Facts and figures
 |
|
|
|
More tech for 3-series
16.07.2008 |
 |
Mild facelift includes iDrive tweaks and dual-clutch boxes...
BMW is giving the 3-series a range of mid-life tweaks in an attempt to increase its visual appeal, bolster its entertainment and communication technology, improve its environmental credentials and reinforce its status as a dynamic benchmark.
The new model, due to go on sale in the UK in September, gets fresh front and rear styling that picks up on the themes seen on BMW’s recently unveiled fifth-generation 7-series. This proves that BMW has abandoned its plan to provide each model with its own distinctive appearance and is attempting to return to a more homogenous look.
Up front, the car gets a heavily profiled bumper, a newly contoured bonnet and reworked headlamps with altered graphics. At the rear there are fresh tail-lights with new lenses and a reworked bumper.
BMW design boss Adrian van Hooydonk said the changes are aimed at emphasising the car’s width.
The biggest mechanical change is the introduction of BMW’s seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, launched in the M3, although for now this option is only available in the 335i coupé and convertible (it cuts the 0-62mph time of the coupé by 0.1sec). And the 318d is now available with a six-speed automatic transmission.
BMW is using the new 3-series to launch its BluePerformance brand, the firm’s equivalent to Mercedes’ BlueTec. The first BluePerfomance car is a 330d fitted with a NOx trap; it meets the forthcoming Euro 6 emissions regulations, not due until 2014.
All other engines are carried over from the current car.
Suspension and brakes are the same as the current cars’, but rear track on the six-cylinder models has been widened by 24mm.
Inside, the iDrive controller gets four selection buttons to reduce the complexity of its operation and there’s a new, larger colour monitor. And as in the new 7-series, the 3-series will be available with internet access as part of BMW’s new ConnectedDrive technology.
