It's taken Jaguar quite some time to arrive at this point. The mid-size premium sedan segment has proven to be highly profitable, just ask BMW. Its 3 Series has set the benchmark for years. In fact, it literally defined BMW for countless loyal buyers since the day it premiered back in 1975. And over the years, competitors have worked tirelessly to keep up. Without a doubt, cars like the Mercedes C-Class and Audi A4 are excellent, but many still believe the 3 Series remains king. But now there's a new player in town, and it comes from Jaguar.

The last time Jaguar built a 3 Series fighter, the X-Type, things didn't go so well; the X-Type didn't stand a chance. But now the all-new XE has arrived and Jaguar has done its homework. Is it better than the 3 Series? Is the XE the new benchmark mid-size performance sedan? Our friends at XCAR got behind the wheel to find out.