With the i3, BMW’s subsequent era 3 Collection is partially right here. The totally electrical BMW i3, constructed on the Neue Klasse platform, represents a clean-sheet rethink of the model’s most necessary automotive. However it is just half the story. Alongside it, BMW is getting ready a petrol-powered successor to right this moment’s 3 Collection, code-named the G50, that may carry the method ahead in a really totally different manner.
We’ve been monitoring this dual-track technique for years, however now it’s lastly coming into focus. BMW just isn’t changing the three Collection with a single automotive. It’s redefining it with two essentially totally different fashions that may share almost similar design.
From the skin, that shared identification might be nearly seamless. The brand new BMW i3 and the upcoming G50 are anticipated to look almost similar, right down to their proportions, lighting signatures, and general stance. BMW is intentionally aligning the design of each vehicles in order that, at a look, they learn as the identical 3 Collection.
Beneath, they’re something however.
The BMW i3 and Neue Klasse Platform
Alongside the all-electric i3, BMW is getting ready a petrol-powered 3 Collection code-named the G50. At its core, this automotive might be a closely reworked model of right this moment’s G20, persevering with on the CLAR platform with up to date variations of the B48 and B58 engines.
These usually are not carryover engines within the conventional sense. Anticipate significant revisions to fulfill stricter EU emissions requirements, together with incremental good points in effectivity, refinement, and hybrid integration. This would be the most superior and certain the ultimate evolution of BMW’s present combustion 3 Collection method.
From an engineering standpoint, it’s evolution fairly than revolution. From a design standpoint, it’s one thing else solely.
The G50: A New 3 Collection Constructed on CLAR
When you’re anticipating the G50 to seem like a facelifted G20, assume once more. BMW is planning to align it nearly solely with the design of the brand new i3.
Which means the identical proportions, the identical front-end remedy, and the identical lighting signatures that outline the Neue Klasse look. Park the 2 vehicles subsequent to one another and most of the people received’t have the ability to inform which one is electrical and which one isn’t.
The i3 is a clean-sheet EV constructed on BMW’s Neue Klasse structure, with a flat battery, new electronics, and a completely totally different method to packaging and dynamics. The G50 continues with a longitudinal engine structure, rear-wheel drive bias, and every part that has outlined the three Collection for many years.
Why The Twin Technique?
For years, transferring to an EV meant shopping for into a unique design language and, in some instances, a unique identification altogether. BMW is eradicating that friction. As a substitute of asking prospects to decide on between two totally different interpretations of a 3 Collection, it’s providing one design with two essentially other ways to energy it.
It’s a technique MINI started exploring with the newest Cooper, the place electrical and combustion variations share almost similar design cues regardless of utterly totally different architectures. BMW is now making use of that considering to its most necessary mannequin. The idea is that prospects might be ready to choose that’s merely about drivetrain and never design not any totally different from selecting between diesel or petrol in years previous.
What This Means for the Way forward for the three Collection
What makes the G50 notably fascinating is what it represents within the broader context of BMW’s lineup.
This isn’t simply one other mid-cycle replace. It’s the continuation and certain the ultimate full evolution of the combustion-powered 3 Collection. The B48 and B58 engines will stay on right here, refined and optimized to fulfill regulatory calls for whereas preserving the efficiency traits lovers count on.
On the identical time, the automotive will undertake a design that belongs to BMW’s future fairly than its previous.
That creates a singular second the place essentially the most conventional model of the three Collection seems to be nearly similar to its most forward-looking interpretation.
Two Paths, One Identification
The i3 represents the place the model goes, with a clean-sheet platform and a brand new method to software program, electronics, and electrification. The G50 represents the place the model is right this moment, refined to its highest stage however nonetheless rooted in acquainted engineering.
What ties them collectively is design.
For the primary time, BMW is separating what you see from how the automotive is engineered. Two utterly totally different vehicles will share the identical face, the identical stance, and the identical identification.
The Actual Query
This raises a query that goes past specs or platforms. If two vehicles look the identical however are essentially totally different beneath, what truly defines a 3 Collection?
BMW appears to consider the reply just isn’t the engine and even the platform. It’s one thing extra intangible, one thing tied to design, stability, and the general expertise. We’re about to seek out out if that perception holds up. As a result of for the primary time, the way forward for the three Collection and its previous might be parked facet by facet.
