New car inches closer to production spec
Though sedans are taking a backseat to SUVs and crossovers industrywide, the BMW 3 Series is still—for now—the Bavarian automaker’s single best-selling model. That means there’s a lot riding on the next-gen car, and from the looks of these latest spy shots, it doesn’t look like BMW is taking very many styling risks with its bread-and-butter product.
As we’ve seen in previous spy shots, the next-gen 3 Series maintains a similar profile to the current car that first went on sale in 2012. Now, we can see the sedan’s headlights and kidney grilles a little clearer, and both look a lot like the units on the 5 Series and 7 Series. We can’t see that much of the taillights, but we wouldn’t be surprised if those also draw inspiration from the 5er. Our shooter captured not one but two 3 Series prototypes, and one appears to wear an M Sport package with a unique front valance.
The next-gen 3 Series will ride on BMW’s flexible KLAR platform, which also underpins the new X3, 5 Series, and 7 Series. That means you can expect the new car to lose some weight. For powertrains, the BMW 3 Series should get updated versions of the turbocharged 2.0-liter I-4 and turbo 3.0-liter I-6 currently available in the 3 Series. You can also likely expect a plug-in hybrid variant in a similar vein to the 330e iPerformance.
The next-gen 3 Series should debut this year, likely as a 2019 model year. Check out the spy shots in the gallery below.
Photo source: CarPix