Our Fleet Test Drive: BMW 330d - 7th Report

Date: 26 June 2009   |   Author:

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Category: Upper medium P11D price: £33,555 Key rival: Audi A4

Having previously said the 3-series saloon's boot is happy swallowing a weekend's worth of gear, I found four tents, sleeping bags, chairs, random paraphernalia and that suitcase was something of a squeeze, and a little more luggage room wouldn't have hurt, especially on the way back when the same stuff never seems to fit as well.

Rear space was also something the passengers had a little moan about. It's fine for four, particularly when the person behind a tall driver can be described as 'compact', and the front passenger and nearside rear passenger can reach a compromise where both are comfortable. The problem in our case started when we tried to get a third adult in the back. I need the driver's seat a long way back, and the combination of that and the wide transmission tunnel that feeds the power to the rear wheels, which our piggy in the middle struggled to tuck a leg either side of, raised a chorus of complaints.

Slight grumbles apart, the 330d again proved why it is still the only model to score 10/10 for a BusinessCar test drive. It's quick enough to trouble much of the glamorous sports car exotica out of the toll booths, yet returns a shade over 40mpg on the 130km/h (81mph) autoroute run. Space issues aside, the passengers were impressed with the comfort, refinement and cleverness of the ConnectDrive system and stereo, and this from a car that transforms from motorway cruiser to a great-handling and steering faux-sports car when conditions allow.

Diesel power again won the Le Mans 24-hour race, with Peugeot first past the post, but our 330d used the weekend to underline once again that's it's a winner for fleets.

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