New BMW 3 Series vs. Mercedes C-Class: Same Rivalry, Very Different Looks
BMW’s Neue Klasse redesign meets Mercedes’ lighter refresh, with contrasting cabin layouts and closely matched four-cylinder power.
BMW’s Neue Klasse redesign meets Mercedes’ lighter refresh, with contrasting cabin layouts and closely matched four-cylinder power.
BMW’s G50 takes a cleaner approach inside, but the Audi A5 counters with sleek styling and closely matched entry-level performance.
BMW is reshaping two Bavarian factories for a new era of combustion engines, plug-in hybrids, and EVs, while staying true to two traditional body styles: sedan and wagon.
The purely electric i3 doesn't spell the end for the plug-in hybrid, as BMW plans to combine a gas tank and battery pack for the 3 Series G50.
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The G50 BMW M350 xDrive replaces the M340i with 326 kW (443 PS), all-wheel drive only, and a rear-drive mode coming by OTA update.
The electric i3 gets up to 21-inch wheels, a 17 mm longer wheelbase and 30 fewer liters of trunk space than the gas G50 3 Series.
The G50 M350 xDrive gets quad exhaust tips, a Panoramic Vision display and a 437-hp B58, but weighs about 420 lbs more than the M340i.
The gas G50 3 Series is 50 mm longer and 24 mm wider than the G20, rides on up to 20-inch wheels, and loses 31 liters of trunk space.
BMW reinvents the 3 Series for the Neue Klasse era, giving its sports sedan a radical transformation from the G20 to the G50 while aligning the gas-powered car with the electric i3.
The M340i successor gains 69 hp, standard adaptive M suspension, and a drift mode arriving via update.
The quad pipes confirm it's the M340i replacement, not an M3, and the reveal is only weeks away.