050
Options fitted to test car (not included in above price): Metallic paint $1840, M Sport Package $3700, Electric/glass sunroof $2920, Professional Navigation $1600, Voice recognition $700, TV tuner $2249; (M Sport Package includes High-Gloss Shadowline trim, aerodynamic kit, M alloy wheels, anthracite headlining, aluminium Glacier Silver decorative trim, M door sills and M leather-bound multi-function steering wheel.)
Crash rating: five stars (ANCAP/Euro NCAP)
Fuel: Diesel
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 6.2
CO2 emissions (g/km): 164
Also consider: Audi A5 3.0 TDi, Mercedes-Benz E 250 CDi

Told to expect a 330d from BMW, we were expecting the car to come with four doors. So we were pleasantly surprised when the car in question turned out to be a coupe -- for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it was this writer's first drive of a six-cylinder BMW diesel for a number of years and it was also the first time in the E92 generation 3 Series coupe. How these two elements would combine -- diesel drivetrain and sporty body type -- piqued our curiosity.

The 330d Coupe arrived equipped with non-standard 18-inch alloy wheels -- and shod with BMW's own brand of necessary evil: run-flat tyres. We don't want to harp on too much about ride quality from these tyres, but it's all the more apparent in this car with its '+1' wheels. While a lot of cars ride firmly but offer some give in the tyre sidewalls, in the BMW the reverse is true. It has quite a good basic ride, but with more impact harshness through the tyres -- particularly obvious at lower speeds.

But you know what? For its safe and enjoyable handling and steering, a lot of owners would happily live with the car's low-speed ride properties.

In many ways the 330d's ride is a symptom of the concessions BMW has made -- on behalf of owners -- in developing this stylish and exciting diesel coupe. The sunroof allows a lot of light into the cabin, but eats into headroom -- in the front to an extent, but even more so in the rear seat. Entering the rear seems ungainly for adults, until compared with exiting. Boot space is marginal for a car of this size and all the more so when you consider there's not even a space-saver spare under the boot floor. There's at least the one redeeming feature of the run-flats.

Yet, such practical considerations fast give way to the excuses you'll make for the car. There's the astonishing 3.0-litre diesel six for a start. It combines the best and most interesting elements of an XU1 red six with a turbodiesel, if you want some idea of its character.

The BMW powerplant sounds sporty, provides impressive performance and remarkable fuel efficiency at all times. Over the course of the week the BMW posted a fuel consumption figure of 7.4L/100km, but the engine was quiet and refined at open-road speeds. Minimal turbo lag was manifest from a standing start, but on the move the engine is highly responsive, by any standard.

The engine runs through a smooth-shifting six-speed automatic transmission which helps overcome any turbo-based lapse in power delivery. It's an eye-opener for the way it will select a lower gear at an engine speed higher in the rev range for a diesel. BMW has settled on appropriate ratios for the transmission to give its best in conjunction with the diesel six.

Out on the road, the 330d's steering is nicely responsive and the whole car communicates what's happening through the seat as much as through the wheel. Turn-in is excellent and handling is tending more to oversteer if anything, but the 330d musters strong grip before it lets go -- and when it does everything's checked and balanced by the stability control system. It's a car that provides immense peace of mind when pushing on a bit harder.

In a more sedate mode, the 330d is a quiet car only let down by the tyres, which were noisy on both coarse-grade bitumen and even metropolitan freeways.

At night, the 330d's headlights were set a little low, but high beam compensated and the adaptive cornering feature was great to have. High-beam Assist proved to be superb. We've tried the system on other test vehicles in the past and haven't been convinced. In the case of the 330d, it responded rapidly to overhead lights in built-up areas and the headlights of oncoming cars. It didn't get it wrong at any point, even when confronted by highly reflective road signs.

Back on the subject of packaging, the cabin of the 330d is moderately cramped. The rear-seat is where it's most obvious. Not only is the headroom at a premium, as mentioned already, but there's not a lot of wriggle room under the front seat for your toes. Kneeroom is actually pretty good and the accommodation could be considered adequate for most teenagers.

As is the norm with coupes in this class there’s seating for two only in the rear.

In the front, the driving seat provides an uninterrupted view of instruments and a multitude of different positions for different physiques. The seat base extends forward for those requiring more support under the thighs and the side bolsters can be adjusted from a switch on the front corner of the seat. The handbrake is placed close to the driver's left leg and the DTC button is in plain sight, slap-bang in the middle of the centre fascia, so switchgear placement is pretty good overall. As we've said about the current 3 Series in the past, BMW has shown that it can build a car suitable for right-hand drive...

While it's easy enough to use, the cruise control switchgear to the lower left of the steering column presents a problem also encountered in recent Mercedes-Benz designs. It's located below the indicator stalk (in the opposite location to Benz's), but without familiarity drivers may find themselves grabbing the cruise control stalk instead of the indicator stalk.

The 330d came with shift paddles to effect sequential gear changes manually. As with the same feature in other BMWs, each paddle is a dual-purpose type, pushed forward for down-shifts and pulled back for up-shifts.

Although the paddles in the 330d are easier to grab than in some BMWs, it's still best to settle on using the left paddle for down-shifts only and the right for up-shifts (or vice versa). In most other cars, the shift paddles only downshift or upshift, not both. [Ed: in BMW’s most recent update of the 3 Series M3-style individual paddles have been introduced]

BMW's iDrive system is now fairly useful for a couple of different purposes. It's actually quick and easy to use for entering a destination in the satnav system and it makes more sense (in the view of the writer at least) for pairing Bluetooth mobiles than using voice control systems. For those who argue that it's still a distraction for the driver, it's certainly less of a distraction for the driver than a conventional input system would be. Only the excellent mouse-like system offered in some on the latest Lexus models would be an improvement.

The HVAC system features a manual switch between the face-level vents in the centre fascia. This switch toggles between heating and cooling, which leads us to believe that the car's climate control isn't intelligent enough to know when to blow hot air and when to blow cold air. We would have thought that's the essential point of a climate control system.

As with other German two-door cars, a motor-driven seatbelt holder extends the belt forward around the side of the front seats for easy fastening, although the buckle is still a bit of a stretch to find.

The build quality of the 330d Coupe is excellent for the most part, but the long coupe doors don't quite close with the ease and precision of a German sedan's. There's a little more of a knack to closing the doors securely with the coupe.

It's not a car without some flaws then, but if you like cars and enjoy driving them -- and diesel doesn't put you off -- the 330d is a car that comes highly recommended.

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