All new 3 Series unveiled

It’s been on the roads since 1975 and has been BMW’s best selling model accounting for over 30% of the BMW brand's annual total sales. What are we talking about? Arguably the best compact executive car in the market, the BMW 3 Series. And not without a reason.  Winning numerous accolades not only for being a fantastic product but also for having a renowned racing career. 

BMW has just unveiled the all new 3 Series and from what the company says, is a significant step above the current car. As it goes with most successors, the new car is lighter, quicker under most conditions, more fuel efficient, better handler thanks to enhanced agility and newfound nimbleness. Even the safety aspect has been improved. There have been big steps forward in style, quality, comfort and specification for only a minimal price increase. A wider choice of trim levels and an extensive personalization program will allow 3 Series saloon buyers to order virtually a tailored car.

Aggressive, that’s the first thing that comes to mind when you look at the new 3. In fact in some ways especially from the rear three quarter it pretty much looks like scaled down 5 Series. The body is stiffer and there is an all new chassis with longer wheelbase and wider track as well. Increased in overall length by 93mm, it has the characteristic BMW design proportions of short overhangs for maximum agility.

All versions of the new car will feature a drive mode selector called Drive Performance Control as standard equipment. What this basically does is allow the driver to swap between up to four driving modes, varying from sporty to extremely economical. The four modes are ECO PRO, Comfort, Sport, and Sport + (Sport + is included only on Sport models or with selected optional equipment). In ECO PRO, the throttle mapping changes so that a firmer push of the accelerator pedal is needed to extract the power that is delivered with a lighter touch in the other three modes, thus encouraging a more economical driving style. ECO PRO also alters the manual gearshift points advised by the Optimum Shift Indicator, modifies the gearshift strategy on models with automatic transmission and even adjusts the power consumption of features such as the climate control and heated mirrors and seats.

Handling transmission duties is an eight-speed automatic gearbox, giving a wider spread of ratios than the former six-speed unit without taking up any more space in the engine bay, is available as an alternative to the standard six-speed manual. It is also now offered with every engine to significantly improve efficiency. Then there is the EfficientDynamics technology which gave the previous BMW 3 Series Saloon such a competitive advantage and as a result comes in the new car as well and have been supplemented as well. Auto Stop-Start is fitted to all versions, manual and automatic, along with Brake Energy Regeneration, on-demand control of engine ancillary components and tyres with less rolling resistance. Weight has been reduced by up to 50kg compared with the previous model, while the drag coefficient (Cd) is down to as low as 0.26 thanks to optimized aerodynamics.

The 3 has always been the quintessential driver’s choice thanks to its rear-wheel-drive layout, near-perfect 50:50 front-to-rear weight distribution, agile chassis set-up and responsive engines. The new is no different and aims to appeal to the enthusiast even more. There will be a series of new engines with the BMW TwinPower Turbo technology while base engines will see a bump in power as well.

The 3 Series has been a runaway success here in India thanks to its blend of efficiency and performance and the new car is sure to take the legacy forward. Expect to see the first glimpse of the car in India at the 2012 Auto Expo with deliveries following soon after. As for the roadtest, watch out for an exclusive soon.