<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" LONDON \u2014 It&amp;#039;s not just a set of new bumpers and headlamp switches that have been bolted to BMW&amp;#039;s 3 Series cash cow for next year. This November we&amp;#039;ll get one of the meanest oil burners around\u2014one that&amp;#039;s been selling in good numbers for a good few years in Europe, one that&amp;#039;ll also see service in BMW&amp;#039;s odd-looking coupe-come-SUV, the X6. And this improved fuel economy comes not a moment too soon.  The Specs  BMW claims it has made 2500 changes to the 2009 3 Series, but you have to look hard to see the effects of this facelift. The panels are unchanged, although the hood has been reprofiled and there are lots of nibby detail changes to features like the headlamps, grille and air intakes. The exterior changes will also affect the shooting brake (wagon) model, but the coupe and cabriolet retain the old body style and only get the 2009 interior changes.   Ah yes, the interior changes; well, don&amp;#039;t hold your breath. This much criticized area of BMW&amp;#039;s portfolio is still the austere hard-plastic cabin that exasperates those coming over from rivals like Audi. The derided iDrive has been revamped for the second time and there is evidence of increased quality all over, but the facia is still a horizontal strata of surface changes that look like nothing so much as your Granny&amp;#039;s Lady Baltimore cake. The cabin is also pretty pokey compared to the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class and recently revamped Audi A4. Getting into those rear seats is something of a struggle as the door aperture is filleted strong at the base so there&amp;#039;s not a lot of foot room. And once ensconced in the cabin, you will find your knees buried in the front seat backs.   The MacPherson strut front, multilink rear suspension is largely unchanged bar a 1-in. increase in the rear track. In spite of its dated body shell and spartan cabin, the BMW still provides one of the best driving experiences around. Even with the standard steering system and suspension settings, the communication with the driver is superb, and the driving experience is largely as good as it gets in this class of car. We would suggest that however much your dealer tries to tell you otherwise, the optional Sport Package is not worth the sacrifice. It is on the wrong side of harsh for general road use. BMW is now on its fourth generation of run-flat tires, and while they have improved beyond measure, high-pitched vibrations still reach the cabin on this new model\u2014no matter the suspension option.   BMW has a perfectly good 3.0-liter straight Six, single-turbodiesel 3 Series that sells in small but sound numbers to eco-minded Euro execs. But this 335d is that car&amp;#039;s evil twin. It wears (instead of horns) another, sequentially operated, turbocharger, which acts like the second barrel on a Holley Double Pumper carburetor. Up to 2000 rpm the first turbo peps up the performance of the long-stroke Six. Then when its puff starts to wane, the second blower whooshes in, removing the lag and pumping up the torque curve as efficiently as a chambermaid plumping double duvets in the Vegas Bellagio. Other revisions include a higher compression ratio (17:1) and a bigger exchange-oil capacity.  The Drive  Diesel and high performance don&amp;#039;t normally sit in the same sentence, but take a look at the following figures: 155 mph, 0 to 62 mph in 6.0 seconds and 428 lb.-ft. of torque. Compare those numbers with these: 155 mph, 0 to 62 mph in 5.6 seconds and 295 lb.-ft. of torque. Okay, so which one is the performance car? The first set of figures apply to the 335d, the second to its gasoline alternative. Away from the test track the turbodiesel&amp;#039;s midrange torque and flexibility would absolutely smoke (but not really, this is a &amp;quot;clean diesel&amp;quot;) its gasoline counterpart. And the 335d is not only the faster point-to-point car, it also gives you a 10 mpg (U.S.) boost over the the gas one. The 335d returns an NEDC combined economy of 35.1 mpg against the 335i&amp;#039;s 25.6 mpg. In practice, the big diesel gives around 33 mpg in our mixed running, partly because the performance is just so intoxicating and almost impossible to resist.   Make no mistake, this is no pure economy car\u2014it&amp;#039;s real-world fast. The mandatory six-speed automatic gearbox means you can&amp;#039;t be quite the hooligan you imagined, but it is perfectly possible to get the rear wheels of this nearly 2-ton car to break traction. And the iron block mill provides serious grunt all the way to the 5000 rpm redline, which makes passing slower vehicles contemptuously easy. This is an oil-burning hot rod.  The Bottom Line  It&amp;#039;s easy to get misty-eyed about BMW&amp;#039;s meister werke, and while the revisions to the 2009 model year brings the 3 Series up to a level with some of the competition, the car is starting to look a little dated. As usual, the American market also gets last year&amp;#039;s model when it comes to diesel technology as the 330d with a new all-aluminum engine has just been introduced over in Europe. It&amp;#039;s almost as powerful, lighter and a lot more economical than the iron block. Still, with gas prices as they are, the 335d is worth a look for its speed and frugality. These days, that&amp;#039;s about as good as it gets. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/reviews/a3653/4283090/>