BMW 320i & 520i
The 3 Series and 5 Series are now back with turbo petrol engines under the hood
NNOT TOO LONG ago, you wouldn’t have been able to buy a spanking new BMW 3 Series or even the 5 Series with a petrol engine in India. Why? Because BMW didn’t have one on their shelves to begin with! For the longest time, BMW was only selling its 3 Series and 5 Series with diesel motors. If you wanted a petrol, your only options were the erm… the M3 and M5, and those cars are certainly not what your average Joe looking to get himself a ‘Bee-yum’ wants. When BMW launched this generation of the 3 Series (the F30, if you’re so inclined) back in 2012, they launched it with the option of a petrol — the 241bhp 328i – but this car was silently phased out. Strange, considering BMWs have always leaned towards the sportier end of the spectrum and well, petrol is synonymous with performance.
Now though, BMW have launched the 3 Series and 5 Series with 2-litre turbo petrol motors and badged them the 320i and 520i. But wait, if you thought the two cars come with the same engine, you’re wrong! You’d be forgiven for thinking so at first glance though. Both engines make identical power — 181bhp at 5000rpm. And they make the same amount of torque as well — 270Nm. But they’re completely different engines. The motor in the 3 Series displaces precisely 1998cc, with a 94.6mm stroke and a 82mm bore. The 520i on the other hand gets a 1997cc engine with a shorter 90mm stroke and 84mm bore. And before we dissect what these cars are like, let me clarify that this is not a comparison test. If you want luxury with driving dynamics buy a 5 Series; if you want to spend a little less money for driving dynamics go in for a 3 Series. But how are they individually?
First off, the 3 Series. It is (obviously) the smaller and (obviously) the lighter of the two cars here. The 3 has always been a sporty car, easily the sportiest
in its class. When BMW officially launched in India they brought along the E90 in the 325i guise, with their lovely in-line six engine in the bonnet. It revved all the way to 7000rpm, making 212bhp and most of the shove coming in at the higher echelons of the revband. It was a glorious motor, but really had to be wrung to get the performance out of it. Performance from this 2-litre engine that now sits in the front of the F30 is, however, more accessible. It has only four cylinders but that twin scroll turbocharger means the car starts pulling cleanly right from 1350rpm. There’s barely any lag, and all of the 270 netwon metres can be accessed low down. This is great for city driving, when you want to make quick overtakes or squeeze in to a gap you see ahead. The gearbox doesn’t get caught out as it doesn't have to drop more than a gear or two when you really step on it, and in any case, the 8-speed ZF gearbox is a fantastic unit. That being said, it doesn’t feel as quick as the 328i did – performance is best described as acceptable. With traffic in our cities you can rarely stretch an expensive car to its redline in two successive gears before slamming on the brakes; with the 320i you’re revving it hard in first, second and even third before you realise it’s too fast for the city. Its got grunt, but not as much as you’d expect of a BMW. And it is surprisingly audible for a petrol motor — there is a gruff (but pleasing) thrum that emanates into the cabin at higher revs, and you can very much tell when this car is idling.
Performance isn’t too far off the diesel, with 0-100kmph coming up in 7.3 seconds. The car we tested had the optional sport transmission which gives you the Sport+ driving mode, in addition to the standard EcoPro, Comfort and Sport. Sport+ reduces the intervention of stability control and makes the powertrain and steering more urgent, but does nothing to the ride owing to the steel springs all round.
Now the 5 Series weighs an additional 165kg over the 3 Series, and this weight is plenty discernible when you’ve got just two litres and a turbo tugging you along. And
The accessible torque is great for city driving when you want to make quick overtakes or squeeze in to a gap you see
though the 3 and the 5 have different engines, they are characteristically very similar; they sound similar and they rev in a very similar fashion too. The 520i’s engine too gets going at low revs meaning you don’t have to wring the daylights out of it. But it does have to work harder to get a move on. Don’t get me wrong, it does not feel slow — it just feels more strained in getting up to speed at the rate you’d like it to, thanks to the weight. Again, lag is negligible and the eight-speed gearbox generally knows what gear you want and keeps you there. The 5 Series is less performance oriented than the 3 and doesn't get the option of the sport auto ’box and so there is no Sport+ button. However, it does get paddle shifters. The engine is just as loud, though the cabin seems more impervious to the outside world. It also gets a larger steering wheel than the 3 Series, making you feel like you’re in command of a bigger vehicle. In terms of comfort, the 5 obviously is a cut above the 3 Series. Apart from having more space, it gets a reversing camera (the 3 Series only gets parking sensors!), electrically adjustable steering, a brilliant 16-speaker Harman Kardon sound system and an electric parking brake — none of which the 3 Series has.
While on the subject of equipment levels, funnily enough, you cannot get your ‘sporty’ petrol BMW spec-ed with the awesome looking M Sport kit — you’re going to have to buy a good ol’ diesel if you want that. This little quirk, and the fact that they get different engines probably has something to do with the petrol cars being CBUs. These are the same engines they are sold with globally and come here without any changes. But the fact that they are CBUs also means they don’t have that pricing edge over their locally-assembled diesel variants. In fact, the cars we tested — the Luxury Line 320i and Luxury Line 520i cost exactly the same as the 320d and 520d in the same trim. So do these cars make sense? I’m really not sure. We love petrols but in this case the diesels are as quick, much more torquey and nearly as rev happy too (BMW’s diesels are really fantastic). I guess once local assembly kicks off, the price advantage will really come home but till then I find myself having difficulty recommending the petrols. The question that arises though is which of the two engines will they actually assemble here when they finally decide to do so?
It feels more strained getting up to speed at the rate you'd like it to thanks to the weight