New BMW 3 Series

...

So much for auto expresses renderings (B ^/)

By koupekid on 15 August, 2011, 2:07pm

Night vision goggles required

Looks like they were taken using google earth! The first one reminds me of the title sequence of Knight Rider

By jakeb1 on 16 August, 2011, 7:06am

I've used this line from The Who's 'Won't Get Fooled Again' before but...

"Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."

It looks like BMW have employed Porsche's lazy 911 designers to pen this new 3-series. I know that the 3 is BMW's bread & butter volume model, but they could have been a bit more adventurous.
I predict that once we get the details through of the new car, it will be bigger and more expensive than the '3' it replaces.

By snappyuk on 16 August, 2011, 9:13am

Agree with snappyuk

Just where is the design in this?, just a "Cut down" 5 series.
Design flare................................ GONE.

By johnbmwx6 on 16 August, 2011, 9:16am

Blah blah blah

Coming 2 inches to a rear bumper near you.................

Will they fit indicators?

The mind numbing, spirit crushing plod into unifomity continues

By WeeKaisDa on 16 August, 2011, 10:10am

Too easy....

It is easy to work out what the next BMW will look like - you just look at the last one.........or the one before that..........or........

By ukmike2000 on 16 August, 2011, 10:39am

Brilliant

"undisguised" BMW 3 series; and then the blurry pics further obscured by the Auto Express stamp - who was the genius who did this or were you hacked by BMW?

By phelan100 on 16 August, 2011, 11:07am

+1 snappyk shrunk 5 serious ,,,this why i drive my e36 as a daliy drive old sckool you no!!! ....,citreon and ford seem to be the only manufaturer to break the mold.

By jemyd on 16 August, 2011, 11:08am

An attractive and stylish car to me. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Has anyone (those who knock BMW's evolutionary design approach), noticed that there is a correllation between the evolving designs of Audi, BMW and Mercedes and the high residual values of their cars and the 'totally redesign the last disaster' approach adopted by some other makers and their shockingly bad residuals? Even though, qualitatively, there is no longer a big difference between the 'premium' and 'mass market' cars. The fact that your 3 or 4 year old BMW does not look out of date alongside the brand new one helps the residuals. This is important to private (new) buyers and helps keep the lease costs lower. I'd be more interested to read that BMW (and Mercedes) have improved build quality and reliability as my experience of both is not good. 'Quality' is not just about nice feeling plastics. PS - is the use of the 2 and 4 series designators merely a means of giving these models a spurious status - and thereby justifying bumping up the price?

By GROUCH on 16 August, 2011, 11:52am

Dullsville Arizona

I appreciate what GROUCH says, but there is a subtle difference between throwing the baby out with the bathwater each time and not changing anything.

The problem is that there is so much money on the line with each new car these days that they cannot afford to make a dud.

By simon9350 on 16 August, 2011, 12:15pm

@ phelan100

Sorry about the AEx stamp - unfortunately it's built into the site. We'll bring you more pictures as soon as we can get our hand on them :-)

Thanks,
Auto Express

By Rhian on 16 August, 2011, 12:32pm

Dull

Dull dull dull, oh and did I say .... dull

By X16GEN on 16 August, 2011, 1:07pm

Auto Excess does it again!

Another useless spy shot.
Get your picture editor to use his eyes.
If the picture is s**t and shows nothing new...Don't use it.
Are you getting short of news?

By toycollector on 16 August, 2011, 1:54pm

can't please everyone

I think there are two schools of BMW buyers/fans.

One is the group that likes the latest technology and most progressive design.

The other are the traditionalists - those who are a fan of past models and the old "Ultimate Driving Machine" philosophy.

Go back in time and look at the 2002, or 3 and 5 and 7 Series from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. All good looking cars, but quite conservative in terms of design, and nothing you'd call cutting edge design.

I've never loved the looks of the current 3 sedan, but this looks good to me. I still don't love the size and weight increases of all their models, but I basically consider today's 3 the successor to yesterday's 5, etc etc. Now if they'd just fix the looks of the 1 (coupe) and introduce a sedan (for us sedan lovers in the States), we'd really have the successor to the old 3's of a decade or so ago.

By Indie1968 on 16 August, 2011, 2:19pm

BMW - Bland Morbid Waste

Why the joy from practically every motoring journalist about a "new" BMW?
They are dull lumps of metal, driven by dull lumpen people.
Audi seem to have stolen the mantel of German wunder kids, but hey, that's no great achievement.
There is no sparkle, no dynamic zest, just another bland piece of German metal.

By Richardcr on 16 August, 2011, 3:28pm

*coughs*

If BMW can't be bothered, then neither can I... cya

By sgtgrash on 17 August, 2011, 2:22am

Well the proof of the pudding will be in the buying. I bet when it's released there willl be no shortage of buyers and most of those who end up with another wannabe from GM, Ford etc. will still rather be behind the wheel of the BMW. Just look at the numbers of BMW 3s on the road. However everyone is missing the point - you don't change a winning formula - GM, Ford, Toyota etc. have to keep on changing and looking for novelty because they have not found the winning formula. I used to be a BMW sceptic - could never understand why anyone would pay the extra, until I held my breath, took the plunge, shrugged off the social stigma - and never looked back. I can't believe suffered from Vauxhalls, Peugeots and Fords all those years. Having said that - I think the next Octavia looks good to me for lots of practical reasons.

By GROUCH on 17 August, 2011, 1:47pm

I don't knock BMW's for being bad cars because they are not. I knock them because they are uninteresting, 1M excepted of course, which I find a brilliant little car, if a bit expensive.

By sgtgrash on 18 August, 2011, 4:54pm

WANNABES?

I think the Grouch is a BMW who refuses to be realistic. If Ford drivers wanted to be in BMWs they would simply buy cheaper second hand BMWs. And trust me, Ford has no problem selling their products, worldwide! Year on year Fords will continue to sell and so will BMWs. Your statement makes me wonder if BMW drivers should be considered as wannabe Mercedes drivers or failed Porsche wishers? BMW has its niche and so does Ford. Ford drivers are not stuck in Fords and given the chance will not exchange their Fords for a BMW. They chose Fords because Fords attracted and satisfied them better.

By Kwashi on 22 August, 2011, 5:23pm

IT LOOKS LIKE THE OLD 1 OH ! IT IS OR ?

OH MY ! THIS RECESSION IS TAKING ITS TOLL ON CAR DESIGN FOR SURE, I KNOW ! LET'S ASK THE ACCOUNANT TO DO THE DESIGN ASWELL THAT'LL SAVE SUM CASH ! YES GOOD IDEA ! OH NO WE ALLREADY DO THAT !

By BEREAL on 13 September, 2011, 8:18pm