Should you buy one?

The BMW 3 Series is easy and comfortable to drive, while also remaining a brilliantly involving driver’s car. Quiet when cruising, it also benefits from a lot of modern technology, and features such as the infotainment impress. The huge dual-screen display adds wow factor and quality is superb throughout.

It’s even a practical option for families – there’s more rear space than in its Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4 rivals, and the boot is about as good as you can get in this class. We would rather there were more engines available in a new 3 Series, but the choice is vast among used examples.

Add it all together and we think the BMW 3 Series is the best compact executive saloon you can buy. In fact, we’ll go further. It’s one of the best cars of any sort you can buy.

What we like

The 3 Series is sharp to drive yet comfortable, and offers a strong range of engines that provide great performance and efficiency. It’s spacious and practical, comes well-equipped and holds its value well. Reliability is strong, and there’s no getting away from the desirability of the BMW brand.

What we don’t like

The interior lacks glitz compared to the likes of the Mercedes C-Class, and the stop-start system can be frustratingly jerky. It’s not exactly cheap, either, but then neither are its rivals.

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