New BMW 3 Series spotted in India ahead of 2019 launch

2018 was an eventful year for BMW globally with more than 10 new reveals. And nearly all these new products are coming our way in 2019 and few of them are already here. Yesterday, we saw the all-new Z4 Roadster in India for the first time. Now, the new 3 Series was spotted on Indian soil as well undergoing ARAI testing and homologation.  

BMW took the wraps off the seventh-generation 3 Series at the 2018 Paris Motor Show in September. Dubbed the G20, the new 3 is bigger, lighter, and better looking than the model it replaces. The sedan moves to BMW’s CLAR platform which means that the new 3 is almost 55 kilograms lighter than the older model.

Appearance wise, the bold new 3 Series gets a new set of headlamps with a kink in the bottom portion, reminiscent of the old E46 facelift. The new iteration of the Kidney grille is present with a stylish bumper design. At the rear, the L-shaped tail lamps are stylish and look sporty. The rear bumper is sculpted with an aggressive diffuser and makes the new 3 quite a looker. The profile remains more or less unchanged albeit with a new set of alloy wheels. 

On the inside, the driver-focused cabin is done up with no fuss and functional in a typical BMW fashion. The quality of materials and design makes it look minimalistic yet sporty. The 10.25-inch screen comes with a new user interface integrated with BMW Assistant and BMW’s 7.0 Operating System. Apart from the standard driver assistance programmes, many autonomous features inside the new 3 have been inherited from its older siblings. The 40:20:40 folding rear seats are new with 480 litres boot space.

Also read: India-bound new BMW 3 Series: Now in Pictures

Under the hood, the new 3 Series gets five engine options in the international markets. Of those, we expect to see the 2.0-litre four-pot turbo-diesel with 188bhp in the 320d guise in India. The 180bhp 320i and the 255bhp 330i will join in as well. The top-spec diesel will be 330d which produces 262bhp. Transmission offered on the new 3 is an eight-speed automatic only. 

When launched in India later next year, the new BMW 3 Series will rival the Audi A4, Jaguar XE, updated Mercedes-Benz C-Class apart from new-gen Volvo S60. Prices are expected to be slightly higher than the current model.