BMW’s staple mid-size sedan and wagon range has been treated to its mid-life update, with revised styling and an all-new twin-screen dashboard from the iX and i4 electric cars.
The facelifted 2023 BMW 3 Series has been revealed, ahead of an Australian launch towards the end of 2022.
Arriving three and a half years into the current ‘G20’ 3 Series range’s run, the facelifted (or Life Cycle Impulse (LCI), in BMW speak) model adds restyled exterior design elements – though no 4 Series-like tall grilles – plus a new twin-screen dashboard, and other enhancements.
Reshaped (but equally-sized) ‘kidney’ grilles are flanked up front by reworked LED headlights with flipped arrow-shaped daytime-running light signatures, and sit above new air intake designs with L-shaped accents as part of the standard-fit M Sport pack.
The headlights incorporate standard LED tech on entry-level 320i and 330i models, stepping up to adaptive units on the M340i xDrive, with blue accents and matrix technology.
New 18-inch and 19-inch alloy wheel designs fill the arches, while at the rear there’s a redesigned lower bumper, with additional body-coloured elements, and trapezoidal exhaust tips as standard on the M Sport – formerly an M340i exclusive.
The M Sport package also includes a mesh grille pattern and black mirror caps, while a new M Sport Pro optional package adds black exterior accents for the grille, windows and headlights, plus M Sport performance brakes with red calipers.
New colours include Skyscraper Grey metallic, M Brooklyn Grey metallic, BMW Individual Frozen Pure Grey metallic and Frozen Tanzanite Blue metallic.
Inside, the 3 Series range – as well as the hero M3 performance range – benefits from BMW’s latest iDrive 8 twin-screen dashboard, with a 14.9-inch infotainment touchscreen and 12.3-inch digital instrument display integrated into one curved panel.
Highlights of the system include wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, augmented-reality navigation, a personal assistant, 5G connectivity, and support for a digital key through owners’ iPhones.
Other interior upgrades include a redesigned gear selector for the eight-speed automatic transmission, and three-zone automatic climate control – which is now standard across the model range – controlled from the touchscreen.
No changes have been made under the bonnet, where the 3 Series retains a choice of petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid powertrains in Europe.
In Australia, buyers will continue to be offered two 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine – the entry-level 135kW/300Nm 320i and top-selling 190kW/400Nm 330i – and a 285kW/500Nm 3.0-litre turbocharged petrol inline six-cylinder in the M340i xDrive.
The 330e plug-in hybrid will also carry over, pairing a 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder engine with an electric motor for combined outputs of 215kW and 420Nm during XtraBoost mode, and a fuel economy claim of around two litres per 100 kilometres.
All models use eight-speed automatic transmissions as standard, powering the rear wheels in the four-cylinder cars, or all four wheels in the M340i.
Despite accounting for just 3.4 per cent of 3 Series sales in Australia in 2020, the Touring wagon will live on with the facelifted range – though only in 330i trim, despite the availability of a high-performance M340i xDrive Touring overseas.
The high-performance M3 Touring wagon has been locked in for Australia, likely in the first half of 2023 – given global production is set to commence in the final weeks of 2022.
Standard safety features across the range include autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, (manual) cruise control, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, with automatic parking and a 360-degree camera available as options.
The 2023 BMW 3 Series range is due to enter production in July 2022, ahead of first Australian deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2022 (October to December).
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