SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Many of the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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All-business: 2019 BMW 330i (G20) M-Sport

Goes like a Stuka

Pics by BMW-presse
Posted: August 22, 2019

The numbers
Prices: R649 000 standard or R694 400 M-Sport
Engine: BMW B48 1998 cc, DOHC, 16-valve, inline four with direct injection, variable valve timing and variable valve lift, twin-scroll turbocharger
Power: 190 kW between 5000 and 6500 rpm
Torque: 400 Nm between 1550 and 4400 rpm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic
Zero to 100 km/h: 5.8 seconds
Top speed: 250 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 7.8 l/100 km
Tank: 59 litres
Luggage: 480 litres
Ground clearance: See text
Turning circle: 11.4 metres
Maximum towing capacity, braked: 1600 kg
Warranty and maintenance: 5 years/100 000 km Motorplan


At some time in your life, you may find yourself with a significant other whom you love dearly and with plate-smashing passion. Life would be empty without him or her but you can’t live with them either.

BMW’s 330i M-Sport is rather like that; it ignites your soul, satisfies primal urges and makes you feel invincible. But living with it for 60 payments, or even the industry-average 38 months, might be too much to ask.

The M-Sport  package, built into a standard 330i at a premium of R45 400, includes M-Sport suspension with firmer springs and more responsive dampers. It’s also lowered by 10 mm, reducing ground clearance from the standard 136 mm  to 126 mm. You may want to be careful over those speed humps; just saying.

Other items in the pack include Alcantara-Sensatec combination upholstery in black with contrasting stitching in blue; Anthracite roof lining; BMW Individual high-gloss Shadow Line; M Aerodynamics package with front apron, side skirts and wheel arch trims in body colour; Rear apron with diffuser insert in Dark Shadow metallic; M leather steering wheel; Sport seats with electrical adjusters for driver and front passenger; Door sill finishers with M designation; M lettering on front side panels and double-spoke, Bi-colour 18” alloy wheels with run-flat tyres.

Our test car had optional 19” wheels and combination tyres; 225/40 in front and 255/35 at the back. They add a touch more handling prowess and bragging rights. And would set you back a further R15 000.

While on that subject let’s not speculate about punctures, at Baskant-van-Nêrens, on a Saturday afternoon. After the tyre stores have closed. And they wouldn’t have Bridgestone Turanzas in your size anyway. BMW hears you and will give you a spacesaver spare; free and for nothing. Just tick the relevant box when placing your order.

But the new 330i is more than that. It’s slightly bigger than the old one; 76 mm longer, 16 mm wider and one millimetre taller but that, as they say, is not all. The car’s 41-millimetre longer wheelbase (now 2851 mm) and increased track widths (front: + 43 mm, rear: +21 mm), have a direct and positive influence on poise and agility.

Then they made the body more rigid, lowered its centre of gravity, cut up to 55 kg of weight, beefed up the mountings for new lift-related dampers and evened mass distribution to 50:50; all to make the new car more agile than ever before. Then they gave it a touch more thrust; a further five kilowatts and 50 Newton-metres.

It’s all business, pulling Gs like a Stuka* in a power dive and straightening country roads as BMWs always have; only more so. You will become addicted. Provided you can stay cool with the combination of very firm sports suspension and low-profile tyres. They're brilliant for handling but can get tiresome on poorly maintained city streets. The standard car could be a better fit or you might spring for Adaptive M suspension at R11 400. With variable shock absorber adjustment, it offers choices between ‘comfortable’ and ‘sporty’.

On a more mundane level, the boot lip is 70 cm high, which is average and the cavity is 18 cm deep. The space is long, wide and reasonably tall. It features a light, four lashing rings and a pair of side bins for first aid kit and tyre pump. Remote releases in the boot lay the seatbacks almost flat.

Tall backseat passengers should find headspace satisfactory although knee room and foot space, beneath a partway-lowered driver’s chair, are tight. On the subject of driver’s seat adjustment, this can be cranked down lower than your usual 1.85-metre pilot would find comfortable.

The expected static safety kit – ISOFix mountings with tethers, three full belts and three adjustable head restraints, is all present although the middle passenger would need to be small because a high central tunnel steals foot space.

As we all know, you can spend a fortune on BMW’s options and accessories if you choose to, or you can keep it pure because the list of standard comfort- and safety kit is impressive. There’s no real need for embellishment but it’s your love affair - plate-smashing passion or long-term contentment - the choice is yours.

*Junkers Ju 87, a WW ll German dive bomber

Test unit from BMWSA press fleet
 


What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

Comments or questions?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.