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| Reporters drive BMW's new 3 Series sedans during a test session touring Seoul and Yangpyeong County, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Courtesy of BMW Korea |
By Nam Hyun-woo
BMW's core segment of the 3 Series has returned to Korea with a more aggressive look revealing its improved dynamism.
Released in Korea late last month, the new BMW 3 Series is the seventh generation of the German carmaker's luxury compact sedan, which went through a full change for the first time in seven years.
During a test drive session Wednesday, Kim Nu-ry, a BMW designer and a member of the team that designed the new 3 Series, stressed that the model was designed under the key concept of "precision" to express the car's precise and sharp steering ability.
"With its precisely drawn lines and surfaces, the new model created a modern interpretation of the 3 Series' sporting prowess," Kim said. "Also we placed more sculpture and contours inside the vehicle, as well as relocating many buttons controlling the car's key driving functions in the center console, creating a functional island."
As Kim said, the new 3 Series' exterior reveals its agility and sharpness more than its predecessors. Its thick chrome frame surrounding the kidney grille and deep contours on the flank make the car more noticeable among similar looking BMW sedans crowding Korean streets.
In terms of size, the new model is 7.6 centimeters longer, 1.6 centimeters wider and 6 millimeters taller than the previous generation. Its wheelbase has also been stretched by 4.1 centimeters to offer a sportier look.
Despite the bigger body, the car lost 55 kilograms of weight thanks to a new chassis, which enabled a 50:50 load distribution.
According to the brand, the new chassis also raised the overall body rigidity by approximately 25 percent. All combined, it was designed to prioritize enhanced driving dynamics, agile handling characteristics, highly precise steering and powerful braking performance, BMW Korea said.
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| BMW Group designer Kim Nu-ry speaks during a presentation before a media test session for BMW's new 3 Series sedan at COEX in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of BMW Korea |
During the test drive, touring highways and winding roads between Seoul and Yangpyeong County, Gyeonggi Province, this reporter was given a 320d, whose 2.0 liter diesel engine is coupled with an eight-speed transmission to yield 190 horsepower and 20.8 kilograms per meter in torque.
As the brand stressed, the new generation 3 Series paid more attention to recovering its reputation for sharp handling, which was tarnished by the previous generation. Thanks to its sharper movement around curves, more balance was felt while driving down curvy winding roads surrounding Mount Jungmi in Gyeonggi Province, and this reporter managed to finish the course without dropping the speed too low or steering the wheel desperately to alarm the BMW Korea staffer in the passenger seat.
While on the expressway, the new digital dashboard applied in the 3 Series was highly visible and easy to grasp the current speed and the navigated map, but not many features were configurable compared to other brands' vehicles.
BMW released two powertrains of the 3 Series in Korea ― the 320d and the 330i which sits on a 2.0 liter gasoline engine yielding 258 horsepower and 40.8 kilogram meter torque. The price of the 320d starts from 53.2 million won and the 330i starts from 60.2 million won.
The brand did not reveal how many orders the new 3 Series has received so far, but added customers are showing a favorable response.
