Home / Marque guides / BMW / BMW 3 Series 2.0 320i M Sport auto xDrive
BMW 3 Series 2.0 320i M Sport auto xDrive
The 320i is the petrol 3 Series. With M Sport trim, an automatic gearbox and xDrive four-wheel drive, this is one of the most common used specifications in its class.
| Marque | BMW |
|---|---|
| Model | 3 Series |
| Engine | 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol (320i) |
| Trim | M Sport |
| Transmission | Automatic |
| Drive | xDrive four-wheel drive |
| Emissions standard | Not stated in the address |
| Stop-start | Yes |
| Body | Four-door saloon |
A 320i is a petrol 3 Series — in BMW’s naming the letter after the number gives the fuel, and i means petrol. M Sport is a trim and suspension package rather than an M car, and xDrive is four-wheel drive.
What to check on this specification
Mileage, and what a company-car life does to a car
The 3 Series is heavily represented in UK company fleets, which means the used market carries a lot of high-mileage cars whose recorded history is thinner than their use. Read the MOT record from end to end: the mileage at each test tells you how the car was actually used, and advisories accumulate into a picture of what has been deferred.
The automatic gearbox
Drive it from cold and then again warm. What you are looking for is a clean pull away in first, a clean engagement of reverse, and shifts that are firm rather than jerky, slurred or accompanied by a thump. Torque-converter and dual-clutch boxes both have scheduled oil and filter changes; those services are frequently skipped because nothing obviously breaks when they are, and the bill when something does break is one of the largest in used-car ownership.
M Sport specifics
M Sport cars sit on larger wheels and firmer suspension than the standard car. Inspect every rim for kerb damage, check tyres are a matched set across an axle, and remember that four-wheel drive makes matched tyres a mechanical requirement rather than a preference.
Infotainment
Reliability surveys for this generation report that most faults are minor and cluster in the infotainment system, with some resolved by a dealer software update. Work through the screen, the Bluetooth pairing and the navigation on the viewing rather than after it.
Ownership notes
A petrol car needs to meet the Euro 4 standard to avoid the London ULEZ charge, which is a much easier bar than the Euro 6 required of diesels and which almost any car of this generation clears. Confirm with the registration on the TfL checker.
The address does not state a Euro standard; the V5C and the DVLA vehicle enquiry service both carry it.
About this page
The address you are on was part of a used-car dealer site that no longer exists. The individual vehicle it once described was sold years ago; there is no stock here, nothing is for offer, and no enquiry goes anywhere. What has been kept is the specification the address itself encodes, written up as a reference for anyone looking at the same combination of model, engine, transmission and emissions standard on the used market today.
Nothing here is advice about a particular vehicle. Every point above is a thing to check on the car in front of you, and the official services linked below answer against a registration number rather than a model name.