The 3-Series: Past, Present, Future

The 3-Series of BMW have been the company's biggest-selling model. It was introduced in May 1975 and has been manufactured in five different generations and comes in five different body styles. The BMW 3-Series account for almost 40% of the company's car sales in the year 2005. Moreover, the 3- Series has also maintained BMW's racing heritage.

The 3-Series has been on the Car and Driver magazine's annual Ten Best list 18 times, from 1992 through 2009, making it the longest running entry in the list. The E90 of the 3-Series was named "Best New Sports Sedan" in the 2006 Canadian Car of the Year awards. It was also awarded the World Car of the Year at the New York Auto Show in 2006.

The luxury carmaker is now considering to revive the 3-Series. BMW speculated to reintroduce the 3-Series car as a result of the never-ending push for environmental friendliness. The new 3-Series will be seen in a new seen in a new reincarnation at the 2011 Paris motor show.

All the new cars with 3-Series engines will deliver excellent aerodynamics, with a drag coefficient of only 0.24 Cd.

The 2011 3-Series will come with the 'Air Curtain'. This makes use of contracted and straight intakes in the lower bumper that channel air through the bumper and out of a slot inside the front of the wheel well. As it exits the wheel well, this high-speed airflow runs across the face of the wheel, thereby creating an effect of a 'curtain' over the wheel face.

The 2011 3-Series cars will come with the alternative of petrol and diesel turbocharged three-cylinder engine that can churn up to 150bhp. The petrol version will be cheaper than the diesel variant as it will not have the necessity to make use of emissions kit which is needed by a Euro 6-compliant diesel engine.

A remarkable 40 per cent of its overall air resistance of the 3-Series will come from the shape and size of the car. And BWM has to meditate on the remaining 60 per cent. Out of this 60 percent, the wheels and the wheel arches attribute a 30 per cent of drag, 20 per cent is contributed by the underfloor shape and the flow of the cooling air around the brakes and engine bay add the remaining 10 per cent.

The 2016 3-Series engines are likely to have electric motors to spin the turbochargers up to operating speed. The 2016 3-Series are anticipated to be the first BMW to be fitted with a different type of heating system. This new type of will trap heat from the exhaust system. Moreover, the new 2016 cars from BMW may come with a heat store.

The German car major will maintain its regular front-engined with rear-drive design. It has to take note of the lightweight three-cylinder engines which will demand very specific suspension settings.

BMW is expected to fit the new 3-Series with its new 8-speed automatic transmission, instead of a 6-speed automatic transmission.