BMW 320D XDRIVE
EVEN AFTER WRITING these updates on the 320d for threequarters of a year, I still wince at the gap between the ‘price’ and ‘price as tested’ figures in the ‘test data’ box on the right. You could drive a Volkswagen Up fitted with a couple of options of its own between them.
Are all our 320d’s options worth the money, then? About half of them are. There’s the £2000 M Sport Plus Pack for some extra M Sport-ness, including 19in wheels, upgraded brakes, xenon lights and, the killer feature, a Harman Kardon speaker system. I could leave the rest of the pack, especially the 19in wheels and
the unwelcome lumpiness they add to the ride, and just take those speakers.
The Active Security Pack, at £1100, is another example of a rather jumpy autonomous emergency braking system. It has unnecessarily applied the brakes on a couple of occasions, reducing my trust in it in the process. I’d leave it, as I would the £750 Interior Comfort Pack, which adds some ambient lighting that I’ve hardly noticed.
The adaptive M Sport suspension is a must-have, at £515, as is the £1495 Professional Plus media package for the full suite of idrive function that it adds. BMW’S idrive is the best infotainment system around in my opinion.
There are also a load of ancillary options, each costing a few hundred quid, that haven’t changed my life so, to me, about £35,000 gets you all the 320d xdrive M Sport you’d ever need before you start haggling on the price.