What’s New With the 2019 BMW 3 Series?

The BMW 3 Series was once up there on a pedestal as the gold standard for small luxury cars. It was a driver’s car that appealed to all due to its sleek, competitive, compact and refined driving experience. For the longest time, it ruled the market and was the king of its kind.

Competition finally caught up and it lost ground to its arch-rival Mercedes’ very reputable C-Class. That might be why they have poured everything they have got into this new model. It looks like they might just have leveled the playing ground as one of the new alphas of luxury cars.

The redesigned 2019 3 Series sedan continues its tradition of being the driver’s cars. Riding on a new modular platform, the new version now has a more powerful base engine, sharper handling, and offers a spacious interior.

What else is new with the 2019 BMW 3 Series?                                                          

Inside the 2019 BMW 3 Series

The 3 series has the capacity to seat five people. In this new model, improved comfort and better legroom is apparent. The front seats have more power adjustments and supportive cushions. While the rear seats have more space to stretch out, even for taller passengers.

The cargo space in the new 3 Series generation includes an estimated 16.9 cubic feet trunk. The body style comes with a 40/20/40 split-folding rear seat.   

In terms of infotainment, the sedan features the latest iDrive rotary controller that makes you feel home. An impressive 8.8 touchscreen display plus a full size ‘connected personal assistant’ by voice are available at your service.

For the most part, the redesigned interior has understated yet modern look, has class and style that comes with inlays of aluminum, burl walnut or ash grain wood. Most trims are synthetic leather upholstery which is a standard and the overall appearance is muted compared to its rivals. Obviously, the new 3 is better-furnished than the old one but new design still isn’t as plush as that of an Audi or Mercedes.

Exterior Design

The new 3 Series still looks familiar, but is significantly different than the old model. The frond end looks sportier, the body is a bit bigger and the grille is wider featuring a thicker chrome frame. Specifically, it’s 2.9 inches longer, 0.6 wider, and half-inch taller.

The new headlamps are sleeker and sharper with its two-way split enhanced by a notch in the bumper that rises up into the center section of the headlight. There are huge changes on the sides as well evident by a new beltline that rises towards the rear. Another new and cool feature was the wraparound design at the top of the bumper, with the extremities ascending towards the taillights as they meet the rear fenders.

The 330i sedan is also much more aerodynamic because of dropped coefficient from 0.29 to 0.26, thanks to an underbody that’s completely sealed, aero-optimsed wheels, Air Curtains at the front, and BMWs latest active air flaps in the kidney grille.

The new BMW 3 Series is available in 2 colors – Portimao Blue Metallic and Vermont Bronze Metallic.

Base Engine

BMW has enhanced its base engine hoping to recover from the past criticisms of their previous 3 Series sedan. The new 330i sedan now comes with a 255-hp four-cylinder engine that’s remarkably smoother and has quick acceleration. All the 3 Series models also come with slick-shifting eight-speed automatic transmission.

Of course, a new 3 series wouldn’t be complete without proper chassis upgrade. BMW attempted to obtain the lowest center of gravity as well as 50:50 weight distribution.

Driving Impression

The redesigned model has a more responsive steering system and livelier handling across the board. Four drive modes are available – Eco Pro, Comfort, Sport, and Sport+. This surely is a perfect match to any spirited drivers out there.

Safety Features

Some of the standard safety features include a rear view camera and rain-sensing windshield pipers. Other features may also be available to some models such as front and rear parking sensors, speed limit info, a head-up display, a surround-view camera system, automatic high beams, adaptive LED headlights, active parallel and perpendicular parking assist, blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning, rear cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability, frontal collision warning with automatic emergency braking, and daytime pedestrian monitoring.

Available Models

BMW is launching the 2019 model with a four-cylinder-powered 330i sedan. Sports Wagon and Gran Turismo models has a slightly different version of this engine while the 340i Gran Turismo shows off a much powerful six-cylinder engine. Additional models will be released this year although BMW has not confirmed the dates yet. The upcoming models include one or two diesel-powered models, the plug-in hybrid 330e iPerformance, and the high-performance M340i.

So How Much Does A New BMW 3 Series Cost?

The pricing for the new-generation 3 Series sedan will start $67,900.

The Final Call

The redesigned 3 series sedan is already a promising upgrade from its predecessor. Car shoppers can look forward to enhanced steering, suspension and power, bigger cabin space, revamped infotainment system and better interface. Indeed, the driver’s car is back looking sportier than ever.