Category: Affordable Sports 
Price Range: No data available
Powerful, smooth engines, great fun to drive, full four-seat practicality, the can't-go-wrong option.
Bit dull to look at, arrogant image, increasingly the default choice in the sector and thus not particularly exclusive.
The 3-Series Coupe is every bit as good as predicted - but perhaps a little bit too predictable.
There's two ways to approach the 335i (actually a 3.0-litre engine, delivering 155mph and 0-60mph in 5.5 seconds).
One is to treat it as a Grand Tourer and specify the excellent, responsive six-ratio automatic transmission, which comes with steering wheel-mounted paddle-shifts for sequential action.
The other is to go for the six-speed manual box for the DIY quick-shift experience - and either way, the 335i is damn good and near-intuitive to drive. That manual gearbox suits the more relaxed 325i well, too.
Add to the equation well-weighted, direct and accurate steering, superb body control and stability, plus suspension that is never left wallowing, and the latest Coupe lives up to all its perennial billing as a great driver's car.
The fact that the rear-wheel drive lay-out and rear-biased centre of gravity are augmented by details such as the thermo-plastic front wings (reducing weight up front) is probably lost on most drivers - at least in sensible/legal road conditions. But nuggets of information like this make for good pub talk, as does the story of how, if you switch the traction control and DSC off and try hard enough, you can make the rear end twitch, if not oversteer completely... if anyone's still listening.
For many buyers, it'll be more important that yes, there is good visibility all round (the parking sensors help but aren't vitally necessary); yes, the driving position is good and multi-adjustable; yes, the vital controls are to hand and simple to identify, the button-type ignition's quite fun; and yes, there is the infernal iDrive control system for all the non-essential functions, but it's easier to figure out than it used to be. Full marks.
We'd avoid the variable-ratio Active Steering option though, as it doesn't really add much to an already good steering set-up, and the Coupe's not heavy to steer at low speeds as it is.
So far, we've only driven the 335i and 325i, but they haven't fallen in any way short of expectation and we suspect the diesels and other upcoming petrol models to be equally satisfying for what they are.
No prizes for guessing that the M3'll be a stormer, but in the meantime, the direct-injection 335i is an excellent all-rounder that will probably be a bit easier to live with on a day-to-day basis. Its pair of turbos - a first for BMW since the 2002 Turbo of the 70s - kick in with no lag whatsoever, with the power and torque building progressively and evenly over a broad spread of the rev range. There's no doubt that this is indeed a very, very fast small car.
The normally-aspirated 325i is similarly strong; it's more relaxed, but it's hardly slow and, even after driving the 335i, doesn't leave any feeling of being short-changed.
You pay your money and make your choice - but we'd like to check out the diesels, especially the twin-turbo 286bhp 335d, before making that decision to sign on the dotted line. For real-life driving on the roads, these diesels may well be the most rewarding.
