Photo: BMW
In a move not often made, BMW released on Tuesday tons of details about the locations and processes it uses to test the 2019 3 Series sedan. This testing stage the car is currently undergoing is the last before its official unveiling later in the year.
According to BMW, the testing program is meant to far exceed the conditions in which the car is normally expected to operate. That includes taking the car to the Death Valley, placing it in wind tunnels for hours on end and performing track tests at the Nürburgring.
In the Death Valley, BMW has put the automatic climate control system to the test. It also wanted to see how the body, interior and everything else on the car survives while baking in the scorching sun repeatedly.
BMW usually lets the interior of the car get heated to up to 60 degrees Celsius and then rapidly cools it down, to see if anything happens.
BMW took the 3 Series to the Hoover Dam to test the car’s electronic systems. Why there? To see whether the electromagnetic rays emitted by the electric plant there messes up the electronics of the car, from instrument cluster to the tire pressure indicator.
At Mount Whitney in California, the 3 Series is testing engines, transmissions, and brakes in runs up and down the mountain. BMW says each of these runs only takes place after police secures the test route at the top and bottom of the climb.
That’s needed because of the dangerous maneuvers performed by BMW drivers, especially hard ones involving acceleration and braking.
Back in Europe, other 3 Series models are tested in Sweden, near the Arctic Circle. Aside for the capability to survive extreme cold, BMW also tests the new model’s chassis controls systems, the xDrive all-wheel-drive, and M Sport differential.
For track testing, BMW uses the facility it operates in Aschheim, Germany or Miramas, France. At the Nürburgring, the carmaker goes for fine tuning of all powertrain and chassis systems.
In the document attached below you can find more details on how BMW is testing the new 3 Series and other vehicles.
In the Death Valley, BMW has put the automatic climate control system to the test. It also wanted to see how the body, interior and everything else on the car survives while baking in the scorching sun repeatedly.
BMW usually lets the interior of the car get heated to up to 60 degrees Celsius and then rapidly cools it down, to see if anything happens.
BMW took the 3 Series to the Hoover Dam to test the car’s electronic systems. Why there? To see whether the electromagnetic rays emitted by the electric plant there messes up the electronics of the car, from instrument cluster to the tire pressure indicator.
At Mount Whitney in California, the 3 Series is testing engines, transmissions, and brakes in runs up and down the mountain. BMW says each of these runs only takes place after police secures the test route at the top and bottom of the climb.
That’s needed because of the dangerous maneuvers performed by BMW drivers, especially hard ones involving acceleration and braking.
Back in Europe, other 3 Series models are tested in Sweden, near the Arctic Circle. Aside for the capability to survive extreme cold, BMW also tests the new model’s chassis controls systems, the xDrive all-wheel-drive, and M Sport differential.
For track testing, BMW uses the facility it operates in Aschheim, Germany or Miramas, France. At the Nürburgring, the carmaker goes for fine tuning of all powertrain and chassis systems.
In the document attached below you can find more details on how BMW is testing the new 3 Series and other vehicles.
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