Throwback Road-Trip: Driving home from Spain in a BMW 3 Series

Is the E90-shape BMW 3 Series a modern classic? Perhaps it’s pushing the boundaries, but it still makes for an excellent secondhand purchase. High-mileage examples are now available rom around £2,000, and our road-trip back from Spain back in 2005 suggests we’d be happy to spend (a lot of) time in one…

This feature on the BMW 3 Series was first published on Motoring Research in 2005.

We could be among the first journalists to drive the new BMW 3 Series in the UK, but with one proviso: we would have to collect it ourselves. From southern Spain. No problem!

A quick flight, early to bed and we were up at half-six one dark Saturday morning, CD wallet loaded and the keys to a brand new 320i SE to hand. We’d chosen (almost) the most basic 3er intentionally. If this was good, so the logic goes, the rest can’t fail.

This would be a test of what the 3 Series is like to live with. A month’s mileage in a day and a half should certainly bring problems to light, but our first impressions were positive.

Locating the car with a blip of the bladeless key, the narrow but accommodating boot swallows plenty of luggage, the (fiddly) manual seat adjusters achieve a sweet driving position and the 2.0-litre engine fires instantly, with a press of the clutch and starter button, into a silent tickover. We’ve found the electric seats in the E90 are set too high, but this is perfect. We’re away.

No Spain, no gain

This SE-spec car didn’t have sat-nav, so its dashboard was free of the central ‘pod’ (and i-Drive media system). However, our route was easy, as was the exceedingly slick six-speed manual gearbox, which retains all the usual BMW positivity.

The UK-built engine, like most BMW four-cylinder units, lacks a bit of grunt low down, and sounds bizarrely like a Renault, but it offers plentiful shove and a characterful rasp at higher revs – even if it is rather noisy beyond 5,000rpm.

Driving in town was easy; all the controls are super-accurate, and the steering is meaty and quick without feeling nervous.

A 150bhp output looks impressive for a non-M four-cylinder BMW, so long as you don’t mention the 163bhp 2.0-litre diesel. Here, the 0-62mph dash takes 9.0 seconds, but it actually feels livelier the faster you go.

Firing down Spanish slip roads, the BMW quickly reaches illegal speeds. However, as they’re all at it, we join the convoy in the fast lane.

We also discovered that if a Spanish motorway is toll-free, you should expect the unexpected. Potholes, imperfections bad enough to launch the car skywards, 35mph bends and even cyclists. Yes, really.

Going the distance

The 3 Series remained unflappable, though. Its famously clever rear suspension has an added link for a wider repertoire over rough roads, as well as a rear subframe to isolate road scars, and both are pressed into action here.

The ride is purposeful but never harsh, while body control over these challenging roads is simply astounding; you soon stop bracing yourself against nasty-looking stretches as the expected pummelling never comes. It’s also very refined. Wind noise intrudes the most at speed, with the engine relegated to a background throb.

A wider cabin is more accommodating than the previous (E46) 3 Series, particularly in the rear where it’s among the roomiest cars in its class. The supportive seats remained comfortable as the hours passed, while another significant relaxation aid is the steering, which rarely needs any corrections. The old car was less stable and particularly susceptible to side winds; this is vastly improved but with no dilution of response.

Spain passes in a blur and then it’s across the Pyrenees to France. Now the 3er becomes a sports car, despite the engine losing its edge when ascending steeper inclines. Its fine steering sniffs out apexes and transmits genuine feel through to the chunky sports wheel. You quickly hook into the rear-wheel-drive mindset, powering through corners with deft balance.

DSC stability control is a standard safety net, but ample grip means oversteer rarely threatens – unless provoked on purpose. If you wish, the system can be turned completely off.

Is all this really relevant in day-to-day motoring? You bet. The 3 Series feels a cut above most front-driven rivals and steeped in deep-down mechanical class. You are always reminded that it’s a driver’s car and, in a nutshell, this simply makes it a ‘feelgood’ car. Plus, all the accuracy in the controls means many of your inputs are intuitive; the car does exactly what you think and want, which removes much of the stress and fuss from motoring. You simply get on with it.

We didn’t stop until 11pm, and then only because it was debatable whether we’d get a Eurotunnel train at 3am. We had no twinges from the seat at all (remarkably, given 16 hours sat in it), and no weariness from undue noise or odd handling traits. Even the standard stereo continued to impress. Climate control air-con was taking the edge off the French chills (signalled to us by a soft chime from the dash) and the strong lights were piercing through the pitch-black autoroute.

Hometown hero

A hellish night in a riotous French motel prompted an even earlier start. The 3 sensed torn nerves and soothed accordingly, with the SE’s interior lights package proving warmly welcoming. Heated washer jets quickly cleared the frozen windscreen and we were away, enjoying again that wonderful gearbox and, on icy roads, the playful rear end with DSC deactivated. Yes, the motel was hard work, but it was still telling that the 3 Series was preferred over bed.

Particularly as it took us to Calais in an eye-blink. This was easier, more relaxing and a great deal more fun than flying – and, despite being truly ‘on it’ all the way from one European coast to another, average fuel economy was 33.6mpg. Considering a door-to-door speed of just under 80mph over 1,600 miles, that’s pretty impressive. Rather like the 3 Series as a whole.

Back in the UK and the 3 met the M25 for the first time. Naturally, we shot straight to the overtaking lane and sat back while drivers of Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Ford and Vauxhall saloons shuffled for a closer look.

Pretty soon, many of them will also be driving an E90 3 Series. And you can’t really blame them, can you?

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