BMW launches more powerful 3 Series petrol

The company has discontinued the 320i and replaced it with two variants wearing the 330i badge

BMW is on a roll. They have managed to take over the automotive news recently with the global unveiling of the facelifted 1 Series, 4 Series launch and their plans of bringing in more electric models in the future. The luxury carmaker’s India division does not intend to sit idle either. Just a few days back we reported that the company plans to launch the new 5 Series in India towards the end of June. But before that, they have already brought in a punchier version of the 3 Series petrol.

In May last year, BMW brought back petrol engine options for the 3 Series but it was launched just with the 320i badge. During the festive season, however, BMW launched the facelifted 3GT  with the 330i badge and announced that the same engine will also make its way back into the standard 3 Series. Now, the company has launched the 3 Series with the 330i badge in two variants – Sport Line and M Sport priced at Rs 42.40 lakhs and Rs 44.90 lakhs respectively. All prices ex-showroom Delhi.

There isn’t much to differentiate the Sports Line variant from the M Sport. The latter comes with what BMW calls the M Sport steering wheel, head-up display, larger 18-inch alloy wheels, contrast stitching on leather upholstery and a few minor changes.

As expected, both these variants hide the same engine under the hood as the 3GT. The 330i makes 248bhp and 350Nm from a 2.0-litre unit four-cylinder unit. BMW claims that the car can do the 0-100km/h dash in just 5.8 seconds. The 330i returns an ARAI claimed fuel efficiency of 16.05km/l. Just like the GT, the sedan too comes with multiple drive modes – Comfort, EcoPro, Sport and Sport Plus.

BMW has launched the 3 Series Sport Line in three colours – Alpine White, Black Sapphire and Mediterranean Blue. Only the first two colour options are available for the M Sport Edition.