perhaps in terms of pure appearance, but touch points I doubt that... quite the compliment regardless...

me thinks TTAC was having a slow day

German interiors are nice but not spectacular. I'm okay with saying that the Mazda CX3 has a nicer interior than the German brands. I think the CX3 has a more interesting interior than the Germans. German interiors can tend towards being pretty mundane. Nice, but mundane.

This is the 1-series interior for comparison.

Its alright looking, but pretty boring to me. I can see how someone would prefer the Mazda interior to this. I do.

Pretty sure if you were setting in it, the better quality materials in the BMW would be apparent. But I somewhat agree. The Mazda looks simple and clean and modern. The BMW? Busy. Too many different textures , pieces and design elements. A photo flatters the Mazda better because you cannot reach out and feel it and make a direct comparison. But so what? Who sits around feeling their dashboard anyway?

The BMW is way more expensive, so its maker is not forced to make some of the material compromises inherent in a much cheaper car. The trick for Mazda was to make those compromises so they do not show up more than absolutely necessary. I think they succeeded.

As far as design I do think that the Mazda interior is better. The materials issue is understandable and has been brought up in reviews. Considering the price difference though, I think Mazda comes out on top.

BMW interiors are good but not great. I just don't find them very creative or engaging. Mazda is a brand that has a bit more style and energy to it IMO.

I will say that BMW has some nicer interiors in some of their more unique models, like the bmw i8 and i3.

I'm not a fan of the black and white seats in the CX-3. And red is my least favorite color, so the red trim is not working for me either. Anybody know if there will be any different choices, either in seat color, or trim color?

Layout yes, materials no... Slight digression, but a Mazda luxury brand would be kinda cool just because they have such great design, coupled with quality matierlas (not that they don't use them, I'm saying Mercedes quality)...