Always admired, regularly copied, but almost never bettered, BMW’s 3-series is a car that defines the term ‘compact sport saloon’. And there’s a good reason for it. BMW practically invented the class back in the 1980s, and it hasn’t looked back since. But what is it that makes these cars so special, what part of the gene pool was introduced when, and just how did the 3-series evolve into what it is today? Well, frankly, there is only one proper way to find out – get all the generations of the 3-series together, drive them back to back and form your own impressions. And that’s just what we did.
Of course, there are some basic fundamental characteristics that all 3-series share. First up, they are all rear-wheel drive. That, of course, stems from the driver-centric approach to engineering the car which, as BMW’s legendary boss Eberhard von Kuenheim put it “is quite simply the key issue”. All of them use variations of the kidney grille and double-barrel headlights, all were built using the best technology available at the time, and every single one of them has a steering wheel that talks to you. But are these cars really as good as ‘Propellerheads’ make them out to be?
