What's the news?
It's just three years old, but it's time for the first change in the history of the BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo (GT). With more than 130,000 global sales since 2013, it's proving to be a popular choice in the Three family around the world and, in order to bring it into line with the 3 Series Saloon and Touring variants facelifted last year, the GT is now on the receiving end of a light airbrushing.
Exterior
It's a minimal facelift, as we saw on the 3 Series Saloon and Touring models in 2015. Check out the GT's new design of headlights (now featuring LEDs), the front fog lamps (now LEDs) and the option of some, um, Adaptive LED headlights. At the rear are reshaped light clusters that are now... well, we think you get the picture. Elsewhere, the air intakes are subtly different up front, the rear reflectors have risen in height and the trim strip has dropped down, plus there are two new colours for the bodywork: Arctic Grey and Jatoba metallic. Go for M Sport and Estoril Blue metallic is exclusively available. As standard, 18-inch alloys are fitted, but there's an 'increased range' of 18- and 19-inch wheels on offer too.
Interior
New materials, chrome and high-gloss elements for such accoutrements as the air vents, window switches and mirror adjuster, and a flatter Centre Information Display with a narrower frame are part of the updates inside, as are additional finishes for the wood trim strips and contrast stitching for the leather upholstery. Other than that, the same spacious interior with a 520- to 1,600-litre boot out the back makes the GT an unusual blend of 'rakish' style and practicality, as before.
Mechanicals
No three-cylinder engines are to be found in the BMW 3 Series GT, but a range of three new petrol units from the modular family reduce fuel economy by up to 14 per cent across the range, while five proven turbodiesels ensure there's plenty of economical choice. BMW's xDrive all-wheel drive can be found as an option on certain models (and standard-fit on the range-topping diesel), while three of the more modestly powered variants get a six-speed manual gearbox as standard, with an eight-speed Steptronic auto - fitted on all other GTs in the range from the off - is an option.
All the petrol models use single-turbo engines, with 500cc per cylinder leading to a pair of 2.0-litre four-pot GTs and a single 3.0-litre six-cylinder version. The 320i delivers 184hp and 290Nm (as a manual, or 270Nm as a Steptronic or an xDrive), the 330i has 252hp and 350Nm, while the 340i benefits from 326hp and 450Nm. The 320i, available with four different drive/transmission combinations, can do 0-100km/h in as little as 8.0 seconds (manual, rear-wheel drive) or up to 8.4 seconds (auto xDrive), with top speeds between 224- and 230km/h. Fuel economy ranges from 39.8- to 48.7mpg (7.1- to 5.8 litres/100km) and CO2 is from 132- to 161g/km. The 330i and 340i models, automatics only, are all limited to 250km/h, with xDrive marginally hampering acceleration on the 330i (6.1 seconds manual versus 6.2 seconds auto) and improving it on the 340i (5.1 seconds manual, 5.0 seconds auto). The rear-wheel drive versions of both are greener, the 330i using as little as 5.9 litres/100km (47.9mpg) and emitting 134g/km, the 340i's bests being 7.0 litres/100km (40.4mpg) and 159g/km.
Over on the diesel front, the range runs 318d, 320d (and xDrive), 325d, 330d (and xDrive) and the 335d, the latter available with xDrive only. The 318d, 320d and 325d use 2.0-litre four-cylinder units, with the latter of these featuring two turbos instead of one. The 330d and 335d both use six-cylinder engines, the former being a single-turbo and the 335d a biturbo. That means you've got anything between 150hp/320Nm and 313hp/630Nm to choose from, with performance stretching from 4.9- to 9.3 seconds for 0-100km/h, and top speeds of 210- to 250km/h. Efficiency ranges from 4.3 litres/100km (65.7mpg) and 112g/km CO2, to 5.7 litres/100km (49.6mpg) and 151g/km. For all of these stat extremes, the 318d is the slowest/greenest and the 335d the quickest/most juicy.
Anything else?
On sale from summer this year, the updated BMW 3 Series GT is likely to cost similar money to the pre-facelift models, starting from €45,970. Additional features of the revised model include the latest version of Professional Navigation, standard Bluetooth mobile phone integration and the option of inductive wireless charging for smartphones (plus WiFi hotspot capability), while preparation for Apple CarPlay will be introduced during the latter half of 2016.