BMW 3 Series review

There’s more leg room up front than you’ll find in the A4 or C-Class, but we’re talking a couple of centimetres at the most. Still, that’s worth having if you’re really leggy, and anyone tall shouldn’t need to worry about the amount of head room, either. The 3 Series’ interior is also generously wide, so you can stretch out sideways as well as lengthways.

Storage space is pretty good; the glovebox is on the small side, but there’s a useful cubby under the centre armrest, oddment trays, cupholders and partitioned door bins with a segment for a drinks bottle.

This class includes whopping great things, such as the Skoda Superb and Volkswagen Passat, and the 3 Series isn’t as spacious as those cars in the rear. It’s not bad relative to its premium peers, mind, with similar head room to the A4 but more leg room and more space all round than the C-Class. That includes the width of the rear seat, which is still tight for three large adults sitting abreast, but they’ll have more shoulder room than they would in the A4 or C-Class.

The standard manually adjustable front passenger’s seat doesn’t include lumbar adjustment, but you can add electrically operated front seats with adjustable lumbar support for a reasonable price.

All versions come with versatile 40/20/40-split folding rear seats as standard, which you fold down using handy levers in the boot.

As we mentioned when discussing passenger space, the 3 Series is up against some gargantuan competitors in the shape of the Superb, so if you need a real belter of a boot, look at that or the Passat. But the 3 Series has a very serviceable luggage compartment that’s on a par with the A4's and slightly bigger, with a more squared-off and practical shape, than the C-Class's.

The 3 Series' rear seats fold down to leave a large flat load bay, and while it’s no estate car, it’ll still manage a trip to the tip.