Instant fun! Just add petrol

The new BMW 330i M Sport sedan has a lot of new hardware and feels very different from its predecessor. Good different? That’s what we have to establish

- Jim Gorde

What is it about an expensive car painted white that somehow gets people to move out of the way? I usually keep a couple of car-lengths’ distance when I sight one of two things on the road: either a certain white large SUV or a  two wheeler rider with no mirrors on the handlebars. other elements of traffic seem to flow in a sort of predictive chaos, but not them. anyway. Most large cars in India are usually white. I still don’t get it. some cite reasons of purity, or resale. the latter I can understand. but I digress. the 330i is the third ‘30i’ that’s being sold in India and the third i’ve gotten my hands on as well; in white. it’s a good thing, because I now have a good dose of perspective. the 330i GT, in comparison, feels bulky. the 530I feels larger. the point of the 330i, especially in this M sport edition avatar, is to give drivers something to savour.

There’s something about a subtle ‘M’ badge alongside traditional colours that raises enthusiast heart-rates as much as their interest. it means something. as BMW themselves say, ‘M is the most powerful letter of the alphabet.’ except, this isn’t the M3. but it is something that can give you more than a hint of what the letter is all about. after all, 252 horses in a car weighing less than 1.5 tonnes is stick-your-tongue-out fun, and resuscitates your inner nine-year-old.