2019 BMW 330i joins Roadshow's long-term test fleet

[MUSIC] Meet one of the newest members of the Road Show long-term fleet. We'll be spending about a year with this plumber van white BMW 330I, so join us for another lap around the sun. As we put this sports sedan through its paces, taking it on long road trips, using it to haul loads of stuff, [MUSIC] And of course, wringing every drop of performance out of it that we possibly can. At the end of journey, there's no guarantee we'll have fallen in love with this bimmer, but as you know the three series has such impeccable pedigree. Well, I think we'll all be pretty sad to see it go. The seventh generation of BMW's venerable drier rarer is as likeable as ever providing loads of technology. Our tester is an upper midrange model. Checking out for $57,420. That price includes about 14 grand and options, and of course destination charges, which clocked in at $995. Fundamentally that outlay of greenbacks get you a two liter turbocharged inline four cylinder engine. That's good for a smooth 255 horsepower. It's matched to an eight speed automatic transmission, which in this case helps route torque to all four corners. Yes Our 330 is fitted with all wheel drive, perfect for kicking old Man Winter square and his Jenny's Since practically every car gets larger with every successive generation, the 3 series is at this point pretty sizable, but big can be beautiful because at about 186 inches in length, It provides plenty of backseat room and a whopping 17 cubic feet of trunk space. Indeed the sedan excels at hauling whether it's luggage, load a video equipment or the spoils from a trip to Costco. You'd be surprised how easy it is to use up 240 pounds and brown sugar Don't judge me. In addition to all that, this car is also fitted with more circuits, than a Foxconn factory. Aside from your typical driver aids like, blind spot monitoring, automatic high beams, and parking sensors. We've also got in- vehicle Wi-Fi, a head-up display, variable sports steering, and even BMW's Live Cockpit Pro with navigation. That last item is pretty cool. It gets you a 12.3 inch reconfigurable digital instrument cluster as well as a 10 1/4 inch multi media display on the dashboard. The learning curve here is quite steep, either that or maybe I'm just dumb. But either way, you can interact with this in multiple ways, there is a touch screen as well as the touch pad, you can use the traditional i drive control knob, and there's even voice activation. On the softer side this car is fitted with sumptuous leather, it's got a fancy Harmon card and sound system and there is wireless Apple car play. Unfortunately the interiors, it's not all that nice and I think the Mercedes Benz C-class has a definite advantage in this area. Yes, most of the plastics, they're okay though this aluminium tetragon trim, Is pretty awful. Fortunately though, you can substitute it with wood furnishings and I think that's something you're definitely going to want to go with. Also the seats while they are nicely bolstered they're a bit too firm and unforgiving on longer drive. [BLANK_AUDIO] It's hard to believe that we've already piled more than 5600 miles on this Bavarian out to Barnstormer. Now, Daniel Golson he's our social media guy. He's driven it extensively. The car has endured trips to both Chicago. And Wisconsin. Plus our video producer Nick [UNKNOWN], he's put it to work on numerous shoots. [SOUND] It's smooth power train is always engaging and delivers plenty of giddy-up. This car I will go from zero to sixty in less than six seconds meaning free way on rams or passing slower moving traffic around town is no problem at all, though curiously at one time the engine sound synthesizer did freak out. [NOISE] It started making all of these crazy noises, and I really have no idea what happened, but fortunately the problem did sort itself out. This car's ride quality is Controlled a bit on the firm side. But consequently body roll is essentially nonexistent when you're going through corners. And even though it's got all-wheel drive, we've also fitted this bimmer with a good set of winter tires, which is always smart here in the midwest since our roads can get slicker than ranch dressing spilled on a linoleum floor, if you know what I mean. And you always want as much grip as possible in the winter, which we have. With this car. Not only is the 330i a strong performer, it's also unexpectedly economical. And since we've had it, this car has averaged a little bit more the 24 miles per gallon. Which is shockingly good, considering that it's been driven like a car from a Fast and Furious movie. Now with only 5000 miles in change on the odometer. This engine probably isn't even Fully broken in yet. So I wouldn't be surprised if that fuel economy figure increased going forward. Now, for reference this thing is rated at 25 miles per gallon city, 34 highway, and 28 mpg combined at least according to Uncle Sam and his minions at the EPA. [BLANK_AUDIO] Sadly this BMW 330 has finished its stint here in Metro Detroit. Now we're handing it off to Tim Stevens the road show editor in chief where he'll continue testing it in upstate New York. So check back early and often to see how well this bimmer is holding up over the long haul. [MUSIC]