PARIS MOTOR SHOW: All-new BMW 3 Series officially unveiled

The 2019 BMW 3 Series sedan has been officially revealed and it will be the Bavarian brand’ most important release this year – and probably the most significant car to appear at this year’s Paris motor show.

Unfortunately, BMW itself inadvertently leaked images of its new volume-seller on its own configurator just a day before the new mid-size sedan’s official global reveal.

Presenting a clearly evolutionary (surprise, surprise) design philosophy, the new BMW 3 Series will go hunting the newly upgraded Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi’s slow-selling A4, a facelifted version of which also debuted in Paris.

Mainstream versions of the new sedan (320i, 320d and 330i) will arrive in Australia next March, followed by the M340i and 330e plug-in hybrid.

Design features include two side creases instead of one and a barely noticeable rear spoiler integrated into the bootlid, while new technologies include optional laser headlights.

Growing in almost all directions, the all-new car’s wheelbase has been stretched 41mm to 2851mm and its overall length grows 76mm to 4709mm -- about a school ruler shy of five metres.

In Europe, the new 3 Series will be offered from launch with two four-cylinder turbo-petrol engines and three diesels – a three, a four and a six – but will also come in two plug-in hybrid versions and will then be rebadged as the i4 and fitted with a full battery-electric powertrain in 2020.

The German mid-sizer is quieter than before, thanks to a raft of sound-squashing features, as well as slipperier through the air, lighter, stiffer in its body and with more interior technology.

One of the new key technologies from its bigger brothers allows the doors and ignition to be operated from a smartphone app, which helps because 3 Series owners won’t have to carry around the smartphone-sized key from the 5 Series.

There are even over-the-air (OTA) software updates but only for the infotainment system, which is now run through a high-mounted screen that isn’t quite as clearly double-width as in the Mercedes-Benz E-Class or A-Class, but doesn’t carry the Audi split-level set-up, either.

In fact, it’s almost completely lifted from the interior of the just-launched X5 SUV, which is a good thing, with top-end versions scoring a 12.3-inch high-resolution digital instrument cluster to do the heavy lifting for the driver and a 10.25-inch touch-screen running the infotainment.

The base models have seen the digital instrument cluster screens rise from 2.7 to 5.7 inches, while the infotainment screens have increased in size from 6.5 to 8.8 inches.

There’s now a Personal Assistant, which is BMW’s name for its voice-recognition system because it believes it to be intuitive enough for normal speech to help in most situations.

There are galvanised plastic air-vent surrounds, an airplane wing-style sweep across the front passenger compartment and a deep centre console, all clad in the traditional greys and blacks as the launch interior colours. Even the head-up display screen grows by 70 per cent, with more colour and greater definition.

Its equipment packages will range through the entry Advantage spec to the Sport Line, Luxury Line and the M Sport line, each offering different groups of equipment focused on different style of customers as BMW tries to get to grips with the huge demands of WLTP testing.

It promises to be larger inside, with greater visibility and more shoulder and elbow room up front and more legroom in the back, a switch to a space-saving electric parking brake, a 480-litre cargo area and an optional sunroof that’s 100mm longer.

BMW claims it retains the 50/50 front/rear weight distribution, with the 330i petrol version shedding 55kg to drop down to 1470kg (the four-cylinder 320d is 1450kg), all while pushing up the body’s torsional rigidity by 50 per cent.

It’s claimed that the switch to the firm’s newer CLAR modular architecture (used by the 5 Series and X3) will help it to retain its handling while continuing the comfort-focused ride stance delivered by the 5 Series.

The CLAR architecture allows BMW to slot a host of new-generation powertrains inside the 3 Series, including a full-electric powertrain, plug-in hybrids and mild-hybrid technology.

The all-electric version will be called the i4, rather than the 3 Series Electric, and is due in 2020 with a range of up to 700km on the tough new WLTP test cycle.

There will also be a pair of plug-in hybrids, with the lead-off 325e arriving with the same combination of a 100kW 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine and a 65kW electric motor.

It will deliver a combined 165kW of power and 385kW of torque and it’s not ridiculous to think it will run to 100km/h in about 6.8 seconds and on to a 198km/h top speed, while delivering 41km of zero-emission EV running – because that’s what the MINI Countryman plug-in does with the same powertrain.

There’s a strong chance that a faster, stronger 330e plug-in will arrive with an uprated version of the same core powertrain engineering, and both PHEVs will be able to use either a cable or BMW’s upcoming touchless inductive charging system, which will arrive in Europe later this year.

Sweet petrol-powered six-cylinder engines have disappeared from the 3 Series – for now – as BMW launches its cashcow with only a pair of four-cylinder versions.

The entry-level (at least in Europe) will be the 2.0-litre turbocharged four in the 320i, which will reach 100km/h in a claimed 7.2 seconds and top out at 238km/h.

It will arrive with 300Nm of torque from an impressively early 1350rpm to 4000rpm, while its 135kW of power chimes in at 5000 revs and stays there for another 1500rpm, promising a fat strong mid-range with a perky top end.

While the 330i is based on the same engine layout and hardware, it lifts its power output to 190kW at the same revs as the 320i, though its fatter 400Nm of torque arrives a little later, at 1550rpm, and hangs on a little longer, to 4400rpm.

BMW claims it’s strong enough to reach 100km/h in a strong 5.8 seconds and it is limited to 250km/h at its top end.

The faster car barely suffers in economy, though, with its 5.8-6.1L/100km (it’s a range that depends on the tyres, and the bigger the thirstier) compares well with the slower car’s 5.7-6.0L/100km.

The minimum emissions on the WLTP’s combined cycle compares well, too, with the 330i’s 132g/km of CO2 well in the hunt against the slower car’s 129.

The diesel versions are at least headed by a traditional six-cylinder engine, with the 330d bringing a 3.0-litre turbocharged straight six into battle.

With 580Nm of torque at 1600rpm and 195kW of power at 4000rpm, it promises enormous strength and a similarly enormous price, eating deeply into the lower end of the 5 Series models.

It will compensate by being the hunter of the 3 Series family, slicing three tenths off the 330i’s sprint to 100km/h to get there in 5.5 seconds.

It also uses just 4.8L/100km and emits 128g/km of CO2, which is pretty good even compared to the four-cylinder 320d’s 4.4L/100km and 115g/km.

Available as both an all-wheel drive xDrive model and a rear-drive sedan, the 320d brings 140kW and 400Nm into battle, with the xDrive version shaving two-tenths off the sprint time of the rear-drive, hitting 100km/h in 6.9 seconds.

The economy king of the 3 Series range will be the 318d, with its 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo-diesel eking out 4.2L/100km and 112g/km. It has 110kW of power and 320Nm of torque and tops out at 224km/h.

An eight-speed automatic transmission is standard fit for most countries, though there is also a six-speed manual transmission for the 318d and the 320d rear-driver.

The CLAR set-up has allowed more than more engine flexibility. There has been a focus on noise reductions inside the cabin, with the thinner A-pillars filled with noise-insulating foam and sound-deadening acoustic glass adopted for the windscreen.

That same glass technology is an option for the side screens, too, while there are also noise advantages from reducing the aerodynamic profile to a drag coefficient of only 0.23Cd.

The CLAR architecture gives it a sophisticated base of a five-link rear suspension and a four-link front-end and new damping systems.

Its options include a firmer M Sport suspension with a lower ride height, the adaptive M suspension with variable dampers, the tauter, grippier M Sport differential and wheels that can grow up to 19 inches.

It also makes a large step forwards in driver-assistance systems with things like collision- and pedestrian warning and braking and the lane-departure warning systems now standard. A huge range of other assistance systems is optional, too.

Parking should also be easier, even though the car is longer, with BMW giving it a parking assistant for both lateral and longitudinal help, plus 360-degree cameras, a reversing assistant and parking sensors at both ends.

BMW 330i
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged inline four-cylinder petrol, rear drive
Power: 190kW @ 5000-6500rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 1550-4400rpm
0-100km/h: 5.8 seconds
Weight: 1470kg
WLTP economy: 5.8L/100km
CO2 emissions: 132g/km

BMW 320d
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged inline four-cylinder diesel, rear drive
Power: 140kW @ 4000rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 1750-2500rpm
0-100km/h: 7.1 seconds
Weight: 1450kg
WLTP economy: 4.4L/100km
CO2 emissions: 115g/km

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