BMW insists it has sold 130,000 of them around the world in three years, but you'd be hard pressed to spot a 3-Series Gran Turismo in a typical day's driving.
The German car giant is hoping that’s going to get a bit easier with a mid-cycle facelift that includes a big chop in fuel consumption, lifts in power, connectivity upgrades and some new trim bits and pieces.
Its entire reason for being seems to be confused with the even-larger 5-Series Gran Turismo, but BMW has lifted the smaller car’s specification closer to what people expect from models in this segment.
New engine
The 3-Series GT received a host of new diesel engines midway through last year, so they remain mostly the same. Mostly. There’s a new engine for the 325d model, with two turbochargers force feeding the 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine.
The new engine has been designed for better economy and improved noise, vibration and harshness, but also to make the power delivery feel more linear. Where the 318d, 320d and even 330d motors have their power peaks at 4000rpm, the 325d lifts this up to 4400rpm, even though the peak torque of 450Nm still peaks at 1500rpm (to 3000rpm).
It slips beyond 100km/h in 6.4 seconds, which is more than two seconds quicker than the 320d and only 0.7 seconds slower than the more 330d.
The diesel range is still topped by the 335d xDrive, with 230kW of power and 630Nm of torque and a 4.9-second burst to 100km/h.
Most of the engines don’t threaten the tyres enough to need all-wheel drive for acceleration. The power has to rise up the 330d’s level before the all-wheel drive version is quicker to 100km/h than the rear- drive version.
It remains a very big car, though, even with the underbody hardware unchanged. It’s almost a luxury car in size, 200mm longer than any other 3-Series, at 4,824mm. The wheelbase is 2,920mm and that gives it 110mm more legroom for people in the rear seats.
Unusual tweak
The other unusual tweak for the interior is that the front seats sit 59mm higher than on the 3-Series sedan and wagon. It’s also generous for luggage space, capable of swallowing 520 litres in standard form or 1,620 with the 40:20:40 rear seats folded down. Other than the engines and the new standard LED front and rear lights, you’ll have to open the doors to find the upgrades over the three-year old version.
There are Sport, Luxury and MSport trim packages and increased connectivity is one of BMW’s big pushes.
For all of its focus on connectivity, though, it seems incredible that the 3-Series Gran Turismo won't launch with Apple CarPlay. It won't be ready until later this year.
