• Spacious, premium-quality interior
• Large, well shaped boot
• Four adults should fit comfortably

How much space is there?

The 3 Series may appear quite compact, but there’s actually plenty of space inside. Two adults fit comfortably in the front, and there’s a surprising amount of room in the back. While it’s quite a low car to get into, the rear doors are quite big, and there’s a good amount of headroom and legroom.

A fifth passenger will struggle in the middle seat due to the transmission tunnel, but that’s not unusual for a mid-size executive car of this kind. One thing to note is that on BMWs with black headlining – a common treatment on the sportier trim levels – it can feel quite dark inside, especially in the back.

Boot space and storage

In regular models, the BMW 3 Series has 480 litres of boot space, similar to the Audi A4 Saloon and more than the equivalent Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

The Audi’s opening is a touch more useful as it’s squarer in shape, but the BMW (when fitted with the extended storage option) has more useful nets and pockets to the side of the load area. The 3 Series’ rear seats fold in a 40:20:40 split if you want to load larger items.

However, if you opt for the 330e plug-in hybrid model, prepare for a bit of a shock when you open the boot. Due to needing extra space for batteries, the fuel tank has been moved to over the rear axle, and this reduces load volume to just 375 litres – something that’s immediately obvious from the hump in the floor.

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Is it easy to park?

The 3 Series is surprisingly manoeuvrable in tight car parks and narrow city streets.

With standard-fit parking sensors all-round and a reversing camera, it’s easy to judge the extremities of the car.

Safety

• BMW Active Guard comes as standard
• More safety kit can be added optionally
• Five-star Euro NCAP safety rating

The 3 Series scored the full five-star rating when tested by Euro NCAP in 2019, with a near-perfect score of 97% for adult occupant protection – a really impressive result. Scores of 87% in both child and pedestrian safety are also very strong showings, as is a 76% score for Safety Assist.

As standard, the 3 Series comes with Active Guard Plus which consists of front collision warning with brake intervention and pedestrian detection, lane-departure warning and speed limit assist, while airbags throughout boost the safety kit count. As an optional extra, buyers can add the Driving Assistant Professional pack, which bundles together a long list of driver assistance and safety equipment:

• Adaptive cruise control
• Automatic speed limit assist
• Front cross-traffic alert
• Crossroads warning and city braking function
• Evasion aid
• Lane-keeping assistant with active side collision protection
• Steering and lane control assistant
• Wrong-way warning