BMW 3 Series- Welcome To The Future

The seventh-generation BMW 3 Series is everything you would expect from a car in the third decade of the 21st century - and much more. But is it what you would want from a BMW?

- Kushan Mitra

In the plains between the hills of southern Portugal’s Algarve region, the citrus trees are overflowing with abundance in early December, the country speckled with the hues of orange and yellow. It is a beautiful sight as you drive along the roads to approach the hills, where the scenery changes from verdant green with citrusy hues to a dry brown, with stretches of forest blackened by the ravages of the frequent fires of the Iberian summer. The roads are beautiful, reflecting tiny stars thanks to the quartz of the stone used to make them. As they twist through the passes, with almost no traffic, it is the sort of place you wish you had a great car to drive.

The car that I was driving is a great car, undoubtedly - the seventh generation of the car that built BMW, the 3 Series. After 15.5 million units sold in the previous six generations, this is the BMW that forms the basis of what the Bavarian company sells across the board, and despite the new fascination for SUVs (a fad for which BMW should shoulder its share of the blame), the 3 Series is their iconic car. It is, after all, the archetypal sports sedan, an everyday car that with everyday engines allows you to be ever so slightly naughty on the roads. It is a car whose tail you could stick out at low speeds with a bit of tyre smoke to put a smile on your face, the bill for new rubber be damned. It is also a car that BMW loads up with the latest and greatest technology that they develop, from engines and differentials to interiors and even software.