The Redesigned BMW 3 Series: The Inline-Six Survives
The most iconic BMW just got a redesign, and it might be incredible. It might also be a room full of screens. Both things are true, and that is what makes the new 3 Series the most interesting car BMW has shown in years.
This is the eighth generation, and it comes two ways. The electric one is called the i3. The combustion flagship is the M350 xDrive, and it keeps the inline six. We need to talk about both, because one of them carries the future of BMW and the other one carries the part worth keeping.
The electric one: 567 miles and a ten-minute charge
The i3 50 xDrive makes 469 horsepower from a dual-motor setup, runs 0 to 62 mph in 4.7 seconds, and claims up to 567 miles of range from its 108.7 kWh battery.
Before that number circulates any further: 567 miles is a WLTP figure, measured on the European cycle. EPA ratings always land meaningfully lower, so expect a smaller number on US window stickers. Still a monster figure, likely over 300 in the USA.
The charging is the wild part. The car rides on an 800-volt architecture and takes DC charging at up to 400 kW, which means ten minutes plugged in gets you up to 263 miles back. That is a gas-station stop, not a meal break. The battery is BMW’s sixth-generation eDrive with cylindrical cells, and it charges both ways, so it can power your gear instead of just consuming.
Below it sits the i3 40 xDrive with 374 horsepower and up to 441 WLTP miles. An i3 M60 xDrive follows in 2027 for the M Performance crowd.
The one I want: the M350 xDrive
BMW kept the inline six. In 2026.
The M350 xDrive runs a 3.0-liter turbocharged straight six with a 48-volt mild hybrid system for a combined 443 horsepower and 428 lb-ft. 0 to 62 takes 4.1 seconds, and top speed is governed at 155 mph. Double wishbones up front, a five-link rear, adaptive M suspension standard, and four-piston fixed calipers doing the stopping. This is real hardware, not a trim package.
The M models also get yellow daytime lights pulled straight from BMW’s race cars. Small thing. Great thing.
Drift Moment: great idea, wrong address
The M350 has a mode called Drift Moment. Activate it and the car sends everything to the rear wheels. That used to be M car territory only, and now it lives in a regular 3 Series.
Except you activate it through the touchscreen. You have to go into a menu to make the car fun. Real drift modes live on a button. This one lives in a menu, and that tells you more about this interior than any spec sheet.
A room full of screens
The new cabin runs BMW Panoramic iDrive: a display strip across the entire base of the windshield, a 17.9-inch central screen angled at the driver, and an optional 3D head-up display on top of that. Three separate places to look.
BMW spent 50 years building the best driving position in the business, and now it is a room full of screens. The software underneath is BMW Operating System X, built on Android, with Alexa+ rolling into the voice assistant in Germany and the US first.
| Model | Output | 0-62 mph | Range / economy (WLTP) |
|---|---|---|---|
| i3 50 xDrive | 469 hp / 475 lb-ft | 4.7 s | Up to 567 miles |
| i3 40 xDrive | 374 hp | TBA | Up to 441 miles |
| M350 xDrive | 443 hp / 428 lb-ft | 4.1 s | 8.2 l/100 km |
| 320 | TBA | TBA | 7.5 l/100 km |
The MoneyShift Take
The design works. I like it. The kidneys and the twin headlights merge into one light signature, the door handles sit flush, and the whole car reads clean instead of busy. That is not the problem. The problem is what they did inside it.
A 3 Series has one job: prove the ordinary sedan can still be the enthusiast’s car. The hardware says BMW remembers. The six survives, the suspension is real, the drift mode exists. But the interface buries the fun behind glass, and BMW buyers keep telling the company they want the analog thing. The M2’s manual take rate said it loudly. A drift mode you launch from a menu says BMW heard them, and then put it in a menu anyway.
There is one piece of symmetry worth keeping. The i3 will be built at Plant Munich, the same factory that built the first 3 Series in 1975. Fifty years later the badge comes full circle, electric, in the same building.
No US pricing or on-sale date yet, and every figure above is German-market. When one lands in the Garage, it gets scored the same way everything else does. The 3 Series is still the 3 Series. For now, that is the good news.
FAQ
When does the new BMW 3 Series go on sale in the US?
BMW has not announced US pricing or an on-sale date. All launch figures are German-market. The hands-free Motorway Assistant is slated to work in 21 countries, including the US, by the end of 2026.
How far can the electric BMW i3 actually go?
Up to 567 miles on the European WLTP cycle for the i3 50 xDrive. EPA ratings run lower than WLTP, so the US number will shrink. Charging is the headline anyway: up to 263 miles added in ten minutes at 400 kW.
Did BMW keep the inline-six in the new 3 Series?
Yes. The M350 xDrive pairs the 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six with a 48-volt mild hybrid for 443 horsepower. A fully electric i3 M60 xDrive arrives in 2027.
I’m MoneyShift. If it has wheels and a story, it ends up here. Follow along for all things car news.
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