The updated 3 Series is still the icon for BMW. It is the epitome of driving pleasure so it was with great anticipation that the launch took place last week. With its sportier performance within the midsize premium segment, it remains an important model in the lineup, here and globally. One in every seven BMWs sold is still a 3 Series.
The interior
There are some awesome changes to be expected. The 3 Series is in the DNA of BMW and what they are known for. When any update happens to this car it is monumental for the brand. BMW endeavours to continuously improve the vehicle. Thus, while the 3 Series is famous and very popular, they are not resting on their laurels.
From the inside the digital experience opens up the world even better for its drivers. Living in a digitally connected world, when you drive a BMW you feel like you as a person are connected to your car and even when you’re not with your car it feels like you’re connected to it.
Additionally, there is a movement away from complexity. There is a 30% reduction in customer complexity. Thus, there are far fewer standalone options. Available models will have more features as standard.
For the interior, you still do have an iDrive controller to manage the cockpit with voice, touch and the iDrive controller. All three options are installed in the 3 Series. The screens are a little bit wider and it still has the drive controller for critical functions.
The center console is drastically cleaned up so those familiar with the BMW design will immediately see the cleaner design. All critical driver and safety features still have buttons on the steering wheel including adaptive cruise control, voice control, volume buttons – things you use frequently.
Things that are not as critical go onto the 12.3-inch driver instrument screen or the 14.9-inch control display and are very easy to find. There will be no icon buttons but if you look at the instrument cluster, these icons are on the home screen along with two buttons in the center controlling maximum and minimum AC temperatures.
BMW addressed the decision to not have one screen on the basis that it is designed with the driver in mind. The digital instrument cluster is focused on providing the information that the driver wants to see and is customisable to that person. The display is separate so passengers can still control other aspects of the cabin while the driver’s focus remains on the digital instrument cluster.
The new 3 Series no longer has the traditional gear lever. The new one is a lot smaller and it definitely gives a sense of more space. Its personal assistant also has more features. Voice control works with the radio, climate control and sunroof to name a few.
Smartphone integration is standard in all the vehicles. In the new vehicles going forward there is a feature that turns your car into a Wi-Fi hotspot so your car is connected. Passengers do not even need to have their own SIM cards to use devices. They can connect to the web operating system and you can access new features and update.
The exterior
The exterior design of the 3 Series is known for being distinctive sporty in nature and extroverted in style. You will also see major changes to the outside.
The base model of the 3 Series is now the old sport line. Thus, the complexities of before are gone. Previously there would be a luxury line with options that were not speaking to customers. An example was the laser light which many drivers liked from an aesthetic perspective but did not see the functional reasons as the lights were already good enough.
BMW also created their own local packages. When configurating the 3 Series, it removes the abundance of options to choose from. There are also reductions in upholstery, wheels and other finishes.
According to BMW the exterior has ‘gone under some severe plastic surgery’ especially in the front of the car. The headlights get the inverse LED light that is standard for all three options in the series. You can still opt for adaptive LED lights. The only noticeable aesthetic difference is that the daytime running lights which also act as the indicator.
The front bumper is much more aggressive. There are indentations in the air curtains and from the side it is more pronounced, deeper and more angular. The intake has a bigger mouth that is also covered in a honeycomb pattern with a slimmer grid. The design-thought behind it is to create a wider stance for the vehicle. This is why everything is slimmer and longer as well.
At the rear, major changes in the bumper include a new diffuser design and on the side of the diffuser are reflectors. This emphasises the diameter from various perspective compared to previous generations. This generation touches on the trapezoidal shapes illustrating some of the new BMW design language.
BMW aimed to make the 3 Series even sportier by offering a Support Pro Package and the Pro Package. It bundles M options in the package and amps up the sporty appeal. So, things like your black kidney grill, the dark individual headlights, M seatbelts and the M spoiler in high gloss black are bundled together. You cannot get them as standalone options anymore – it is more of a customer-centric structure.
The 3 Series also gets its own sport exhaust. In the 340 you can switch between driving modes which allows for more attainable performance for more people. This is always in the thought process of the BMW engineers when designing the car.
Tech
As is the case with all new models, the 3 Series has the hardware component for certain features and you can unlock that feature whenever you want it and for whatever period you need it. So, if you want seat heaters for a certain period you can purchase it from the Connected Drive Store. You can have more features without immediately starting out with the functionality.
You can connect to the BMW app and access features such as unlocking, turn the lights on, tracking the car, check mileage, regulate the temperature before you get in, check tyre pressure all from your smartphone.
The model variants are broad but it has been successful and served BMW well. Each of these vehicles has a role to play and they all complement each other. There are four options including the performance and diesel variants. The 330i is the mid-performance vehicle providing 190 kW. it’s far away from the performance variant but also much bigger. The pinnacle of the 3 Series range is the M340.
The M340 accounts for 70% of all empirical sales in the world so it is a critical part of the brand. It is a segment leader but also contributes to BMW being the global M segment leader. The 3 Series sells well but the performance vehicles are actually responsible for the bulk of the sales. It maintains the engine drivers know.
The world is changing rapidly we see competitors with smaller vehicles because of you legislations but the M340 will stay another four years. It is one of the crown jewels in BMW’s arsenal. The 340 also has the M Sprint function in the M Sport pro packages. If you want to overtake quickly you hold the left paddle shift and it optimises your gears as quickly as possible.
A fellow journalist brought up the concern about the choice to have to pay to use hardware, such as seat heaters, that is already in the car. BMW counters that the advantage of this approach is that should you change your mind in a few months or years, the option is still there. They said they are building cars for life so this function in the second-hand market is where it will find its real value. For first buyers I am not convinced of the logic but it does make sense in the secondhand car market.
Ultimately, the new 3 Series is exactly what you expect in a well wrapped packaged: luxury, an excellent drive and forward-thinking tech.
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