Add another to the E90/E92 BMW 3-series already crowded award mantel. Automobile Magazine has named the 3-series to its 2011 All-Stars list, for the 21st time.
Perhaps the best summary from Automobile - "As the car enters the sixth year in its current form, it still has no equal."
Dear sport sedan also-rans: You're great cars, and we love spending time with you. We'll never forget the first time we heard the rorty exhaust note of an Infiniti G37, for instance, and we're amazed every time we savor the luxurious interior of an Audi A4. Alas, we can never truly be together, because we're in a committed, long-term relationship with the BMW 3-series. How committed? In the past eighteen years, the 3-series has not once fallen from our grace, winning two Automobile of the Year awards, making twenty-one All-Star appearances (more than once, the M3 and the 3-series each won All-Star awards in the same year), and winning a Technology of the Year award for good measure. As the car enters the sixth year in its current form, it still has no equal.
"Fantastic chassis balance, beautiful steering, lovely shift action," gushes senior editor Joe Lorio. "Add in the phenomenal performance -- and surprisingly good fuel economy -- and you've got the segment's standard-bearer. Again."
The cherry on top for 2011 is the new 335is. With a twin-turbo in-line six boosted to 320 hp, a fortified suspension, and the option of either a slick-shifting six-speed manual or one of the best dual-clutch automatics on the market, this $51,025 coupe strikes us as perhaps the perfect middle ground between the 335i and the somewhat precious M3. Not that we wouldn't love to own an M3. Or a 328i. Or a diesel-fueled 335d, which rivals the acceleration of the M3 that won our Automobile of the Year award in 1995 while attaining 36 mpg on the highway.
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