[karan561]

Likes;

- 320d Refinement & Power Delivery
- ZF Gearbox still a very strong USP
- Ride Quality & Handling Balance
- Steering is really good now

Dislikes;

- Size / Dimension increase with the passage of every generation is not a good thing for a Sport Sedan like the 3'er.
- Interiors for most of the BMW's now look the same ( New 3 Series, New z4, New x5, 8 series, 7 series LCI & the New X7 etc. all share the same interior design & instrument cluster display )
- No 6 cyl options in India ( M340i, 330d where art thou ? )
- Indian version misses out the better headlamp design, laser headlamps ( I say this as now LED technology is too mainstream ), No 360 Degree Camera & also the better music system even after pricing the 330i at INR 48ish Lakhs Ex-Showroom @ BMW India - WHY ?

VIDEO;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXYPKGX-S0g

Exteriors;

As you can see in the video i had both the F30 & the new G20 side by side for the prospective audience to relate & understand the visual changes between these generations. Overall the design seems a great effort in not looking like the G30 5 series which has been in the case of the German cars where there is one design in M, L & XL sizes.

Front;



The headlight-grille integration stays, but the major changes are in the size of the grille which is larger and joined as well & the new head lamp design which clearly seems to be influenced by the E46.
Speaking of the headlights, there will be 3 different types of headlights available;

1) LED
2) Adaptive LED
3) LASER Headlamps

Unfortunately in Indian version launched last month we dont get the Laser headlamps in any of the variants.

Side Profile;



The side maintains the 3 series character upto about 1/2 the car's length with added character lines, but the rear quarter has bulked up. A quick mention of the Hofmiester Kink, this element is now merged into the C Pillar, giving the rear doors a free standing GLASS EDGE.

Rear;



^ Now, this took time getting used to but in flesh these slim & smoked L shaped 3D tail lights are the highlighting element here & look absolutely smashing & you do forget the Lexus'ness about them.

Interior;



DRIVER FOCUSSED is one word which has defined the interiors of the 3 series since all these years & it still does.
The dashboard is still inclined towards the driver, the steering still feels nice & meaty to hold. Also Thank God the iDrive knob is retained & not eliminated in favour of 'only' touch screen display.
The maps are now much easier to operate, gesture controls mostly work but do need some fine tuning.



Here are some important noteworthy changes;

1) The engine start stop button is now positioned on the centre console now.
2) The Gear Shift lever is newly designed.
3) The Handbrake is eliminated in favour of an electromechanical parking brake button. The enthusiast will not like this move but because the competition is giving hence BMW has to, i personally dont like this move.
4) The knobs of the operation of the headlights are now missing & replaced by button, again F30 knobs are missed.
5) Spacewise there is a slight improvement, particularly in the shoulder room. Otherwise too the cabin has decent amount of storage available a quick mention goes to the more defined bottle holder which are present on the door pads which were not there on the F30.

Driving;



The engine im driving was the 320d. Unfortunately it doesnt get any performance increase as it still has 190 hp & 400 nm of torque. So whats changed, well i researched a bit & i could find some data which led to improvements in the turbo which BMW call multi stage turbocharging.
This has further improved the lag free nature of the engine and led to faster acceleration times.
The ZF gearbox in this gen has been tweaked for shorter ratios for better acceleration, faster gear changes & provide more efficiency at the same time- That's some serious task for sure.
Though i was driving an X-Drive variant which surely felt extremely safe & eager in the corners even while driving to the Isle of Skye in various different weather conditions, surely the typical RWD cars will be more fun & equally engaging.
Just 1 word to describe the the braking performance, Excellent.
Suspension feels flat at high speeds & the major negative i.e. rear bouncy suspension of the F30 has been taken care off in this new version.
Overall the car's handling is an major improvement thanks to a squatter, wider dimensions reducing load transfer during cornering.

Technical Points;

- The G20 is based on the new CLAR platform/architecture.
- The CLAR platform is lighter & more rigid.
- The weight has reduced by about 55 Kgs (Aluminium Hood & Fenders major contributors) v/s the F30 (depending on variant).
- Body & Chassis Stiffness has increased by 25% & in some areas like suspension mounts, subframe upto 50% more rigid.
- G20's track width has gone wider too, 43mm at the front & 21mm at the rear to be precise.
- Wheelbase has gone up by 41mm.
- 50:50 Weight Distribution is maintained.
- The Suspension now gets Lift related dampers, there's actually a smaller damper within the damper to help absorb the bumps on an undulating road to make the car feel more predictable during handing yielding much better body control. All in all this system provides an higher damping force.
- There are some changes in the front camber to make the g20 ride better.
- The steering is excellent. EPS unit seems to be calibrated better (changes in steering gear rack ratio).
- Mechanically BMW have changed the distance between the steering tie rod end & the steering axis for better mechanical feedback.
- The g20's aerodynamics have improved over the F30 thanks to a mostly sealed underbody, active flaps in the kidney grille & an overall squatter stance.

Miscellaneous Observations;

- Paint Quality which is already good in BMW's seemed to have gotten better in the G20.
- Panel Gaps which seem consistent and make the g20 feel much more premium than the F30.
- Button Quality on the centre console does not feel as premium as the F30.
- Dislike the fact that the recently launched 1 series also has the same looking interior.
- The cabin is a much quieter thanks to the acoustic glasses for the windscreen, driver & passenger side & additional foam in the pillars have reduced the wind noise in cabin.
- The HUD is larger (70% more projection to be precise).
- The sound system was an Harmon Kardon 16 speaker unit ( 7 Speakers + 7 Tweeters + 2 Bass Woofers ). The sound quality was really good, but felt very similar to the 9 speaker HK system which is in my 2012 F20 328i.
- The new instrument cluster display is really well designed & feels futuristic, just that the tachometer is difficult to read/follow as its moving in the opposite direction.
- Paddle shifts are very responsive & so is the new gear lever when changing gears manually with the lever on the left in manual mode.
- The car is very intuitive, also acceleration feels faster than the claimed figures, which is typical of modern BMWs these days.



Final Words;

So to conclude things i believe BMW took note of all the complaints of the F30 & filtered them out in the G20 as an answer to all the critics out there be it the looks, performance, handling or the features department.
But, overall BMW India could have done a better job in speccing the variants for India.

P.S. - The review has been compiled after driving this all new 2019 G20 320d for more than 1100+ kms.

[Vikram Arya]

Great review Karan; thanks for compiling it; it made very interesting reading with important information captured in a crisp & succinct manner. Your videos are now up there with the top automotive content available on YouTube.

Having owned the F30 variant you are in better position to carry out a qualitative evaluation of the latest offering from Munich within the 3 Series ambit.

You are not missing much by not having laser lights as these operate only when high beams are switched on (in most of the geographies though I may be wrong) & considering our love for driving with high beams on, maybe this is good thing (imagine the blindingly bright laser high beams into your eyes while doing 100 kmph on the highway).

Gesture control is more of a gimmick as you’re much better off with just using the knobs, BMW assistant is great though.

I was also disappointed by the quality of knobs on the central console (just below the ac vents); as they felt cheap to touch & operate.

For the life of me I cannot comprehend why some of the manufacturers skimp out on certain items when bringing products to India. I can understand the lack of utility from end user perspective or futility of a function on account of the larger driving environment or some regulatory problems (radar-based cruise control) however not offering the top of the line audio system that is being offered everywhere else especially in light of the pricing applicable in India is beyond me.

I feel the new car is better put together and it is fairly quick (the 330i) though the numbers on paper are almost identical vis-à-vis that of the last gen car.

For the G20; three things stood out for me

• Better steering (more feel)
• Superior Ride & handling
• Quieter cabin & better ergonomics

G20 seems to be much more composed and can deal with directional changes with aplomb as compared to last gen. As for the looks, I think (purely my opinion) that they will grow on you as you see more of these around you.

I believe the gap between the 330i & M3 is so wide both from pricing & performance standpoint that 340i would have been a perfect fit for someone who doesn’t want to spend a crore of rupees and wants a more involving driving experience than the plain vanilla 330i/320d. The 340i is so good that there is no need to spend a crore plus on an M3 unless you’re tracking the car baring the bragging rights that it brings to the table. An opportunity missed unless BMW plans to launch it later so don’t lose hope guys.

The G20 3 Series has indeed brought back the brand to the top of the pile once again in a segment that is so very competitive.

[docprashant]

Thanks Karan561 for a wonderful review which sums up the G20 spectacularly. I wholly agree about the introduction of a 340i, man that would have been tantalizing.

The 3 has been one of most iconic cars which has certain key resonating nuances. Kudos to BMW for addressing their customers need and going back to making the 3 a driving delight (within reason of course).

The G20 gets it right in the looks department and the superfluous design will age well IMHO. Side by side with the F30 it presents a sleeker yet more mature look.

[Nazaar25]

Excellent review sir! I've been watching/reading your review since a long time now and it keeps getting better with every new post/video.
BMW should have considered the 330d for India to take on the C300d.
Another disappointing thing is the lack of 360° parking camera which is present in cars costing less than half it's price!
Otherwise, the 3 has always been a great car and this one is just better but by offering more engine options and features(for India), they could have made it even more better.

[karan561]

Originally Posted by Vikram Arya

Great review Karan; thanks for compiling it; it made very interesting reading with important information captured in a crisp & succinct manner. Your videos are now up there with the top automotive content available on YouTube.

Thanks Vikram, glad you enjoyed the video review.

Having owned the F30 variant you are in better position to carry out a qualitative evaluation of the latest offering from Munich within the 3 Series ambit

You are not missing much by not having laser lights as these operate only when high beams are switched on (in most of the geographies though I may be wrong) & considering our love for driving with high beams on, maybe this is good thing (imagine the blindingly bright laser high beams into your eyes while doing 100 kmph on the highway).

True, but still the laser head lamps do look good for sure & also house better corona rings, here's a closer look on what we miss out;



^ Image Source: Bimmerpost

Few more negatives of Laser headlamps which i was able to research is as under;

- Laser headlights only get activated above speeds of 60 km/h
- Laser headlights only get activated if/only when there are no vehicles ahead of you

Gesture control is more of a gimmick as you’re much better off with just using the knobs, BMW assistant is great though.

True !

For the life of me I cannot comprehend why some of the manufacturers skimp out on certain items when bringing products to India. I can understand the lack of utility from end user perspective or futility of a function on account of the larger driving environment or some regulatory problems (radar-based cruise control) however not offering the top of the line audio system that is being offered everywhere else especially in light of the pricing applicable in India is beyond me.

I feel the new car is better put together and it is fairly quick (the 330i) though the numbers on paper are almost identical vis-à-vis that of the last gen car.

For the G20; three things stood out for me

• Better steering (more feel)
• Superior Ride & handling
• Quieter cabin & better ergonomics

G20 seems to be much more composed and can deal with directional changes with aplomb as compared to last gen. As for the looks, I think (purely my opinion) that they will grow on you as you see more of these around you.

I believe the gap between the 330i & M3 is so wide both from pricing & performance standpoint that 340i would have been a perfect fit for someone who doesn’t want to spend a crore of rupees and wants a more involving driving experience than the plain vanilla 330i/320d. The 340i is so good that there is no need to spend a crore plus on an M3 unless you’re tracking the car baring the bragging rights that it brings to the table. An opportunity missed unless BMW plans to launch it later so don’t lose hope guys.

The recent top, middle management of BMW India are no enthusiasts and most of them really dont have much knowledge too, which is a sad thing & unfortunate for the true brand enthusiasts in India (which again they dont care about).

Originally Posted by docprashant

Thanks Karan561 for a wonderful review which sums up the G20 spectacularly. I wholly agree about the introduction of a 340i, man that would have been tantalizing.

The 3 has been one of most iconic cars which has certain key resonating nuances. Kudos to BMW for addressing their customers need and going back to making the 3 a driving delight (within reason of course).

The G20 gets it right in the looks department and the superfluous design will age well IMHO. Side by side with the F30 it presents a sleeker yet more mature look.

Thanks Doc

Also a quick point about the M340i, this wont be available as a RWD variant as that's exclusive to US only. Even if we get one here in India (God knows when) it will be a X-Drive.

Originally Posted by Nazaar25

Excellent review sir! I've been watching/reading your review since a long time now and it keeps getting better with every new post/video.

Thanks for the appreciation.

BMW should have considered the 330d for India to take on the C300d.

Oh ! That would have been a crazy fun.

[dean5545]

Great review of a great car!
The rolling shots as well the frontal shots were epic.

Coming back to the Indian version of the G20 3 Series, I am pissed at BMW for not offering all the bells and whistles in the M-sport.
In addition to the list of exclusions, please add the Heads up Display as well(as per their catalogue), which is not at all acceptable. Also wonder whether it gets the M-exhaust which was made standard for the M-sport trim abroad.

JUST NOT DONE BMW!

[ghostrider]

Great introduction to the new 3, Karan.

I went and checked out the new G20 at Infinity in Mumbai - I was there for something else and a bunch of new G20s were there for delivery - aesthetically I think BMW's missed a trick with this car. The design language of the rear end's almost audi-esque.


Also, all 3 Rim selections on the 330i Msport, the 320d Sport, and the 320d Lux Line leave a lot to be desired. They're incredibly bland multi-spoke designs that do absolutely nothing for the car in aesthetic terms. If you think these pictures are bland, they're even more disappointing in the metal. Compare these with the gorgeous Style 397's on your F30 328i and you'll see what I mean.










The interior's nice too, if a little bland. It just seems that in trying to make the G20 cast a wide sales net by making it as inoffensive looking as possible, they've made it look far too nondescript and indistinct.

[karan561]

Originally Posted by dean5545

Great review of a great car!

Thanks dean5545 !

The rolling shots as well the frontal shots were epic.

Filming this video internationally was a task, but glad it all worked out

Coming back to the Indian version of the G20 3 Series, I am pissed at BMW for not offering all the bells and whistles in the M-sport.
In addition to the list of exclusions, please add the Heads up Display as well(as per their catalogue), which is not at all acceptable. Also wonder whether it gets the M-exhaust which was made standard for the M-sport trim abroad.

JUST NOT DONE BMW!

My 2012 F30 328i Sportline came with a proper HUD, its really shocking what BMW India have done with the G20 during launch.

Originally Posted by ghostrider

Great introduction to the new 3, Karan.

Thanks ghostrider !

Also, all 3 Rim selections on the 330i Msport, the 320d Sport, and the 320d Lux Line leave a lot to be desired. They're incredibly bland multi-spoke designs that do absolutely nothing for the car in aesthetic terms. If you think these pictures are bland, they're even more disappointing in the metal. Compare these with the gorgeous Style 397's on your F30 328i and you'll see what I mean.

Style 397's really influenced my buy decision that time, But this time around none of the rims are desirable.

[PraveenM]

Great review Karan ! I'm getting delivery of my 330i today and hoping to put out an onwership review soon. Many thanks to active forum members who have posted valuable information, helped me with my decision making.

[sweetvar26]

Thank you for the time and effort. It is unacceptable to not give a choice on the sound system, even on the 330i. I also don't agree with the increase in the dimensions consistently every generation but this has been the norm pretty much everywhere, don't think it will stop either.

About the M340/340i, couldn't agree with you all more. The price of M3 would be double that of the 340i and it could fill that gap perfectly with it's performance figures.

Personally for me, I do want a sub 5 second daily driver that can replace my S4

[karan561]

Originally Posted by PraveenM

Great review Karan ! I'm getting delivery of my 330i today and hoping to put out an onwership review soon. Many thanks to active forum members who have posted valuable information, helped me with my decision making.

Thanks Praveen, good to know my review helped in your buy decision.

Congratulations & All the best

Originally Posted by sweetvar26

Thank you for the time and effort.

Thanks !

About the M340/340i, couldn't agree with you all more. The price of M3 would be double that of the 340i and it could fill that gap perfectly with it's performance figures.

Well, would like to share a recent conversation with BMW Infinity Dealership. I had called them to ask when is the M340i coming and they said it wont be coming (May or may not be official info).
Then i asked him are people asking about wanting a 6cyl 3 series (M340i) to which he said NO.

After the above conversation it made question that where are the enthusiasts ?
Or the Indian 3 series target audience aren't aware about the M340i ?
Or the people shopping in this price bracket only want SUV's ?

Personally for me, I do want a sub 5 second daily driver that can replace my S4

Great to know you daily drive an S4, Enjoy !

[sweetvar26]

Originally Posted by karan561

Well, would like to share a recent conversation with BMW Infinity Dealership. I had called them to ask when is the M340i coming and they said it wont be coming (May or may not be official info).
Then i asked him are people asking about wanting a 6cyl 3 series (M340i) to which he said NO.

After the above conversation it made question that where are the enthusiasts ?
Or the Indian 3 series target audience aren't aware about the M340i ?
Or the people shopping in this price bracket only want SUV's ?

Great to know you daily drive an S4, Enjoy !

When I took a take a test drive of the X4 30d few months ago, I asked them the exact same question, what's happening with the 340i, they were clueless. I did happen to mention the C43AMG and the S4/S5 for reference.

[shaheenazk]

Great review! Do these cars have Driving Assistant Professional package as standard or can be had as optional? It seems they do from the video below but not sure if they are offered in India.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecE6_A7uJZo

[karan561]

This day last year i was at the Isle of Skye with the G20;

[djay99]

Lovely review Karan. G20 is a fantastic car and I agree with interior quality going down at few places which is disappointing. Though I really liked G20, I bought a G30 which had bit more luxury/space and it feels closer to 7 series interms of quality.

@shaheenazk: I guess Driving Assistants are not available as an option in India at this time.