It was an entirely chance encounter. I had no idea the car was even going to be there. I’d turned up at a Home Counties hotel to drive one BMW, and came away a few hours later with eyes only for another.
I don’t even know why it was there. BMW said it was a chance to drive the facelifted 3 Series, but such is the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nature of that facelift there was a part of me that suspected it was there for another purpose altogether. To sprinkle a little stardust on what would have otherwise been the launch of yet another tedious crossover SUV, perhaps?
For not even BMW has yet to work out how to inject any magic into such cars. The launch I was actually attending was for the new X1, as honest and effective a small crossover as you might find, but still about as interesting and entertaining as long division.
