The preliminary on-road testing of the BMW 3 Series facelift has commenced in Europe under heavy camouflage. The current generation 3 Series was launched in February of 2012 (and was brought to India in July 2012).
The facelift would help the model retain some freshness and be more competitive against the new Mercedes C Class that was revealed in Detroit two months ago. The facelift will see the 3 Series gain a revised front bumper with new air intakes, kidney grilles with a more aggressive angular shape and optional full LED headlamps (instead of Xenon lights).
According to the European media, the 3 Series's main changes would be under the bonnet where new three-cylinder petrol and diesel engines will be employed. BMW has developed three-cylinder engines (1.5-liter displacement) for the new Mini and these running on different mapping, would be used on the basic variants, such as the 316i.
In the equipment front, new or updated assistance systems and features from the new 5 Series such as the traffic jam assistant are expected.
The BMW 3 Series facelift would probably be launched towards the end of this year or in early 2015.
