IT’LL be a case of Jekyll and Hyde when you next see two new BMW 3-Series parked in your company car park because one will be a tax dodger and the other a fire-breathing race track refugee.
That’s because the new three-cylinder petrol 318 will enjoy a BIK bashing 52.4mpg and CO2 emissions of just 124g/km while its diesel powered 335d sibling storms to 62mph in just 4.8 seconds largely thanks to a huge 600Nm of torque that embarrasses its more powerful 340i petrol sister.
Yet, the schizophrenic nature of these cars extends to the tiddler still being able to muster 136HP and a sprint time of 8.9 seconds while the raging oil-burner can boast a fuel economy of 51.4mpg and a CO2 rating of 145g/km.
And you’ll be hard pressed to tell between the two because the new 3-Series gets subtle visual changes in the shape of front and rear styling and a few new material upgrades.
