There’s no getting around it; it’s awfully hard to build the next generation of an iconic car. For drivers of sporting sedans, few models hold as much allure, on a fundamental level, as BMW’s 3-Series—the car that pretty much invented the sports sedan genre. Conversely, with a reputation so thoroughly well earned by its predecessors, and with legions of fans and former 3-Series drivers caught up in the greatness of models past, few cars have as much to live up to as this sixth-generation “F30” car. Constant excellence has its price; a lesson BMW knows very well.
