BMW Puts the Finishing Touches on the New Generation of the 3 Series

With just a few months to go before its official unveiling, BMW is putting the finishing touches on the eighth generation of the iconic 3 Series sedan, whose prototypes were spotted by the automotive press during final testing at the renowned Nürburgring circuit in Germany.

One of the first examples of this new generation, which the Bavarian automaker refers to as the “G50,” features a quad exhaust system, clearly indicating that the camouflaged vehicle is an M Performance model, since the M3—the high-performance version of the 3 Series—won’t arrive until 2028.

The new M350, which replaces the current M340i, will be powered by a revised version of the B58 engine, a turbocharged 3-liter inline-six that will produce more than 400 horsepower.

In terms of appearance, the front end bears a deliberate resemblance to its electric counterpart, the new BMW i3—the first sedan in the Neue Klasse lineup—featuring the same proportions, front-end design, and lighting.

The new generation of this iconic sedan, of which BMW has sold more than 20 million units over five decades, will debut in the second half of the year, while production will begin at the end of the year at the Dingolfing plant.

It will be the first time since its launch in 1975 that the 3 Series will not be produced at the Munich headquarters, which is being refurbished to produce Neue Klasse models.

At the San Luis Potosí plant, production of the new 3 Series will begin months later, alongside the i3 sedan and the iX3 electric SUV on a flexible assembly line, according to what executives from the Bavarian automaker revealed to HorsePower.