DECEPTIVE 3 STYLING(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 47

BMW's eighth generation G50-era 3 Series is a combustion model that's packaged like the all-electric i3 EV but under the skin is very different. If you're not quite ready for the BEV switch and still want the segment's ultimate sports saloon, then this is probably still it.

Background word count: 331

Think of a really sharp handling relatively compact sports saloon and it's probable that you're thinking of a BMW 3 Series. Now in its eighth generation, it gets the Munich maker's Neue Klasse technology, though this time based around combustion power. And the all-new styling shares almost everything with the full-electric i3 model that previewed the look of this latest G50-era design. There's a lot to live up to here. After all, for over fifty years, the 3 Series has dominated the segment it first invented and over 18 million examples have been sold since the first generation E21 model arrived back in 1975. Over the next four decades, subsequent generations came and went (the MK2 E30 of 1982, the MK3 E36 of 1990, the MK4 E46 of 1998, the MK5 E90 of 2004 and the MK6 F30 of 2011). Throughout this time, competition stiffened from this model's two traditional rivals, the Mercedes C-Class and the Audi A4. But for those who liked their driving, there was still nothing quite like BMW's '3'. Electrification has become an increasing theme over the last decade of 3 Series production, the G20 seventh generation model of 2018 introducing mild hybrid tech for the line-up's core four and six cylinder engines and further developing the PHEV drivetrain we'd first seen in 2013. That evolution had to inevitably lead to a full-EV version, which finally arrived in early 2026 badged as the 'i3' with a very different look that heralded the arrival of this almost identically-styled eighth generation 3 Series model. A decade ago when the i3 was being planned, BMW might have expected the EV variant to completely replace combustion 3 Series models by now, but it's become clear since that fossil-fuelled powerplants will continue to attract volume sales for some time yet. So the petrol-powered G50 models launched in Autumn 2026 could hardly be more important to BMW. And under the skin, much is different to the EV version. Let's take a closer look.