- Retro grey colour a callback to original E21 3 Series of 1975.
- Just examples for New Zealand customers, at $143,900.
- The 3 Series is still BMW NZ's most popular model ever.
BMW is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 3 Series with a limited-run model for Australia and New Zealand based on the M340i xDrive: the 50 Jahre Edition. There will be 50 for Australia (you can see what they've done there) and 10 for Kiwi customers.
The 50 Jahre Edition is finished in a special colour from BMW Individual called Anthracite Metallic, a callback to a colour offered on the original E21 3 Series of 1975.
Other elements include special badging, 19-inch M light alloy wheels finished in black, the M Sport Package Pro – which includes M Sport brakes in red high-gloss, M Lights Shadow Line, M seat belts, and the M rear spoiler finished in Black Sapphire paint – and carbon-fibre interior trim.
The model is priced at $143,900 ($4500 above the standard M340i), with customer deliveries expected at the end of this year.
The 50 Jahre Edition was one of several new BMW models outlined by outgoing BMW NZ managing director Adam Shaver (he's off to a new role at head office in Munich this month) at the brand's half-year media conference this month.
He described the 3 Series as "probably my personal favourite vehicle, the car that fits like a glove in my view. This product has been through 7 generations now and has truly become an industry icon."
The original 3 Series revitalised BMW in the late-1970s and has been at its core ever since. It remains the company's most popular model ever in NZ, with 7661 registations (not including used imports) since records began, still more than any other model - despite the surge in popularity of SUVs in recent years.
The 3 Series will also be at the heart of BMW's next reinvention, the much-talked-about Neue Klasse - the all-new EV platform that will spawn a number of new models for the brand, including the next iX3 SUV in 2026 (to be revealed in September this year) and the next-gen electric 3 Series, the i3, probably in 2027.
While a combustion-engine 3 Series willl continue on a different platform, Shaver says the Neue Klasse models represent a "doubling down" of the brand's position as a premium EV maker.
The Neue Klasse is based around what BMW calls New Cluster Architecture (NCAR) that will bring 30% more range (around 800km) than current BEV models and 30% faster charging speed, plus a host of new interior technology, including Panoramic iDrive (information is projected onto a black surface stretching the width of the cabin) and the Heart of Joy central control computer.
"[But] I think what’s really important to understand is that this is not about a new car launch," says Shaver. "Of course, there are spectacular products at the heart of it, but this is really about the philosophy of the company going forward.
"Sustainability is a key theme here, as are topics like digitalisation and circularity, meaning that we look after our carbon footprint from cradle to grave, all the way from supplier selection to the recycling of the car at the end of its life cycle.
"So it really is a new philosophy for how we build and develop cars going forward… it marks the beginning of a new era for the BMW Group.”