The next BMW 3 Series has broken cover during testing -- 18 months before it is due to be unveiled in Europe and three years before it goes on sale in Australia.
Spy agency Automedia captured the successor to BMW's most important model during winter testing in Scandinavia and, based on insider information, has produced this artist's impression of what it expects the new 3 Series will look like when it hits local roads in 2006.
Styled under the guidance of BMW's flamboyant American-born design boss, Chris Bangle, the new 3 Series continues the German maker's move towards unconventional design.
According to insiders, the headlights of the new 3 Series will look like those on the xActivity concept car (which itself was supposed to be a clue to the look of the X3 soft-roader). The swoopy panels on the doors and flanks are expected to mirror those of BMW's CS1 show car.
BMW embarked on its bold new design direction following criticism that previous models were too predictable. Now the maker is accused of being too radical.
At this early stage, the new 3 Series appears less outlandish than BMW's most recent models, the Z4 roadster and 7 Series.
To set it apart from the pending 1 Series base model and the new 5 Series set above it, and to match the Mercedes C Class and Audi A4 rivals, BMW has increased the dimensions. Drive's unofficial tape measure reveals the 3 Series sedan has grown by about 80mm in length to 4500mm and by 30mm in width to about 1770mm. The wheelbase is about 2760mm, or at least 35mm longer.
The new interior takes cues from the 7 Series -- say goodbye to the driver-centric theme that has been a feature of the model since its inception in 1975.
BMW plans to use its controversial iDrive system, though in a much simpler, more intuitive form than in the 7 Series. It also plans to adopt a new manufacturing technology that supports the entire front end with lightweight aluminium tubing that's bonded and rivetted to the front bulkhead. The 5 Series due later this year will have a similar set-up.
To maintain its driving credentials, the 3 Series will have all the chassis technology BMW can muster, including adjustable damping control and electro-hydraulic roll bars to quell body roll during cornering. Top-of-the-line models may have air suspension.
Other items include headlamps that "corner" with the front wheels to better illuminate bends, a steering rack that sharpens responses fed to the driver and, mirroring Mercedes-Benz, electro-hydraulic brakes, which use a computer-controlled booster to apply braking force to individual wheels.
To keep low-level 3 Series models at reasonable prices, the Bavarians will carry over the same four-cylinder engines used on today's car. After 2007, BMW plans to fit its four-cylinder engines with electronic valve actuation.
A six-speed manual gearbox (just adopted on the current 3 Series) will channel power. European buyers will have an optional six-speed automatic in place of the current five-speeder.
The 3 Series is vitally important to BMW, outselling the rest of the line-up -- Z3, 5 Series, X5, 7 Series and Z8 -- combined. The most recent figures, for 2001, reveal it accounted for 61 percent of BMW's production.
Very CG-like looks, but definitely not too bad. Wonder what our tastebuds would be like in 3 years from now though. Hey, we might grow to like the E65!
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