Photo: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien
Now that the current 3 Series has already received its mid-cycle facelift, called Life Cycle Impulse (LCI) in BMW speak, some people are already anxious about its future generation.
Apparently, BMW engineers are among those people, because the Bavarians have recently started testing a pre-production prototype of the 2018 3 Series G20, which should begin production sometime in 2017.
Despite being camouflaged to the teeth and sporting non-production headlights and taillights, it's probably safe to say that the production model will follow a design language derived from the 2016 7 Series G11, which will also borrow some its lines to the upcoming 2017 5 Series.
Speaking of the 7 Series and its CLAR architecture, the 2018 BMW 3 Series will be the first car in its segment to benefit from CFRP (Carbon fiber reinforced plastics) and a lot of aluminum, thus saving a considerable amount of weight compared to the current generation.
Engine-wise there shouldn't be a ton of surprises, at least in the first half of its life cycle, but an M-Performance branded version is almost a given, especially since Mercedes-Benz has already started biting out of the Audi S4 market share.
Equipped with a slightly modified version of the B58 3.0-liter, turbocharged inline-six found in the current 340i, a not-yet-confirmed M345i would come in both RWD and AWD spec, thus giving both Stuttgart and Ingolstadt a run for their money.
The rest of the engine lineup should comprise an assortment of inline-three, inline-four and inline-six powerplants in both gasoline and diesel versions. A regular hybrid and a plug-in hybrid should sweeten the deal even more, while an all-electric 3 Series isn't out of the question either.
Regarding technology, some of the gadgets introduced by the new 7 Series should eventually find their way into the 2018 3 Series as well, although most of them will probably remain optional. Stuff like gesture control, remote parking and semi-autonomous features are definitely a given.
Expect less speculative details about the car as soon as more information is leaked and more pre-production prototypes start populating our roads.
Despite being camouflaged to the teeth and sporting non-production headlights and taillights, it's probably safe to say that the production model will follow a design language derived from the 2016 7 Series G11, which will also borrow some its lines to the upcoming 2017 5 Series.
Speaking of the 7 Series and its CLAR architecture, the 2018 BMW 3 Series will be the first car in its segment to benefit from CFRP (Carbon fiber reinforced plastics) and a lot of aluminum, thus saving a considerable amount of weight compared to the current generation.
Engine-wise there shouldn't be a ton of surprises, at least in the first half of its life cycle, but an M-Performance branded version is almost a given, especially since Mercedes-Benz has already started biting out of the Audi S4 market share.
Equipped with a slightly modified version of the B58 3.0-liter, turbocharged inline-six found in the current 340i, a not-yet-confirmed M345i would come in both RWD and AWD spec, thus giving both Stuttgart and Ingolstadt a run for their money.
The rest of the engine lineup should comprise an assortment of inline-three, inline-four and inline-six powerplants in both gasoline and diesel versions. A regular hybrid and a plug-in hybrid should sweeten the deal even more, while an all-electric 3 Series isn't out of the question either.
Regarding technology, some of the gadgets introduced by the new 7 Series should eventually find their way into the 2018 3 Series as well, although most of them will probably remain optional. Stuff like gesture control, remote parking and semi-autonomous features are definitely a given.
Expect less speculative details about the car as soon as more information is leaked and more pre-production prototypes start populating our roads.
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