Today BMWUSA.com now has a link to the 2009 3 series sedan. Instead of telling us what the US version will have and what to expect this fall they link to the European press release.
The new 3 Series Sedan Breaks Cover
The epitome of sporty style, the new 3 Series Sedan remains, as it has for years, one of the most widely sold premium vehicles in the world. The latest model includes a redesigned interior, restyled exterior and new safety and comfort technology.
The new 3 Series Sedan will be available at BMW centers in fall 2008.
Until then, explore the International Press Kit. Note: the European models includes slight variations from those that will be available in the U.S. The U.S. press release is coming soon.
If they would like some of us enthusiasts to write the press release I think we would be more than happy to help! It is troublesome to think that they are keeping everyone in the dark and speculating on what will be in order to possibly move a few more 2008 cars by leaving the possibility of something not being available in the US. The current lease programs and finance rates should be more than enough to move the current stock or is there something else holding them back from making things official?
BMW UK PRESS RELEASE
The new BMW 3 Series
07/15/2008
Following its March 2005 launch, when it was hailed as offering a new level of achievement for the compact executive segment, BMW’s class-leading, and most popular, car has just raised the bar again. The BMW 3 Series has been revised for September and now features a new interior and exterior appearance to combine with its benchmark powertrains and continued unrivalled driving dynamics. The model also comes with all of BMW’s EfficientDynamics technologies for best-in-class economy and emissions.
Here are more of the official BMW photos for the new 3 series which will be formally introduced this fall in Paris. We welcome your opinions on the new styling and features. Enjoy!
Official BMW Press Release:UK (Full PDF Below) It is the epitome of sporty flair in its segment and for years it has maintained the leading position as the mostly widely sold premium vehicle in the world. Now the BMW 3 Series sets out to extend its lead even further. Specific design modifications, a further refined interior design, the new generation of the optional operating concept BMW iDrive, new services provided by BMW ConnectedDrive, a revised range of engines and innovations in the areas of drive technology, safety and comfort make both the new BMW 3 Series Saloon and the new BMW 3 Series Touring more attractive than ever before.
BMW has released photos and information about the 2009 E90 LCI (3 seies sedan “facelift”) through Autoweek. Over the past months we have provided you with a great deal of information that will indeed make it in the production version of the car.
These spy photos from Schneider, originally surfaced in a thread on E90post. Since we have already broke cover on the official marketing photos, the exterior shots of a car clad in 10 pounds of metal screws is not all that interesting. However some interior shots of an early spec mule are.
Though these photos are new, they are of an older test car due to the heavy cladding it has; BMW over the last 6 months dropped the extra metal and has begun to use various tapes and patterns to “hide” the cars. That means this car may not have the newest interior fittings but was used to test basic systems.
What we do see here is the new iDrive in a US spec 335d. We can not only tell it is the new iDrive from the fact the controller is covered but also because there is only one slot for a CD, not the two currently. It is easily identified as a US spec car because of the MPH on the speedometer (visible in other photos) and the AM/FM buttons in place of 7/8 for the shortcuts (for other markets).
We have obtained the September 2008 product marketing guide for the UK. In this guide it states a good deal of information about the upcoming release of option 609; BMW Professional Multimedia Navigation system. This document also confirms that in addition to the newly designed 7 series the 1er and 3er will also feature the new system from September onwards.
Last week we mentioned many of these iDrive features from the experiences of those who had access to the system in testing, but now we can offer up the official information.
Over the past few days we have confirmed upcoming features from official BMW announcements originating outside of the US; first the DCT in the 3er coupe (BMW Australia) and now the new iDrive (BMW UK).
While this information does not definitely mean the US or other markets will be receiving these options we have been hearing from other sources to expect these options in the Fall. BMW would need a really good reason not to offer them to its largest market in the US especially with the upcoming mid cycle refresh/ LCI (Life Cycle Impulse/ “Facelift”).
As we originally stated back in February and discussed further in April, the 3 Series will be receiving a toned down version of the //M DCT transmission.
It has been officially confirmed this morning for those in Australia on the 335i coupe with September production for 2009 model year. While we do not have confirmation for the US as of yet we hope to see a release on it soon (though we do not anticipate it). It will eventually happen as our sources have indicated, we are just feeling the US may take some time to make official announcements for this coming fall.
Our sources were able to acquire what appear to be early marketing material scans of the upcoming LCI for the 3 series set to debut this fall.
These images show off the new front hood lines, lights and mirrors. The new wheel designs look to be improvements to the car as well. What is interesting to note is that in these materials the front bumper appears to still have the inset for the license plate which we were led to believe had been changed a good deal more.
Along with the exterior features we see here the interior should also receive a refresh with new materials and strong indication is that optionally the new iDrive system we exclusively reported on earlier will be available.
Overall the changes are subtle but still provide the car with an overall updated and more appealing look, taking some cues from the coupe along the way.
We will continue to bring you updates as we receive them.
We just obtained the ordering guides from a source and are needless to say a bit disappointed. There is no mention of the 335d, E92/93, the 1er or any of the SAVs. This may just be a preliminary guide to be further updated later on but something just does not seem “right” about this. We expect things to change but for now this is what we have. Note these are indeed dated last week.
While the models we mentioned here the other day will see those changes, there is little in these documents that mention any other changes excluding “615 Online Information Services”, which could translate to a variety of things, including Connected Drive.
Autofiends.com has some nice photos of a new 335d hot weather testing out in Death Valley. Interesting to finally see the AdBlue filler cap (circle in bumper) for the urea injection system in body color.
We have been hearing rumblings from sources and in the community that the 335d release has been moved from October to December, though this has yet to be confirmed.
From the rear angle shots they were able to obtain you can see the new rear bumper fascia and body lines. There appears to be some change to the area behind the Hoffmeister kink in addition to the lights and bumper.
For further info on the BMW Advanced Diesels please see our previous articles here.
It looks like BMW has begun prepping all of us enthusiasts for a change. The following two press releases were dated Monday (the same day the MY2009 info was to be released) but they just appeared today.
Usually when a manufacturer starts talking about the past they are changing the future. These releases discuss the handling and suspension of the 3er up to this point in the cars history.
We had heard from our sources months ago that the track (width) of the car had been increased and handling was to be much improved but we did not receive any further specifics. Though we are not sure of what these press releases serve it is fairly certain that they would not go through all the trouble just to write a history piece if there was not a change eminent.
As always we will inform you as soon as we hear the news.
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Sections: E90 3 Series, Opinion Jul 16th, 2008 5 Comments 
