2009 BMW 3 Series: New Look, U.S. Diesel Confirmed
If you just plunked down $40,000 for a 2008 BMW 3 Series don’t freak out right now. Sure, the 2009s will have a revised exterior and upgraded interior, but the improvements probably won’t be enough to completely depress owners of the previous generation. The 2009 cars, however, will feature the new generation of iDrive and more handy knobs to control different accessories.
The 2009 BMW 3 series still will consist of 328 and 335 models in both sedan and wagon form. A 335d clean twin-turbo diesel sedan has been officially confirmed by BMW USA. We’re still waiting on news of a U.S. on-sale date and final specs for U.S. models, which we expect to be nearly identical to the 2008s. The new coupe and convertibles haven’t been revealed yet — we probably won’t see them until closer to the Paris Motor Show in September — but they’ll get an optional seven-speed automatic transmission, which won’t be offered in the sedan or wagon.
Here is a list of upgrades:
- New exterior design
- New interior design
- A diesel powered inline six-cylinder engine in the 335d
- All-wheel drive is available in xi models
- Second generation iDrive system with “blind operation” capabilities
- Optional 80GB hard drive
- Optional wireless Internet connection
- A new “professional” level of navigation with trip planning capability
