BMW 3 Series interior
While the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class has arguably made the 3 Series feel suddenly very conservative and slightly dull in its cabin style, the fact is that this is still a hugely well-made interior that functions very well.
There’s lots of nice brushed metal, just as you get in the bigger 5 Series, and while you do get your dose of digital screens, BMW has helpfully left you proper buttons for climate control and the stereo, as well as buttons and click-wheel controller for the on-screen iDrive software. That makes changing settings on the go much easier, and a bit safer too.
Basic cars get a shiny ‘piano black’ trim on the centre console, which is a bit of a finger-print magnet but you can swap that out for aluminium, or various wood finishes if you prefer.
The SE cars get fabric seats as standard, but you can swap in some black man-made leather ones instead. If you get a Sport or M Sport model then you get leather sports seats as standard.
These come in a range of colours including black, brown, cream and blue with your choice of contrasting grey, cream, blue and orange stitching. Clearly, some combinations are more tasteful than others…
All the materials in the BMW 3 Series’ cabin – from the lining of the door pockets to the lid on the glovebox – feel lovely and plush. The only hard bits are on the lower edges of the centre console and behind the front door openings.
- Cash
- £30,680
- Monthly
- £420*
- Used
- £25,998
The 3 Series’ infotainment system isn’t quite as cutting edge as it was — BMW has introduced an even more advanced eighth-generation software for the electric iX and i4 models — but it’s still pretty tech-packed. Just be aware that a lot of functions cost extra.
All models now get the 12.3-inch digital instrument panel, which looks slick but which can’t be customised quite as much as those in an Audi or a Mercedes. In the centre of the dash is a 10.25-inch touchscreen, that also includes voice control and the optional gesture control. But you can also use the click-wheel controller down on the centre console and the steering wheel controls for some functions as well.
It’s all a bit bewildering, and gesture control is a bit of a pointless gimmick. The ‘Hey, BMW’ digital assistant is hit and miss — but helpfully you can create a custom phrase to trigger the system into life. Say ‘Hey BMW’ and then tell it what you want it to do. It lets you set the sat-nav, change the cabin temperature, make phone calls, change the volume of the stereo and even adjust the mood lighting.
It understands plain English rather than just the robotic phrases favoured by many simpler systems, so saying ‘I’m hot’ will automatically change the climate control to a lower setting. In fact, it’s even clever enough that it will even be able to recognise whether it’s the driver or passenger speaking and adjust the temperature on their side of the car accordingly.
Higher-spec models get built-in Amazon Alexa and Spotify music streaming, and you now also get Android Auto phone connection, to go with the Apple CarPlay that was there before. Sadly, the Apple Siri and Google Assistant voice control systems don’t link up with the BMW one, so it’s either/or rather than a more useful blend of the two, and while the sat-nav can route you around traffic snarl-ups, it’s not as clever at doing so as third-party apps such as Waze or Google Maps.
The big screen in the centre has a fairly logical menu layout, and it’s easy to track down the functions that you might need.
You can upgrade the system further — although it seems a bit ludicrous that wireless phone charging costs extra — with a 464-watt Harmon/Kardon stereo system.
Other items on the options list are a wifi hotspot, a heads-up display (it’s a good one and well worth having), variable assistance power steering, high-beam assistant, and BMW’s ultra-powerful ‘Laser’ LED headlights, which can throw a main-beam for more than half a mile.
Beware too that BMW is starting to go down the road of offering on-the-fly upgrades to some systems via its own online ‘app store’ which is accessible through the touchscreen, or from home. Some buttons, when pressed, respond with a message on the screen advising you to upgrade for that function (active high-beam lights is one). This seems like an expensively slippery slope to us.
- Cash
- £30,680
- Monthly
- £420*
- Used
- £25,998
*Please contact the dealer for a personalised quote, including terms and conditions. Quote is subject to dealer requirements, including status and availability. Illustrations are based on personal contract hire, 9 month upfront fee, 48 month term and 8000 miles annually, VAT included.