Italian cars are, well, either so far out of my price range that I'll only ever lust at them from afar, or not offered in North America,
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| The 3 just might be the best handling compact sedan ever. (Photo: Alexandra Straub, Canadian Auto Press) |
which means that for me, in my part of the world, BMW's 3-Series is probably the best sport sedan money can buy. And to make its unique personality traits even more enjoyable, its offers such features as enhanced dynamic stability control (DSC), which makes pushing it to the max in the corners safer and more confidence inspiring, and therefore, for my skill level, way more fun. I learned of its merits a while back when I took a BMW Driver Training course, in a controlled environment with a professional driver showing me the ropes. Now, when I get the chance to drive BMWs like this 330i on rain-soaked
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| Driving a manual can be intimidating to some, but BMW's hill start control makes it so it won't roll backwards when taking off on a hill. (Photo: Alexandra Straub, Canadian Auto Press) |
West Coast roads, I'm not as hesitant to squeeze out a little extra throttle when exiting a tighter turn, or slam on the brakes on slick city streets, knowing that the BMW will perform up to snuff.
Furthermore, the hill start assist came in quite handy. As odd as it seems, I feel more comfortable starting on a hill in this manual transmission vehicle, rather than an with an average automatic. Call me crazy, and you wouldn't be the first, but the active hill assist prevents the car from rolling backwards when the clutch is engaged and your foot is transitioning between the brake and gas pedal. It's a nice feature that makes driving easier, especially for those who are not all that experienced driving in mountainous or otherwise hilly regions.
Also, the start/stop push button ignition system made things exciting. The system is a little annoying to get used to at first, since
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| I felt confident knowing that my bag was fully protected by the latest airbag technology. (Photo: Alexandra Straub, Canadian Auto Press) |
I had to insert the key and then push the button, but it grew on me. Because this system is no ordinary stick-the-key-in-and-turn ignition, it took a few starts to get me warmed up to it, but in the end I grew to like it, if only to impress my friends with 007-like wizardry.
Speaking of techno-gadgets, I couldn't help but feel secure in the arms of Mr. Bimmer because of his safety features. Not only does the car come with a dual front airbags plus side thorax airbags for the driver and passenger, but also a standard front and rear advanced head protection system. OK, this is hardly special being that the same number of airbags can be had standard in a Kia Spectra, but, as to be expected, BMW
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| There's nothing I can find to complain about. (Photo: Alexandra Straub, Canadian Auto Press) |
goes to an extra level by adding front passenger sensors for its airbag deployment system, and overall has engineered one of the safest body structures in the compact segment.
And this, among its many other attributes, leaves me little to nitpick about. Perhaps my love for the 330i blinded me to its flaws. Maybe if I had, oh say, a year with it or so, as a long term tester, I could step outside of the goo-goo ga-ga stage of our relationship and get down to the nitty gritty - even beauty gets old when it comes with a bad attitude. But until that day happens, I'm perfectly fine wearing rose-coloured glasses when criticizing the 3-Series.
