Rein in the horses, dear reader from India. This news article mentions the updates to the 3 Series in the international market. At home, we are yet to see in our showrooms the 2012 3 Series codenamed ‘F30’ and we have to wait at least until the new 3 Series is launched here before they get these mid year upgrades.
xDrive
The new BMW 3 Series Sedan will now have xDrive as an option. xDrive is of course, BMWs intelligent four-wheel drive system that comes as standard on the X1,X3,X5,X6 BMW vehicles. The models BMW 320i, BMW 328i and BMW 335i will be sold from July 2012 with xDrive as an option. The system will give the car superb traction thanks to electronic control and millisecond-fast power distribution between the front and rear wheels. xDrive ensures optimum performance in all kinds of weather and road conditions. As a result, the potential of even the most powerful BMW 3 Series four-wheel drive sedan, the BMW 335i xDrive delivering 225 kW/306 hp and a maximum torque of 400 Nm, can be utilised efficiently. The BMW 335i xDrive does 0 – 100 km/h in just 5.0 seconds. Power distribution of BMW xDrive is effected so rapidly that the vehicle is stabilised before the driver even notices the need to react. The model 320d xDrive is also in the queue to get optional xDrive, from autumn this year.
BMW 320i EfficientDynamics Edition under development
The BMW 320d EfficientDynamics Edition has found favour with buyers that BMW has now decided to develop the BMW 320i EfficientDynamics Edition petrol model. Powered by a 170 bhp 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo petrol engine, transmitting power through a manual 6-speed transmission the petrol EfficientDynamics Edition is supposed to be highly fuel efficient. The BMW 320i EfficientDynamics Edition sprints from 0 to 100 km/h in 7.6 seconds, with fuel consumption at 5.2/100 km or 19.23 kpl and CO2 emissions at just 124 grams per kilometre (all figures provisional). The international market launch is planned for the end of 2012.
New entry level model BMW 316i
BMW has also announced a new entry-level model – BMW 316i. Currently under development, the 316i will be powered by a 4-cylinder in-line engine delivering 136 bhp. Power transmission is via a 6-speed manual transmission or an 8-speed automatic transmission. The BMW 316i clocks 0 to 100 km/h in 8.9 seconds and its level of CO2 emissions is at 134 to 137 g/km.
BMW has also mentioned the latest generation BMW 330d will be offered with the straight six-cylinder diesel power unit.
Do read our design story on the 2012 BMW 3 Series which details the new ‘Luxury’, ‘Modern’ and ‘Sport’ Line variants, and various other features of the F30 BMW 3 Series, in detail.