Jalopnik: Bmw 3-series

The BMW 3 Series: A Kidney-Shaped History

Ray Wert — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:45:00 EST

The introduction of the first BMW 3 Series in July 1975 marked the beginning of one of the most remarkable success stories in BMW — and general automotive — history. It was the launch of a new, sporty car with compact dimensions. Now, three and a half decades later, the face of the 3 Series — and its iconic snatched-from-the-five-series kidney grille — has evolved into the new F30-platform 2012 BMW 3 Series. Let's take a look back. More »

2012 BMW 3 Series Sedan: Detroit Auto Show Photos, Info

Jason Torchinsky — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:30:00 EST

If you're a die-hard inline-6 aficionado, and are looking for something to finally replace that aging AMC Hornet, you're in luck, as the new 2012 BMW 3 Series looks to be an engaging new way to drive around behind a sextet of lined-up cylinders. More »

Why is Spiderman jumping between these speeding BMWs?

Mike Spinelli — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:30:00 EST

This bizarre photo's been floating around for a while, but was recently reposted on Facebook by Arab Motors TV. What's its deal? Obviously it's not the real Spiderman, because he's in New York City. So it's just a stunt double. Makes sense. It's for a stunt show. More »

The 2012 BMW 3-Series is larger, lighter and turbo-only

Mike Spinelli — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:30:00 EDT

Hey BMW 3-Series. Look at you on your sixth-generation day, less bulky, more design-forward, more Hofmeister kinky and lighter than before. And awww, look at your cute little four-cylinder engine. You just want to squeeze it, don't you? More »

2012 BMW 3 Series is like a 5 Series "Mini Me"

Ray Wert — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 08:30:00 EDT

The newly-redesigned 2012 BMW 3 Series was caught by someone quick with their camera while strutting about town completely undisguised well ahead of its expected unveiling later this year. More »

2013 BMW 3-Series tests "stuck in traffic" mode

Mike Spinelli — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 10:00:00 EDT

The next-gen BMW 3 Series prototypes have apparently hit the streets in abundance; first possibly the upcoming GT, and now a tester that looks to be the sedan suffering through L.A. traffic like the rest of your poor schlubs. More »

Is this the BMW 3-Series GT hatchback?

Mike Spinelli — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:00:00 EDT

Could this test car, caught on the autobahn between Munich and Salzburg, be the long-expected BMW 3-Series Gran Turismo? Is weißwurst traditionally eaten before noon? (That's a yes.) The company's reportedly planning to show the new GT in Frankfurt this September. More »

How To Get a BMW Ready To Race in Two Minutes

Mike Spinelli — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 12:00:00 EST

How long does it take Turner Motorsport to turn a Riley Grand Am BMW GT kit into a race car? If you said two minutes, give yourself a very brief round of applause. Here's the process, in not-real-time. [DailyDerbi, CarGuyDad] More »

How Fans Forced BMW To Fix This Faulty Fuel Pump

Justin Hyde — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 10:30:00 EDT

For the past four years, BMW owners have complained of frequently failing fuel pumps in BMW's twin-turbocharged engine sold in the 335i sedan and other models. With lawsuits and national attention growing, BMW's now forced to address the problem. UPDATE! More »

This Electric BMW E30 Is Fast and Green

Tom Joslin — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 09:30:00 EDT

BMW E30s — 3 series models made from 1982-1994 (for those who don't speak Bimmer) — are cool. E30s that run 12 second ¼ miles are cooler. Electric-powered E30s that run 12 second ¼ miles are very cool. More »

How To Hyperstalk A New Car From Factory To Your Door

Jeff G. — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:30:00 EDT

It's hard to not be detail-oriented when buying a new car. Jeff G. went all out for BMWBlog, hyperstalking his car from the factory to his dealer. This one of the most obsessive things we've ever seen. —Ed. More »

BMW Gets 1,013 Miles On Single Tank Of Diesel

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 25 May 2010 11:00:00 EDT

Fifth Gear co-host Tom Ford managed to drive a stock BMW 320d ED from the Chunnel exit in France to Munich, Germany and nearly the entire way back on one tank of diesel. That's 1,013 miles, a 68.9MPG average. More »

Russians Draw Pretty Flowers On BMW... With Bullets

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 18 May 2010 16:00:00 EDT

A Russian artist commissioned some gun aficionados to take aim at a art-museum-bound BMW 3-Series and draw pretty flowers with the bullet holes. They missed. A lot. Gallery of carnage below. More »

This BMW Belongs To A Brilliant Automotive Troll

Ben Wojdyla — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 08:30:00 EDT

Some guys do things just to make other people cringe. Engineer Christian Newman decided to do it with an eye-searingly greenish-yellow, carbon-fiber and kevlar-infused E30 BMW with a transplanted Nissan GT-R straight six. His reward? Scorn, and 286 WHP. More »

Every BMW 3-Series Has 2,500 HP... In Its Brakes

Wes Siler — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:30:00 EDT

In response to Toyota's unintended acceleration debacle, BMW engineers decided to calculate the equivalent horsepower of a 3-series' brakes: roughly 2,500 HP. That's right, every 3-Series ships with more than twice the power of a Bugatti Veyron. More »

What Happens When A BMW Owner Blows His Load At Pep Boys

Ben Wojdyla — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 17:15:00 EDT

We're going to stop short of calling this the world's worst custom BMW, like we did with yesterday's gag-inducing Corvette, but this poor 328 is certainly right up there with the world's tackiest. It's like a faux-chrome trim factory exploded. More »

2013 BMW 3 Series... GT?!

Ray Wert — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 08:45:00 EDT

According to Automobile, after the F30 rolls out in 2012, BMW's 3 Series will spawn a fifth bodystyle for the 2013 model year. Enter the BMW 3 Series GT — the fifth horseman of the automotive apocalypse. [Automobile] More »

Super Sleeper: How To Build A Corvette-Engined BMW 3-Series

Ben Wojdyla — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST

The Corvette LS1's a great engine, the E30 BMW 3-Series is a great chassis, but they were never meant to go together, right? That didn't stop a pair of maniac motorheads from doing it. Here's how to build one yourself. More »

2011 BMW 3 Series M-Sport Coupe: Sporty Spice Without The Spice

Ray Wert — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:30:00 EST

Are you a suburban mom? Kids off to college? Do you like racy-looking M-styling for a 2011 BMW 3 Series but're intimidated by those pesky performance enhancements? Lucky for you there's this: the 2011 BMW 3 Series Coupe M-Sport. More »

2011 BMW 3-Series: What Big Eyes You Have

Matt Hardigree — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:10:00 EST

After all the hype here's the 2011 BMW 3-Series, featuring the same wide-eyed treatment seen on the 2011 5-Series and sporting the new N55 turbo inline-six pumping out 300 HP and 300 lb-ft of torque. More »

2011 BMW 3 Series: What To Expect

Matt Hardigree — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:15:00 EST

The 2011 BMW 3 Series will be facelifted, not overhauled, but amid the usual upgrades will be something we're excited about: a more potent Sub-M3 iS sport model similar to the Z4 sDrive35is. More »

2010 Car And Driver "10 Best" List Includes Second American Car

Ray Wert — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

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Car and Driver's annual list of the "10Best" cars sold in America includes the BMW 3-series and the Honda Accord (as usual). Except this year the Ford Fusion Hybrid joins the Cadillac CTS/CTS-V in representing America. More »

1985 Baur 318i for a Top-Dropping $3,995

graverobber — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:00:00 EDT

E30s are a dime a dozen, and you probably wouldn't give an early 318i a second glance. But today, Nice Price or Crack Pipe has one with a sassy top that's ready to give you a peek. More »

And The Winner Is... The Race Hard Race Ugly Soot BMW 325iS!

Murilee Martin — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:20:00 EDT

Things got pretty chaotic after the race and I've just got time to get you this crucial info before I board my flight back to California: the second-ever BMW E30 has won a LeMons race! More »

It's Not A BMW, It's A Time Machine

Matt Hardigree — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:00:00 EDT

BMW sponsored the season premier of Mad Men and is following it up with this Sterling Cooper-themed, Anton Watts-shot ad for Vanity Fair. But would Don Draper drive a 3-series? More »

The 24 Hours Of LeMons Texas Gator-O-Rama Über Gallery: The Europeans

Murilee Martin — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 21:00:00 EDT

As always, there was no shortage of BMW E30s at the last LeMons race, but we also saw representatives of British Leyland, German subsidiaries of the Detroit Big Three, and a whole squadron of Saabs. More »

BMW Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo: 45 MPG Performance Sedan

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:30:00 EDT

BMW-tuner Alpina ripped the turbodiesel out of a 1-series, tuned it and dropped it in a 3-series. The result? Try 0-to-60 MPH in 6.9 seconds and 45 MPG (US). More »

BMW M Sport Package Prices Announced

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:00:00 EST

For you tuner kids who've grown up and earned some bank at daddy's company, BMW has just announced pricing on their M Sport appearance and "tuning" packages. More »

Crazy Japanese Tuners Combine 3-Series With S2000, Rocks Our World

The Auto Insider — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:00:00 EST

Japanese chicks, E36 3-Series, cowboy hats, 9,500 RPM, 250 HP Honda S2000 engines, short skirts, race drivers. All of those things appear in this video. More »

Junked BMW E30s Provide Cheap, Easy Way To Trunk-Mount Your Battery

Murilee Martin — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:30:00 EST

Moving your race car's battery to the rear of the car helps reduce the nose-heaviness problem inherent in most front-engined designs, but heavy-gauge battery cable is mighty expensive stuff when you're on a tight budget. When you're trying to squeeze under that $500 limit at the 24 Hours Of LeMons, you won't be buying any new cables… but your friendly wrecking yard has the solution! More »

Cardi Body II: The Least Classy BMW 3-Series Ever

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:00:00 EST

We thought the Mitsuoka Himiko was a clever re-envisioning of the Mazda MX-5. We do not feel the same way about the Russian-built, E-36-based Cardi Body II.
More »

Six-Cylinder BMW 3-Series To Get Stop/Start System

Mark Arnold — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EDT

The stop/start system already found on four-banger BMW 1-Series and 3-Series cars is expected to make its way onto six-cylinder models sometime within the next year. The system automatically shuts off the engine when the car is at a standstill, restarting the engine automatically when the driver is ready to accelerate again. It's likely only to appear in the 3-Series' six-cylinder models at first, but we wouldn't be too surprised to see it in the 1-Series and 5-Series sooner or later. For that matter, there's no reason why BMW wouldn't put it on their whole range, even the V8 models, eventually. [Channel 4 via AutoblogGreen] More »

BMW Recalling 200,000 Vehicles Due To Airbag Non-Deployment Issues

Matt Hardigree — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:00:00 EDT

BMW announced today that it was recalling approximately 200,000 vehicles because a sensor issue might stop the front passenger airbag from deploying. The issue comes from small cracks that could develop within a seat detection mat, causing the airbag to be deactivated. Affected are MY 2006 3-series and MY 2004-2006 5-series cars and MY 2004-2006 X3 SUVs. Thankfully, no one has reported being hurt because of potential problem, and it doesn't seem to affect other airbags. We guess It's a good thing that BMW drivers are so unlikely to crash... [MSNBC] More »

BMW Owner Changes His 3-Series Color From Black To White... With Tape

Mark Arnold — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:00:00 EDT

This BMW owner decided he'd like his BMW 335i to be white rather than black, so he found a shop to wrap his bimmer in 3M shiny white tape. OK, so paint jobs aren't exactly dead yet, but it seems more and more people are choosing to wrap their metal rather than have it re-sprayed. We guess this way, if he feels like changing it to another color, all he has to do is peel off the skin and apply a new one. And obviously, it also protects the original surface underneath, if he ever wants to go back to black. But what do you think? More »

Facelift On 2009 BMW 3-Series Officially Minor

Ben Wojdyla — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:20:00 EDT

We're struggled to spot the differences between the beaten-with-a-broom-handle good looks of the 2008 BMW 3-series sedan and wagon and the just-revealed facelift of the 2009 BMW 3-Series sedan and wagon. We've actually been struggling since the first spy photos revealed tape over the changed body parts. Now, after an exhaustive morning of "Spot The Difference"-like game play, we think we found the changes. More »

2009 BMW 3-Series Brochure Scanned, Leaked, Flame Surfaced

Matt Hardigree — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:00:00 EDT

For those curious what the mild mid-cycle refresh of the 2009 BMW 3-Series is going to look like, the folks at Bimmer-File has gotten ahold of scans from a marketing brochure that appear to show the full monty. More »

Watch Out For The Nurburgring's Undercover BMW!

Mark Arnold — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:45:00 EDT

Planning a trip to the Nurburgring this summer? Well, if you are, make sure to watch out for this BMW if you happen to be engaging in any unapproved shenanigans either at the 'ring or just off it. Although this may look like a normal 3-Series, looks can be deceiving. More »

2009 BMW 335d Diesel Testing In U.S., Features Bluetec-Style Peeburner

Mark Arnold — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Reports that the US market will be getting the new diesel BMW 3-series have gained additional credibility with this 2009 BMW 335d sedan spotted testing on our shores. It's no secret that modern European turbo diesels are wonders of efficiency and low-end torque; the BMW oilburner is no different, producing 425 lb-ft of torque at just 1,750 RPM. But there's more than just diesel fuel being splashed around. To meet U.S. emissions, the engine will also be injecting urea. Yep, pee. Sort of... More »