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BMW 318i Sport review: Entry level 3 Series is a company car tax star

BMW 318i Sport1
The sixth generation 3 series BMW has a heritage stretching back 40 years. Does it still cut it as a business car today?

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9 September 2015

BMW 318i Sport

The Verdict on the BMW 318i Sport

The BMW 3 Series is a justifiably popular compact executive. Not only is it great fun to drive, but all models are impressively efficient via Efficient Dynamics tweaks and it has an impressively premium image too.

But the game has moved on since the launch of the current F30-generation 3 Series in 2012, with this BMW feeling the heat from new opposition, such as the new Audi A4 that we get to drive shortly and the new baby Jaguar, the XE.

So, has BMW done enough to keep the 3 Series rivals at bay?

If this entry-level BMW 318i Sport review car is anything to go by, then yes. Even more fun to drive, this 3 Series adds a layer of refinement that wasn’t there before. We just wish the three-cylinder engine was more willing from lower down the rev-range and the real-world fuel consumption was as good as the figures suggest.

However, is it good enough to topple the other big 3 Series for business – the also face-lifted 320d diesel?

The BMW 320d in Sport trim, is probably this car’s closest rival. The 318i gets off to a good start by being some £5,000 cheaper on its P11D, but it has higher 124g/km CO2 emissions and a higher 20% company car tax band than the diesel (119g/km and 19%).

But that’s not the end of the story: because the BMW 318i Sport has a lower P11D value its overall benefit in kind beats the 320d Sport: for a company car driver in the 20% tax band the saving is £20 a month – double that if on the higher rate.

And for directors managing company cars, there will be less Class 1A National Insurance to pay as well.

So the BMW 318i Sport is a new company car star – beating the diesel on tax figures.

Who would have thought?

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