Bigger, Faster, Lighter, Leaner – The New BMW 3 Series

Today BMW officially unveiled their new 3 Series at BMW’s Headquarters in Germany. Known internally as F30, BMW has spent the last four years developing their new 3, which globally is one of the biggest sellers in their range. At the launch, Klaus Draeger who is BMW’s chief of R & D said that this was “BMW’s most ambitious engineering program to date”.

The Car : Inside, the car will be roomier than in previous models and will be slightly larger dimensionally too. The traditional front engine – rear drive format will be kept and the range of engines will include a ‘soft turbo’ four cylinder and a 109g/km economy diesel. Three new trim levels will be offered – Sport, Modern & Luxury, as well as the usual ES, SE & M Sport.

The Power : As usual there will be a good selection of engines available, which will include 320d, 320d Efficent Dynamics, 328i and 335i. In March more engine choices will be available including the 318d, 330d, 325d and 335d. In late 2012 two more engines will be introduced which will be a 112bhp 2.0 diesel 316d and a soft turbo 2.0 petrol 320i. These latter engines are expected to do well here in Ireland thanks to our emmission based taxes.