BMW 3 Series with petrol and hybrid power confirmed

So, these are just BMW i3s with engines under their bonnets?

Not quite. The BMW i3 shares its platform with other electric-only ‘Neue Klasse’ cars such as the BMW iX3, while the petrol-engined 3 Series is a development of what went before, albeit completely revamped and with the same design language as the BMW i3.

Look at the cars side by side, and you’ll spot they’re not identical. In fact, the electric model is 5mm shorter, 15mm wider, 25mm taller and sit on a 37mm longer wheelbase.

Nonetheless, the overall style is shared outside and in and it’ll probably only be car nerds like us that’ll spot the difference at a glance.

Does it get BMW’s weird new steering wheel?

Unfortunately so. That’s the squashed-circle item shown here in white, though it’s only available in that – highly impractical – colour in conjunction with the ‘Digital White’ interior design theme.

If you don’t fancy the odd-looking vertical spoke at the top, you can opt for an M steering wheel instead, though even that’s not a perfectly round design. We can at least confirm that all variants of the steering wheel feel good to hold.

And anyway, buyers may be so wowed by the digital cockpit they won’t notice the wheel. As we’ve already seen in several new BMWs, the 3 Series gets the fantastic Panoramic iDrive system, mixing a high-res display strip along the base of the windscreen (called ‘Panoramic Vision’) with a 17.9-inch touchscreen shaped to be easier to reach from the driver’s side, plus an optional head-up display for good measure.

This all runs BMW Operating System X and has a vast amount of technology and connectivity built in. Our experience with it in the iX3 and new BMW i7 confirms it works well, though we still wish there were a few more actual buttons in the cabin of the new 3 Series.

Yeah, yeah, let’s get back to that M model…

Fair enough. And you’ll be glad to know the M350 xDrive  comes with the M steering wheel as standard, though all variants of the (non-electric) 3 Series get gear-change paddles behind the wheel.

Under the bonnet is a turbocharged 3.0-litre straight-six petrol engine, bolted to an eight-speed automatic transmission, which can send power to all four wheels. Within the casing of the gearbox is an electric motor as part of the 48-volt mild-hybrid system.

Working together, the peak outputs quoted are 443hp and 580Nm of torque, enabling a 0-100km/h time of just 4.1 seconds. For the first time in a BMW car that is not a pure M model, the M350 xDrive also comes with the option to switch to purely rear drive.

BMW calls this the ‘Drift Moment’ feature and, as found on all-wheel-drive M cars such as the M5, it can only be selected when the DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) is turned off completely.

Further differentiating the M350 xDrive from other versions of the BMW 3 Series, even those fitted with M Sport or M Sport Pro packages, is an exterior makeover including yellow lights up front and a quad-exhaust setup at the rear.

So is that instead of a new BMW M3?

Certainly not. Though speculation is rife as to what BMW will do with the M3 brand. It’s known to be working on a monstrously powerful electric sports saloon, for example, while also confirming that the M350 xDrive’s electric twin will be called the i3 M60 xDrive. Watch this space, in effect.

Ok, back to reality, is there going to be a new BMW 330e hybrid?

Kind of, in that BMW has confirmed that a plug-in-hybrid version of the new 3 Series will be launched in 2027, but it has not told us its name. We’d bet on ‘340e’.

Nevertheless, there will also be more affordable petrol variants to consider, badged 318 and 320. They use the same core mild-hybrid setup, featuring a turbocharged 2.0-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine, an eight-speed auto and a belt-driven starter-generator, plus rear-wheel drive of course.

The BMW 320 makes up to 211hp and 330Nm of torque, so it’s no slouch, hitting 100km/h from rest in 7.4 seconds. The 318 is more mild-mannered, taking nearly two seconds longer for the same sprint – its outputs are pegged at 156hp and 250Nm.

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