A new week and a new leak. After the BMW X7 LCI leak a few days ago, it’s now the 3 Series’ turn to show its face ahead of the upcoming unveil. The 2023 BMW 3 Series Facelift first leaked in July 2021, courtesy of a Chinese official document. But today, a new image shows the BMW i3 electric sedan in what seems to be an official photoshoot in front of the BMW Headquarters in Munich. The lineup of cars shows an electrified fleet of BMWs, from the i4 and iX to the 230e Active Tourer PHEV and 5 Series hybrids as well.
Mild, but effective design changes
Of course, no major surprises on the design of the 2023 BMW 3 Series Facelift. The image shows the front-end featuring a new bumper design and redesigned headlights. The inner lights feature an inverted design, in contrast to the current model. The indent into the lower part of the headlights has also been removed along with the upper eyebrow. The kidney grille doesn’t seem to have changed in size, so we expect to see a similar design as on the current vehicle. You can see the leaked image on Instagram here.
It’s fair to say that the exterior design changes are fairly mild. And that’s somewhat expected considering the popularity of the current G20 BMW 3 Series. But inside, things might be different. BMW is going down the route of the new i4 electric car and will include two large LCD screens featuring the latest iDrive 8. The two screens are a 12.3-inch fully digital instrument cluster and a 14.9-inch touchscreen. Changes to leather and trim options are always expected, as well as subtle updates to the color palette.
The China-only BMW i3
The BMW i3 electric sedan is based on the G20 3 Series platform, with an extended long-wheelbase, and will feature BMW’s fifth generation eDrive. The BMW i3 sedan also leaked back in December, along with some specs. The 2023 BMW i3 sedan measures 4,872 mm in length, 1,846 mm in width, and 1,481 mm in height. It has a 2,966 mm wheelbase. One of the variants of the 3 Series electric is the BMW i3 eDrive 35L. The model is likely to deliver around 335 horsepower. The BMW i3 sedan uses a BMW-Brilliance-made 70.27 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Therefore, the 3 Series electric will consume 14.3 kWh per 100 km, and travel 526 km (327 miles) on a full charge. The rating is based on the more relaxed NEDC rating.
The BMW i3 long-wheelbase electric will be exclusive to the Chinese market and there are no plans to bring it over to Europe or North America. The production of the BMW 3 Series electric is rumored to start this Spring, so the 2023 BMW 3 Series Facelift unveil can’t be far off.
[Top rendering by instagram.com/magnus.concepts]
