First units of the 2022 BMW 3 Series are slowly arriving in the United States. The high selling premium sedan received a refresh earlier this year and it is now ready to land in customers’ hands. The sedans shown here are the 330i, 330e PHEV with the optional M Sport Package and the M340i top model. With the facelifted 3 Series, BMW touts a “significantly more muscular and distinctive” kidney grille, with a glossy black inside with a chrome frame and double slats.
Small, but meaningful upgrades
The sports sedan gets slimmer headlights with sharper LED daytime running lights looking like an upside down “L.” The car shown here has optional adaptive headlights. Furthermore, the new 3 Series has lost its separate fog lights as these have been integrated into the main headlights. The front fascia now has a hexagonal air intake flanked by air curtains we’ve already seen on the facelifted X3. At the back, the taillights have remained essentially the same, but the bumper incorporates a meaner diffuser and a large glossy black area with vertical reflectors.
The BMW M340i Facelift M Performance version gets the adaptive LED headlights with blue accents as standard equipment. Beneath the new mesh grille and headlights, much larger air intakes replace the old, smaller ones. This is probably the largest area of improvement. The large air intakes of the M Sport Package are also painted in the same body color as the car, compared to black as before.
Due to pedestrian regulations, the nose is also more angled, shark-like, while the gap between the kidneys and bumper is extremely slim. According to BMW, the car is now 4mm longer, but that’s mostly due to the aforementioned changes to the front fascia.
iDrive 8 and Curved Display
Inside, the BMW 3 Series Facelift gets the same interior as the BMW i4, with the same new iDrive 8 integration, the dual infotainment screen setup, and BMW’s latest digital gauges. Unlike the i4, though, the new 3 Series ditches the old robot-leg shift lever for the iX’s toggle switch. A subtle update to the interior is one that does make a significant difference and that’s the piece of dash trim that’s now taller, more sculpted, and more premium looking than the pre-LCI’s simpler piece of trim.
Beyond the discreet styling changes, iDrive 8, and the carbon roof, the 2022 BMW M340i also gets mild-hybrid technology providing a temporary 11 horsepower boost. The inline-six 3.0-liter unit still generates 374 horsepower and 500 Newton-meters (369 pound-feet) of torque. As for performance, the sedan will do 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 4.4 seconds while the wagon is going to need an extra two-tenths of a second due to its slightly higher curb weight. Both are electronically capped at 155 mph (250 km/h).
The less powerful four-cylinder gasoline engines don’t get 48-volt MHEV tech but the 330i’s 2.0-liter turbo-four gets a new exhaust manifold that’s integrated into the cylinder head, for improved exhaust cooling. However, there will be two new plug-in hybrid powertrains available. It also delivers 245 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. No changes to the BMW 330e plug-in hybrid. The 3 Series PHEV is powered by a 2.0 liter turbocharged engine with 292 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque.
The current BMW 3 Series is rumored to have a longer shelf life than previous models. BMW will allegedly cease production of the 3 Series G20 in July 2027, followed by the G21 Touring in October of the same year. A dedicated electric 3 Series, riding on the Neue Klasse platform, is rumored to arrive in 2025-2026.
