New BMW 3 Series Enters Final Testing – and the Six-Cylinder Engine Is Staying

For anyone who thought the arrival of the electric BMW i3 meant the conventional 3 Series was being quietly shown the door, BMW has now provided a fairly convincing answer. It isn’t.

A new combustion-powered 3 Series is on the way, and prototypes have entered their final round of summer testing at BMW’s Miramas proving ground in southern France. More importantly for long-time 3 Series buyers, BMW has confirmed both four- and six-cylinder engines.

The engines will use 48-volt mild-hybrid technology. BMW hasn’t released the complete powertrain line-up yet, so we’ll have to wait for the individual model badges and output figures. Still, confirmation of a six-cylinder option matters. At a time when downsizing and electrification are reshaping performance cars, BMW clearly isn’t ready to give up one of the ingredients closely associated with its sports sedans.

There is another interesting part to this story. The petrol 3 Series and electric i3 won’t look like cars from two different families.

Both use BMW’s Neue Klasse design language, including the latest interpretation of the familiar four-eyed front end. BMW says the cars share their basic proportions, with a long wheelbase and short overhangs, while powertrain-specific details will separate the electric and combustion versions.

The same idea carries over to the cabin. BMW Panoramic iDrive and Operating System X are coming to the new 3 Series, meaning buyers choosing a petrol engine won’t be getting an older interior simply because they skipped the EV.

Then there’s the driving side of things.

Miramas isn’t being used merely to rack up development kilometres. BMW is concentrating on chassis tuning, handling and ride comfort there, using everything from a high-speed oval to dedicated handling tracks and different road surfaces. The prototypes have already been through winter testing in Arjeplog and development work at the Nürburgring.

BMW also says an M Performance version of the 3 Series will get “Drift Moment for the first time”. It works with the electronically controlled M Sport differential to allow a greater degree of controlled oversteer when the driver selects the appropriate settings.

Whether anybody genuinely needs a drift setting on their daily 3 Series is another question. It’s nevertheless a revealing detail about what BMW wants this car to be.

The company could have treated the combustion 3 Series as the conservative alternative to its new electric sedan. Instead, it’s giving the ICE model Neue Klasse styling and cabin technology while continuing to spend development time on the thing that made generations of 3 Series popular in the first place: how they drive.

That’s probably the bigger news here. The i3 represents BMW’s electric future, but the new 3 Series suggests Munich isn’t forcing every buyer into that future at the same speed. For now, at least, there will still be another choice — and one of those choices will have six cylinders under the hood.