After what seemed like endless number of teasers, the updated BMW 3 Series has officially been revealed. The luxury sedan gets tweaked with a sportier design, added bells and whistles and a more environmentally friendly engine. And yes, it will eventually make its way to our shores.
Starting with the design, the 2022 BMW 3 Series seems to have gone under the knife for some extensive work. It now has an aggressive silhouette, with cuts and creases all over the bodywork. The aim here was to make the sedan look sporty, and the folks at BMW seem to have accomplished that.
The front now features a slightly larger kidney grille, which rather goes well with the sleek LED headlights. The bumper gets a larger air dam, while the new alloy wheel design gives the side profile look refreshing. In case that’s not enough, BMW will also sell you the optional M Sport package, which comes with larger alloys, sportier front and rear bumpers and, of course, the M-specific touches sprinkled across the bodywork.
Step inside the 3 Series and you’ll be greeted by BMW’s floating (14.9-inch) touchscreen instrument cluster and (12.3-inch) digital driver display. Both come with BMW’s latest i-Drive 8 user interface that provides you with all the necessary connectivity and drive information features. Also new here is three-zone climate control along with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) functionality, which offers adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, parking assistance and front collision avoidance.
Under the hood, however, things are not radically different. The base petrol and diesel trims will now be aided by a 48-volt mild-hybrid technology, along with the plug-in hybrid and ‘M’ variant. What remains to be seen is which powertrain will come to India.
Currently, the BMW 3 Series is offered with a choice of three engines — a 2.0-litre diesel (320d) that makes 190hp, and a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol (330i) that makes 258hp, and the 3.0-litre, six-cylinder petrol (M340i) that makes 387hp.
As per reports, the BMW 3 Series accounts for nearly 14 percent of the carmaker’s sales in India. Hence, a debut is expected this year. Pricing could be around the Rs 50 lakh mark. Once launched, it’ll go up against the Volvo S60, and the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class.
( Image credits: BMW )
