Overview
The 2013 BMW 3 Series is a compact luxury sedan offered in 3 trims, starting off at a base MSRP of $32,550. For that price, it mainly competes with the Audi A4, the Mercedes Benz C-Class, and the Volvo S60. Between 3 trims, the 3 Series offers 2 powertrains. The base engine is a 2.0L inline-4 engine capable of making 180 horsepower and 200 lb-ft of torque. The mid-level 328i trim uses the same engine for 240 horsepower and 255 lb-ft of torque. If more power is required, there is also a 300 horsepower-making 3.0L twin-turbocharged inline-6 engine. Both engines are mated to a 6-speed manual transmission. Optional on the 4-cylinder engine is an 8-speed automatic transmission whereas the 6-cylinder gets an optional 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. The 3 Series reaches 60 mph from zero in 6.7 seconds on its base engine, which gets pumped up to 5.5 seconds with the high output 4 cylinder engine and these figures further drop to 4.7 seconds with the 3.0L twin-turbocharged inline-6 engine. Depending on the powertrain, the 3 Series can manage a combined fuel economy between 27 and 23 mpg. While we're on the topic of choices, the 12 striking colors the 3 Series comes in really pull you towards itself.
