BMW 3 SERIES COUPE 330Ci CLUBSPORT
If You Love The
BMW M3 But Cant Justify The Expense, Help Is At Hand. The 330Ci Clubsport Coupe Offers Keen Drivers A Definite Edge. Andy Enright Reports
What makes a good coupe? On the basis that it should be stunningly voluptuous, reassuringly impractical and smugly exclusive, the BMW 3 Series Coupe is something of a duffer. Just when saloon cars were being styled to resemble coupes, the profile of BMWs two-door wasnt dissimilar to the saloon. This despite the only common external parts being the door handles, the side indicators and the BMW badges. Never was so much changed by so many for such little benefit.
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Although the lower order coupes suffer most from this staid design philosophy, the M3 models lowered stance, big wheels and aggressive spoilers serve to punch up the visual appeal to agreeable effect. The downside is that youll need £41,155 to lay claim to one.
BMW recognised that a gulf existed in its range and that it was losing sales to more striking coupes such as the
Audi TT and the Mercedes CLK. Taking the excellent 330Ci Coupe as raw material, BMW has produced a car with almost as much drama as the M3 at a price that will tempt many from the opposition.
Although £33,465 is by no means inexpensive, it stacks up favourably against the CLK320, a car that it wallops on almost any dynamic measure you care to mention. No, its still not as pretty as the Stuttgarter, but its certainly got a swagger to it.
"If the M3 had never existed, wed be lauding the 330Ci Clubsport as the best drivers coupe available for halfway sensible money."
The stance is more pugnacious, the sports suspension giving the Clubsport a purposeful absence of fresh air atop its low profile tyres. These wrap some suitably monstrous 18-inch double spoked alloy wheels. Theres a rear M spoiler and only the lack of chromed gills on the cars flanks will give the game away that this is not a genuine M3 to the casual observer. Three paint finishes are available, Titanium Silver, Velvet Blue and the hue thats becoming the trademark sporty BMW colour, Estoril Blue.
BMW have worked hard inside too, stripping 20kgs of sound insulation from the bulkheads in order to fill the cabin with the sound of that magnificent 231bhp straight six engine. Yes, your power output is still closer to that of a VW Polo than the awesome M3, but at least youll have some Touring Car sound effects to perpetuate the fantasy. Thats not to say the Clubsport is in any way slow, but mere figures dont do justice to the creaminess of the throttle response, the flexibility of the engine nor the brilliant balancing of all the major controls. Over 90% of its torque is available from as low as 1,500rpm, making this far from a peaky screecher.
With as much power as an eighties
Porsche 911 Carrera to call upon, you know the Clubsports going to be no slouch and it doesnt disappoint. On the road, performance is predictably impressive, with rest to sixty occupying just 6.5s and a top speed electronically-limited to 155mph. Do you really need to travel faster than this? The trouble is, the £2,000 that the Clubsport adds to the 330Ci Sports sticker price hitches it that tempting bit closer to the price of the M3, probably the performance bargain of the sector.
It seems hard to call a £41,155 a bargain, but when it does as much as a Porsche 911 which retails comfortably the other side of £50,000, it makes finding another £7,500 over the price of the Clubsport distinctly tempting. If the Clubsports price makes you hesitate, then console yourself with the news that equipment levels are superb: there's stability and traction control, multi-function sports steering wheel, cruise control, parking distance control, Isofix attachments for child seats, six (yes six) airbags, a remote-controlled alarm, air conditioning, a high quality stereo system integrated into the dash, plus of course ABS, electric windows and power steering. It that wasnt enough, the Clubsport adds leather and alcantara trimmed sports seats, a stubby M gear lever, a Clubsport etched door sill and an aluminium interior trim. It's not only about sheer speed however. This car flatters your driving without overtly doing so thanks to the DSCIII stability control and Cornering Brake Control (CBC). No matter how heavy your right foot, the DSC system will only give the rear wheels as much power as they can take without spinning, so every time that little light flashes, you're avoiding a lurid tail-happy slide. The cars electronics constantly monitor its pitch and yaw, making this 231bhp rear wheel drive powerhouse safer on a wet road than the
Nissan Micra you learned to drive in. If despite all that, you still go too fast into a bend and do exactly the wrong thing (slam on the brakes), CBC will help you out, applying firmer braking to the outside front wheel as the car corners and hugely reducing the risk of a spin. Don't run away with the idea however, that all these electronics take from the driving experience on offer: this is still a great car to hustle along, though the sports suspension may make the ride a little too hard for some. The same goes for the steering, which keeps you perfectly in touch with the road surface - rather too in touch perhaps for those used to less responsive set-ups. Its something of an oddity, the 330Ci Clubsport. Yes, its far more desirable than the standard 330Ci Sport model, but the flip side of that coin is that its 82% of the price of an M3 with 67% of its power and half its bar room credibility.
If the M3 had never existed, wed be lauding the 330Ci Clubsport as the best drivers coupe available for halfway sensible money. As it stands, its the second best and a distant second best at that. Find the additional £7,500. Own the ultimate driving machine made metal.
You owe it to yourself.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: BMW 330Ci Clubsport coupe
PRICE: £33,465 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 17E
CO2 EMISSIONS: 218g/km
PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 6.5s / Max Speed 155mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (urban) 22.1mpg/ (extra urban) 40.9mpg/ (combined) 31.0mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front airbags, twin front side airbags, twin ITS side window airbags / ABS / ASC+T / DSC III
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 4488/1947/1369
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