The first BMW station wagon was born not in a focus group, or in the
bowels of the product-planning department, or at the behest of some
headstrong company boss. Rather, it was born in the mind of a resourceful
engineer named Max Reisboeck and gestated by a small team of BMW
technicians in the prototype shop.
Reisboeck was a died-in-the-wool fan of the 3-series, but when his
wife's pickle cravings were diagnosed as pregnancy, he worried that his
family might soon outgrow the good ol' "Dreier" sedan. His
solution? Same as any suburban homeowner's: Bump out an addition in back.
Using the off-hours tools and talent of the prototype shop, without the
knowledge or blessing of management, his ad hoc team members created the
first 3-series wagon. When they were finished, they showed it to
Reisboeck's boss, who liked it enough to show it to the chairman, who
loved it. The project was given the green light with only minor
modifications, and series production began for the 1988 model year.
BMW claims that this car inspired the current crop of compact,
sporting, upscale wagons. By its count, global annual sales in that market
segment have grown to 260,000, of which BMW owns just 10 percent. This
third-generation 3-series wagon aims to widen that slice, in part by
expanding into the U.S. market next spring to join compact rivals like the
Audi A4 Avant, the Volvo V40, and eventually a Mercedes-Benz C-class
wagon.
We tend to share Reisboeck's enthusiasm for the 3-series sedans, so
this new "sport wagon," as BMW calls it, can surely be expected
to dominate the class, right? To find out, we recently sampled the latest
3-series wagons in and around Munich.
From the driver's seat, the new wagon feels just like a sedan with an
adult stashed in the trunk. The wagonizing pieces add about 150 pounds,
most of it in the rear, aiding traction and improving the weight
distribution to roughly 49/51 front/rear. A surprising claim: The wagon
body shell is 10 percent more rigid than the sedan's. Add to these
assertions the fact that the suspension is virtually unchanged (but for
spring-rate tweaks to accommodate the slightly greater load), and it comes
as no surprise that the wagon handles every bit as brilliantly as the
sedan.
The wagon's added heft is noticeable with the hammer down, and U.S.
drivers will notice it most acutely, given that we won't get the big
2.8-liter. That's right, Yank wagoners must make do with the 170-hp,
2.5-liter six, badged 323i. The official explanation is that the company
wanted to preserve a respectable price and performance gap between 3- and
5-series wagons (a 328i wagon could easily outpace the heavier 528i). Or
maybe it's waiting for the new 3.0-liter six. The big motor would also
widen the affordability gap with Audi and Volvo. As it is, the 323i sport
wagon is expected to start at about $29,500;right between the four- and
six-cylinder Audi A4 Avant Quattros and well above the V40's $24,475.
The only wagons available for our drive were powered by the 193-hp,
2.8-liter six and the surprisingly slick 134-hp, 2.0-liter
direct-injection turbo-diesel. Those versions, among others, go on sale in
Germany as you read this, but the 323i sport wagon won't hit our streets
until spring 2000, with an all-wheel-drive "ix" variant expected
a year later. We tried to drive the 328i at 88-percent throttle to
simulate a 323i, which we expect to run a couple ticks slower than its
sedan counterpart. If so, it should just match the heavier, but more
powerful A4 2.8 Avant Quattro. The wagon's drag coefficient rises from the
sedan's 0.29 to 0.33, so top speed would be lower if it weren't limited to
128 mph.
Enthusiasts such as Reisboeck will probably accept these compromises in
performance for the extra utility offered out back, and the 323i sport
wagon scores reasonably well in that department. Every dimension we could
measure in the cargo hold is within one inch of the Volvo V40s' and within
two inches of the Audi A4s'. It should swallow roughly 25 cubic feet of
dunnage with the seats up and nearly 60 with them folded flat (a process
that requires neither flipping the bottom cushion forward nor removing
headrests). There's room for another 1.5 cubes of storage between the
honeycomb-composite (lightweight and splinter-proof) floor and the mini
spare. Its rivals carry slightly more cargo, especially with the seats up.
The BMW's rear seat was configured to provide 0.8 inch more knee room
than in the sedan, at some expense to cargo space. It provides comfortable
accommodation for two adults, and the taller, squared-off rear doors offer
superb visibility. The middle seat's headrest folds down with the armrest
to improve rear visibility. A cup holder and a stowage bin are provided,
but the armrest is wide and long enough to crowd adult legs somewhat.
Loading cargo into the hold is easy through the wide, low-lift-over
hatch or through the rear glass, which opens independently. Four hefty
cargo hooks are provided, as are two rubber cargo straps to restrain
small, light items. A roller shade hides the Louis Vuittons, and a
vertical cargo partition deploys to confine the schnauzers in back (or
mount the partition to the folded seatbacks to enlarge the cargo area for
a pack of Rottweilers). There's even a 12-volt socket back there.
Roof rails come standard and support up to 165 pounds, but they're
useless without some sort of aftermarket crossbars or ski or bike racks.
These wagons are available in Europe with factory trailer hitches rated to
tow up to 4000 pounds, but scaredy-cat lawyers won't allow BMW to quote
towing capacities in the U.S.
Speaking of lawyers, standard safety gear will include six airbags
(front, side, and tubular head airbags for front-seat passengers; rear
side bags are optional), and ISOFIX child-seat mounting hardware in back
(built-in child seats may be offered later). On the active-safety front,
Dynamic Stability Control now helps keep all Bimmers on their intended
path except the M coupe and roadster. Enthusiasts like Reisboeck and the
rest of us will happily rationalize the Sport package (tighter suspension
settings, more aggressive rubber, better-bolstered seats) as a vital
active-safety feature well worth its $2000 price.
So is this the king of the sport-compact-wagon hill? Only a
head-to-head comparison test can answer the question for sure, but we
expect the descendent of Reisboeck's project car to provide hot
competition for the four-wheel-drive Audi A4 and the safety-first Volvo.
Stay tuned.
