Best Car Models & All About Cars: 2012 3 Series Sports Wagon

2012 3 Series Sports Wagon

BMW, along with a rapidly diminishing handful of different European automakers, continues to prove year after year that there's a little niche within the United States for smaller, performance-oriented cargo haulers. Don't decision them station wagons, even though that is what they're -- BMW calls them Sport Wagons.

Based on the outgoing 3-Series sedan, BMW's wagon is offered in 328i or 328i xDrive guise, the latter indicating BMW's all-wheel-drive system.

Until the newest model was introduced, BMW hasn't typically offered a 3-Series wagon within the United States, despite the very fact that the automaker has long sold a cargo-hauling version of its best-seller in it home European market. Introduced to little success with the previous-generation E46 3-Series, the E90, as the current model is called in BMW's coding, is only the second three-Series wagon to be officially imported.

Naturally, cargo area is up substantially over the standard sedans, coupes and convertibles that make up the rest of the fifth-generation BMW three-Series lineup. With the rear seats folded, the 328i wagon can accommodate regarding sixty cubic feet of cargo, compared to the 12 cubic feet the sedan's trunk can hold.

The solely out there engine on each is the automaker's otherwise entry-level (on sedans, coupes and convertibles) 3.zero-liter inline six-cylinder engine, that puts out 230 horsepower at half dozen,five hundred rpm and 200 lb-ft. of torque at two,750 rpm. It mates to either a six-speed automatic, with optional paddle shifters, or a standard six-speed manual transmission.

The xDrive all-wheel-drive is programmed with a rear-axle bias in order to retain the traditional rear-wheel-drive feel of a BMW, though power can be apportioned to the front wheels rapidly when slip is detected.

Though most of the recent changes to the 3-Series were simply cosmetic enhancements, together with a revised front fascia and new LED rear lights, the optional iDrive system was totally revamped with a replacement menu setup, faster processor and better-resolution screen. The solely change of note to the inside was a revised starter button style.

iDrive remains an choice -- bundled with navigation -- for those tired of the system, which controls the audio system. Compared to the sooner iterations of iDrive, the newest system has had the menus thoroughly reworked, promising to make them additional intuitive to operate.

Unlike within the sedans and coupes, the wagon gains a massive normal dual-pane power-retracting panoramic moonroof with an influence sun shade cover.

Like its traditional trunk brethren, the 328i wagons are accessible with two major option packages, as well as a variety of stand-alone options to permit for personalization. The Premium Package bundles power leather seats, BMW Assist emergency and concierge service, Bluetooth and auto-dimming rearview and exterior mirrors. Enthusiasts can wish to require note of the Sport Package, which adds sports seats and steering wheel, high-performance run-flat tires with seventeen-inch alloy wheels and, on rear-wheel-drive 328i wagons, a sport suspension. It's worth noting that 328i xDrive wagons equipped with the Sport Package do not gain the lowered and stiffened sport suspension; the package is cosmetic.

Alternative major options embody the aforementioned navigation system, heated seats, rear obstacle detection, Xenon headlamps and adaptive cruise control.

BMW's Active Steering makes an look on the option chart, further. It lightens up the steering for reduced effort at parking speeds to form the automotive feel more nimble and increased effort for bigger precision at highway speeds.

2012 3 Series Sports Wagon