Refreshed BMW 3 Series revealed, coming July
BMW’s 3 Series will respond to the threat posed by Jaguar’s XE with new engines, enhanced gearboxes, revised chassis, improved fuel economy and lower CO2 output when the updated model arrives this July.
Most of the engines for the refreshed 3 Series are completely new and come from the latest modular BMW EfficientDynamics engine family.
This means the 3 Series saloon can match the XE’s 99g/km CO2 emissions, securing £0 VED for 320d ED models mated to an eight-speed automatic Steptronic transmission. Combined fuel consumption rings in at 74.3mpg which doesn’t quite outdo the 75mpg reported by the most efficient XE (2L 163PS diesel).
With the six-speed manual, CO2 creeps up to 102g/km while mpg slips to 72.4mpg but it’s commendable that a facelifted model stays within touching distance of the designed-from-scratch XE.
Efficiency is improved across the board with the standard 320d 3 Series saloon slashing CO2 by 9g/km (now 111g/km), a 67.3mpg combined (previously 61.4mpg), and a fifth of a second quicker to 0-62mph – now 7.3s.
Design-wise, BMW has been coy to toy with the company car behemoth, doing little more than giving it new headlights with ‘eyebrow’ indicators and minor touches intended to improve an already classy interior.
A plug-in hybrid variant – the 330e – will also go on sale in 2016. It pairs a 184hp two-litre petrol engine to an 80kW electric motor to race to 62mph in 6.3 seconds with 140mph top speed, and 134.5mpg combined fuel economy at 49g/km CO2. On electric power alone, it can go 22 miles before using a drop of petrol.
Sounds impressive yes, but Merc’s plug-in C-Class – on sale this month for £38k – is quicker (5.9s), boasts the same mpg and emits one gram of CO2 less. Tiny margins, people, tiny margins.
Prices for the refreshed 3 Series will be confirmed ahead of its July arrival.
More than 14 million 3 Series models have been sold since its introduction 40 years ago. The current model represents a quarter of all BMWs sold worldwide.
3 Series facelift in numbers:
Model | Power (hp) | Torque (Nm) | 0-62mph (secs) | Top speed (mph) | Combined fuel consumption (mpg) | CO2 emissions (g/km) |
BMW 318i | 136 | 220 | 8.9 (9.1) | 131 | 52.3 (54.3) | 124 (122) |
320i | 184 | 290 (270) | 7.2 (7.3) | 146 | 48.7 (51.4 ) | 134 (129) |
330i | 252 | 350 | 5.9 (5.8) | 155 | 43.5 (48.7) | 151 (136) |
340i | 326 | 450 | 5.2 (5.1) | 155 | 36.7 (41.5) | 179 (159) |
316d | 116 | 270 | 10.7 (10.6) | 127 | 68.9 | 109 |
318d | 150 | 320 | 8.6 (8.4) | 134 (132) | 67.3 | 111 |
320d | 190 | 400 | 7.3 (7.2) | 146 (143) | 67.3 | 111 |
320d ED | 163 | 400 | 7.9 (7.8) | 143 (140) | 72.4 (74.3) | 102 (99) |
330d | 258 | 560 | 5.6 | 155 | 56.5 | 131 |
335d | 313 @ 4400 | 360 | 4.8 | 155 | 51.4 | 145 |