The 3 GT is an interesting package, with a hugely practical and attractive interior. The handling remains good, but the diesel engine shows its age
A BMW 3-series with added space – especially in the rear seats and the boot.Unless you're familiar with riding on the back bench of some of BMW's biggest machines, you'll be quite unused to legroom on this scale, and if three occupy it, they'll make the surprise discovery that the arrangement will be tolerable for more than half an hour. This is the new 3-series for families, and families that need more room than a 3-series Touring or even a 5-series saloon can offer.Though not as much as the rather odd-looking 5-series GT provides, this 3 GT being its new, smaller brother. The 5 GT offers cavernous room, but within an envelope that's probably BMW's unhappiest aesthetically. By comparison the 3 GT is more harmoniously sculpted, even if its rear end looks over-heavy in the bumper area and the rearmost pillar seems anaemic.So it's not the most handsome BMW, but if you consider it as a rakishly sporty, five-door MPV-coupé, its appeal becomes easier to understand. Especially when you learn that the car was born out of a delve into 3-series customers' desires, these including more room – not so surprising if you've served time in the back of the saloon – and the raised seating of SUVs. Which is why this car is unusual for being a taller sports hatch of a kind that, in the premium segment, has no direct equivalent.Calling it a GT might seem odd, but these letters have been liberally applied – or misapplied – for decades. And there's no question that visually, this smaller BMW GT is a more harmonious and dynamic-looking device than the 5 GT.It's also hugely practical. The boot is larger than a Touring's, at 520 litres, and very large indeed when the rear seats are felled to reveal 1600 litres of stowage. A shame that the backrests merely drop onto their cushions rather than tumbling with the seat base to form a bulkhead and a flat floor, but there's no question that you can get a lot in there. Each portion of the split backrest descends with the tug of a handle, although you must hump it back upright yourself.Versatility is further improved by a backrest that locks into 15 different positions across 19 degrees, potentially allowing it to swallow that pesky chest of drawers without dropping the seats. The boot provides an under-floor well, load-securing rails, hooks and lashing eyes, while the rigid two-piece rear parcel shelf stows below the deck floor – a rare convenience. All GTs have electric tailgates – just as well, because it's a hefty structure – and waggling a foot under the rear bumper sends it rising skywards. Equally obscure, though, is a release button buried near the driver's door that few will spot.The reason for all this extra space is quite simple: the GT is a much bigger car. You also sit at much the same height as an X1 driver. Of course, that also means that this GT 3-series has a higher centre of gravity, besides being heftier than a Touring. So what does that do to the dynamics of this ultimate driving machine?
The 3 GT is an interesting package, with a hugely practical and attractive interior. The handling remains good, but the diesel engine shows its age
A BMW 3-series with added space – especially in the rear seats and the boot.Unless you're familiar with riding on the back bench of some of BMW's biggest machines, you'll be quite unused to legroom on this scale, and if three occupy it, they'll make the surprise discovery that the arrangement will be tolerable for more than half an hour. This is the new 3-series for families, and families that need more room than a 3-series Touring or even a 5-series saloon can offer.Though not as much as the rather odd-looking 5-series GT provides, this 3 GT being its new, smaller brother. The 5 GT offers cavernous room, but within an envelope that's probably BMW's unhappiest aesthetically. By comparison the 3 GT is more harmoniously sculpted, even if its rear end looks over-heavy in the bumper area and the rearmost pillar seems anaemic.So it's not the most handsome BMW, but if you consider it as a rakishly sporty, five-door MPV-coupé, its appeal becomes easier to understand. Especially when you learn that the car was born out of a delve into 3-series customers' desires, these including more room – not so surprising if you've served time in the back of the saloon – and the raised seating of SUVs. Which is why this car is unusual for being a taller sports hatch of a kind that, in the premium segment, has no direct equivalent.Calling it a GT might seem odd, but these letters have been liberally applied – or misapplied – for decades. And there's no question that visually, this smaller BMW GT is a more harmonious and dynamic-looking device than the 5 GT.It's also hugely practical. The boot is larger than a Touring's, at 520 litres, and very large indeed when the rear seats are felled to reveal 1600 litres of stowage. A shame that the backrests merely drop onto their cushions rather than tumbling with the seat base to form a bulkhead and a flat floor, but there's no question that you can get a lot in there. Each portion of the split backrest descends with the tug of a handle, although you must hump it back upright yourself.Versatility is further improved by a backrest that locks into 15 different positions across 19 degrees, potentially allowing it to swallow that pesky chest of drawers without dropping the seats. The boot provides an under-floor well, load-securing rails, hooks and lashing eyes, while the rigid two-piece rear parcel shelf stows below the deck floor – a rare convenience. All GTs have electric tailgates – just as well, because it's a hefty structure – and waggling a foot under the rear bumper sends it rising skywards. Equally obscure, though, is a release button buried near the driver's door that few will spot.The reason for all this extra space is quite simple: the GT is a much bigger car. You also sit at much the same height as an X1 driver. Of course, that also means that this GT 3-series has a higher centre of gravity, besides being heftier than a Touring. So what does that do to the dynamics of this ultimate driving machine?