BMW 3 Series 320i variant available for Rs 29.50 lakh

BMW recently revealed to CarWale that production at its Chennai plant is 90 per cent diesel and 10 per cent petrol. In fact, they have stopped producing petrol variants of the X1 and the recently launched 5 Series. But today, we spoke to a few BMW dealers who informed us that the base 320i petrol-engined variant, which was not available at the time of the car's launch in July 2012, has been on sale since December 2012 for Rs 29.50 lakh (All India ex-showroom).

The BMW 3 Series 320i is powered by a four-cylinder 1.6-litre petrol engine that produces 184bhp and 270Nm of torque. Power is transmitted to the rear wheels via the ZF eight-speed gearbox while the UK spec car also gets the option of a manual transmission. 

It gets the same feature list as the base 320d variant which means six airbags, ABS (but no EBD), ESP, Traction Control and Climate control. Inside, there is fabric in place of leather, no sunroof but a full idrive system and standard headlights in place of Xenons. 

Given the preference for BMW’s customers to buy diesel vehicles, our queries to the dealers were met with surprise. They said that if we wanted the car, it would take 15-30 days and even that depended on whether BMW still had stocks of the variant. The 320i competes with the base petrol Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class but is almost Rs two lakh cheaper than both of them even sans taxes.