- The next-generation 3 Series has been caught on camera in M Performance flavor.
- Surprisingly, BMW didn’t bother disguising the prototype at all.
- The sports sedan will break cover at the end of the month, when we’ll also see the M350 xDrive.
We’re used to seeing press images of a new model leak days, if not weeks, before its official debut. However, it’s rare for a model to appear early in spy photos as a near-production prototype without any disguise. That appears to be the case with BMW's next-generation 3 Series.
Codenamed G50, the sports sedan was spotted by a Reddit user at a BMW facility in Munich, completely devoid of camouflage. It’s not any run-of-the-mill 3 Series but the M Performance model, rebranded as the M350 xDrive. The dead giveaway is the quad exhaust system that no other version will get. Well, except for the M3, but the G84 isn’t coming until 2028 at the earliest. We're certain this isn't the full-fat M since it's missing the flared wheel arches.
The “PP” in the license plate suggests the car may have had some M Performance Parts, but the bigger news here is the design. Yes, the new 3 Series looks pretty much like the fully electric i3, even though the two cars sit on different platforms. The ICE model sticks to the tried-and-true CLAR architecture, whereas its combustion-free cousin is built on the Neue Klasse platform engineered exclusively for EVs.
The New 3 Series Already Looks Way Familiar
While we can’t see the front of the car, the design is unlikely to stray too far from the i3. It’ll likely have more air intakes to cool the four-cylinder engines in the regular 3 Series models and the inline-six in the M350 xDrive. Accommodating an ICE will require a longer front section and therefore slightly altered body proportions, but the overall design will be strikingly similar.
Indeed, remove the prototype’s exhaust tips, and you could easily mistake it for the i3. You can tell it has M trinkets by the trunk spoiler and glossy black accents typically reserved for vehicles that have at least the M Sport Package, which will be standard on the M350 xDrive. BMW won’t offer any other six-cylinder 3 Series models (again, excluding the M3), as the M340d isn’t getting a replacement while a rear-wheel-drive M350 is highly unlikely.
While BMW has been favoring two-tone and black wheels, it’s refreshing to see a traditional silver look. We can’t tell how big the alloys are, but a 20-inch set with 245/35 R20 front and 275/30 R20 rear tires has already been confirmed. As the M350 xDrive, it has adaptive suspension and an M Sport differential as standard equipment.
The Interior Should Be Almost The Same As The i3's
We’ll have to wait until the world premiere in late September to see the whole thing, but just like on the outside, the cabin won’t differ too much from the i3. That means it’ll have a radically different interior compared to the outgoing G20. You can kiss the iDrive rotary knob goodbye, and we can say the same thing for most of the traditional switchgear.
Although the work-in-progress car was spotted in Munich, the G50 will be the first 3 Series generation that BMW won’t build at its historic plant. Production is moving to Dingolfing, where the bigger 5 Series and 7 Series sedans roll off the assembly line. On second thought, BMW sees the Munich-built i3 as a 3 Series model, so that previous statement may not be entirely accurate.
After its world premiere in a couple of weeks, the eighth-generation 3 Series will go on sale in Europe before arriving in the U.S. sometime in 2027.
2027 BMW 3 Series camouflaged prototype of M350 xDrive
Motor1's Take: We have to admit, we’re surprised to see the new 3 Series without a single piece of camouflage this early. Automakers usually go to great lengths to hide their new cars until the big reveal, especially when the design represents such a major change. BMW apparently didn’t get the memo, giving us a surprisingly clear look at the M350 xDrive ahead of its official debut.
What doesn’t surprise us is how much the G50 looks like the i3. BMW has already made it clear that the two models will share a design language despite riding on different platforms, so the resemblance was inevitable. The interesting part will be seeing how BMW adapts those Neue Klasse-inspired styling cues to an ICE-powered sedan without making the proportions look awkward. From what we can see so far, the Bavarians appear to have pulled it off.
