What's New for 2014

The 3 Series wagon returns, as it has finally received the same redesign the sedan got in 2012. In addition, a new four-cylinder diesel engine joins the 2014 BMW 3 Series lineup. It's available on both the sedan and wagon. There is no 3 Series coupe or convertible for 2014, as BMW has transitioned those body styles to the new 4 Series line.

Introduction

Entry-level luxury cars dominate premium-brand vehicle sales in the United States. These are the cars people buy when they get that big promotion at work, and the BMW 3 Series has long been a favorite with consumers and critics alike. There's good reason for its success. The 3 Series comes with some of the most powerful and fuel-efficient four- and six-cylinder engines in this class and arguably the nicest interior furnishings. It also has a reputation for providing sporty handling and a fun overall driving experience. Although the current-generation car puts more priority on ride comfort than previous versions, the 2014 BMW 3 Series remains enjoyable whether you're seeking out roads less traveled or just driving to the office.

The 2014 model year brings plenty of change for the 3 Series line. The BMW 3 Series wagon returns to the lineup early in the model year after taking 2013 off, and it shares its platform architecture and engines with the 3 Series sedan. This time around the wagon is all-wheel drive only. Meanwhile, the 3 Series coupe and convertible are history, as the redesigned versions of these cars will be part of the 2014 4 Series line.

BMW is also introducing a brand-new engine for 2014, and if your heart bleeds for mpg, you're probably going to like this 2.0-liter, turbocharged diesel four-cylinder. Rated at 180 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, this engine is extremely efficient, as rear-drive diesel 3 Series sedans have a 37 mpg combined EPA rating (as well as a 45 mpg highway rating), while the AWD 328d wagon carries a 35 mpg combined rating. Although the 2014 328d sedan and wagon won't be as quick as other 3 Series models, they won't exactly be slow either, as the automaker estimates they'll deliver you to 60 mph in the low 7-second range.

The high fuel economy numbers on the diesel BMW 3 Series will make the potent but pricey ActiveHybrid3 sedan an even tougher sell this year (it rates only 33 mpg on the highway), but every other 2014 BMW 3 Series sedan and wagon is worth serious consideration. Strong competitors like the Audi A4, Cadillac ATS, Infiniti Q50, Lexus IS 250 and IS 350, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class will make your decision much harder, but none of these cars can quite match the BMW's combination of fantastic road manners, high-end interior furnishings and outright refinement. If you only test-drive one entry-level luxury car this year, let it be the 2014 BMW 3 Series.

Body Styles, Trim Levels, and Options

Currently, the 2014 BMW 3 Series is available only in the wagon body style. The 328i xDrive model will be offered initially, with the diesel-powered 328d xDrive wagon joining the lineup later. The 2014 3 Series sedan will arrive in late summer 2013; until then, please refer to our 2013 3 Series review for information on the sedan.

The 328i xDrive wagon comes standard with 17-inch alloy wheels, automatic headlights, foglights, automatic wipers, cruise control, dual-zone automatic climate control, eight-way power-adjustable front seats, driver memory functions, leatherette premium vinyl upholstery, a leather-wrapped tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, a trip computer, Bluetooth, the iDrive electronics interface with a 6.5-inch display, and a premium sound system with a CD player, HD radio, an auxiliary audio jack and an iPod/USB audio interface.

BMW offers four optional equipment lines -- Luxury, Modern, Sport and M Sport -- that include different wheel designs, color schemes, trim types, seats and steering wheels and even suspension tuning. Meanwhile, the Technology package provides a hard-drive-based navigation system (with 20GB available for personal music storage), a higher-resolution 8.8-inch display with a 16:9 aspect ratio, real-time traffic data, BMW Apps (a suite of apps for iPhones, including Pandora and Stitcher), BMW Remote Services (which allows both Apple and Android users to lock the car remotely and turn on the climate control, among various other tasks) and a head-up display.

The Premium package is your ticket to leather upholstery, a keyless ignition and a power liftgate that can be opened by swiping your foot under the bumper, while the Driver Assistance package provides a rearview camera (that also shows top and side views of the car), front and rear parking sensors, and blind-spot monitoring. If that's not enough help, you can also purchase an automated parking system. The Driver Assistance Plus package adds a lane departure warning system and a speed limit info display. The Cold Weather package heats every seat in the car plus the steering wheel, and the Dynamic Handling package bundles the sportier suspension tune from the M Sport line with variable-ratio steering. The Lighting package provides adaptive bi-xenon headlights. Adaptive cruise control and an upgraded Harman Kardon audio system are à la carte extras.

Powertrains and Performance

2014 BMW 3 Series sedans offer a choice between rear-wheel drive and the xDrive all-wheel-drive system, while AWD is standard on 3 Series wagons. A six-speed manual is available on sedans, but the wagon comes only with an eight-speed automatic transmission (optional on the sedan). Automatic-equipped 3 Series cars with the Sport or M Sport package have a "sport" version of this transmission with steering wheel paddle shifters. Both transmissions come with an automatic stop-start function that turns off the engine when the car stops in order to save fuel.

The 328i model uses a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder rated at 240 hp and 255 lb-ft of torque. EPA estimates for the automatic-equipped 328i are 23 mpg city (22 for the wagon), 33 mpg highway and 26 mpg combined. These are outstanding numbers for this class.

Later in the 2014 model year, you'll see a 320i sedan, a 328d sedan and wagon, a 335i sedan and the ActiveHybrid3 sedan. The 320i has a less powerful version of the 2.0-liter turbocharged engine rated at 180 hp and 200 lb-ft of torque. EPA fuel economy ratings are 24 city/36 highway and 28 mpg combined for a rear-drive sedan with the automatic (23/36/27 with the manual).

The 328d models have a 2.0-liter, turbocharged diesel four-cylinder rated at 180 hp and a heady 280 lb-ft of torque. This engine only comes with the automatic regardless of which body style you choose. Rear-drive 328d sedans are rated 32 city/45 highway and 37 combined, while the 328d xDrive sedan and wagon are both rated 31/43/35.

The 335i sedan has a turbocharged 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine rated at 300 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque. With the automatic, it's just as fuel-efficient as the 328i, boasting a 26 mpg combined EPA rating. Getting the manual gearbox drops the combined rating to 23 mpg. With AWD, you're looking at 1 or 2 combined mpg less.

Finally, there's the ActiveHybrid3, which pairs the 335i's engine with the eight-speed automatic, a rear-drive electric motor and a lithium-ion battery pack. This combination provides 335 hp and 330 lb-ft of torque. The ActiveHybrid3 sedan is quick, as BMW claims it will hit 60 mph in 5.2 seconds, but don't expect huge mpg numbers, as the EPA rates it at just 23 city/35 highway and 28 mpg combined.

In Edmunds performance testing, a manual-equipped 328i sedan covered zero to 60 in 5.9 seconds, while an automatic 328i M Sport sedan did it in 5.4 seconds -- in both cases, quicker than any of the car's four-cylinder competition.

Safety

Every 2014 BMW 3 Series comes standard with antilock brakes, traction and stability control, front side airbags, side curtain airbags and front knee airbags.

The stability control system integrates several features designed to improve braking performance, such as periodically wiping the brake rotors dry when the windshield wipers are in use and automatically snugging the pads to the rotors when the driver abruptly lifts off the throttle. BMW Assist emergency communications is standard and includes automatic crash notification, stolen vehicle recovery and on-demand roadside assistance. A visit to the options list will provide parking sensors (front and rear), a rearview camera, blind spot monitoring, a lane departure warning system and an automated parking system.

In Edmunds brake testing, a 328i sedan with 18-inch summer tires came to a stop from 60 mph in 115 feet, while the 328i M Sport stopped in 109 feet -- average distances for an entry-level luxury sedan with summer tires.

In government crash testing, the sedan received five out of five stars for overall crash protection, plus four stars for frontal protection and five for side protection. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave the sedan the highest possible rating of "Good" in the frontal-offset, side and roof strength tests. It received the second-worst rating of "Marginal" in the Institute's new small overlap front crash test, but few cars have been subjected to this test, and a majority received a similar rating or worse.

Interior Design and Special Features

Although the 3 Series cabin has a contemporary feel, BMW has taken pains to make sure it's still a comfortable and inviting place. The company's classic analog gauges provide a historical link with BMWs of previous decades, while the Luxury, Modern, Sport and M Sport give you plenty of leeway to customize the cabin to your taste. Materials quality within the cabin is exceptional, and it's all put together with care.

The basic 6.5-inch display screen is adequate, but you'll want to get the larger, optional screen for a true, luxury electronics interface. Although early versions of BMW's iDrive electronics interface had a reputation for being complicated and frustrating to use, this latest version ranks near the top of the entry-level luxury car class for sheer ease of use. The menu structure is straightforward, the graphics are crisp and processing times are quick, which helps minimize the amount of time you spend looking away from the road. That said, new owners should sit down and familiarize themselves with iDrive before hitting the road, because it's still a complex system and you can't master everything while the car's in motion.

The base-model seats are comfortable and supportive, while the purpose-built seats in the sport packages are even more so. If rear-seat accommodations are a priority, you won't find a more spacious backseat in the entry-luxury car class. Rear legroom is particularly impressive. Trunk space is above average in the sedan (13 cubic feet), while the wagon offers a maximum cargo capacity of 53 cubic feet with its seats folded. That's more than BMW's X1 and basically equal to the Audi Allroad.

Driving Impressions

The 240-hp four-cylinder gasoline engine in the 2014 BMW 328i models is highly impressive. Acceleration is very quick (quicker than some rival six-cylinders, in fact), and we've had little difficulty duplicating the EPA fuel economy numbers in real-world driving. Should you want the traditional BMW experience with inline-6 power, though, the 335i satisfies with a huge wallop of midrange torque that you'll savor every time you execute a highway passing maneuver. The auto stop-start function can be an annoyance in heavy traffic, because the engine doesn't restart as quickly or smoothly as we'd like when transitioning between the brake pedal and the gas (fortunately, you can manually disable this feature).

Although the latest 3 Series has lost a bit of the previous car's hard-edged athleticism, the reality is that this car still delivers the best all-around driving experience in the entry-level luxury sedan class. The ride is smooth and quiet, no matter which wheels and tires you choose, so the car is a natural candidate for road trips. Although we haven't driven the 2014 BMW 3 Series wagon, its handling should be similar to the sedan, which feels nicely composed when going around turns. The steering is the weakest link in this package: Most consumers will find it very precise, but demanding drivers might notice the steering no longer offers the detailed feedback that made older BMWs feel special.