2027 BMW 3 Series review: Petrol still beats electric, but it’s close
Three cheers for petrol – BMW’s M350 is quicker, lighter and more engaging to drive than the electric i3 50
NO MATTER how good you are at spot-the-difference puzzles, you’re bound to struggle telling the BMW M350 xDrive apart from its electric cousin, the new i3. Except from the back, where four fat tips betray the fact that the M350 farts carbon.
Both versions of the new 3 Series differ in ways that run deeper, however. The i3 is a product of Neue Klasse – “new class” in German – the start-from-scratch technology platform BMW is building its electric future on.
The M350 borrows its looks, cabin and software from the Neue Klasse cars, but beneath all that, it is a heavily reworked version of the previous 3 Series.
On paper, the electric vehicle wins easily. The i3 50 xDrive makes 469 horsepower – versus the M350’s 443 – and its range of up to 912 km permits even a spontaneous drive to Penang for char kway teow, which might have been the final barrier between EV adoption and a dedicated petrolhead (or foodie).
In Germany, the new i3 50 is 15,000 euros (US$16,700) cheaper than the M350, too.
Yet, all is not lost for petrol power. Despite the power deficit, the M350 is quicker, reaching 100 kmh in 4.1 seconds to the i3’s 4.7. Some of that is down to weight – at 1,860 kg, the petrol car is about 345 kg lighter, roughly four adults’ worth of batteries that the i3 lugs everywhere.
And while the M350 isn’t quite as scalpel-sharp through corners as the i3, it’s hugely engaging. The chassis is balanced and planted, and the all-wheel drive gives it monstrous traction, so the car never feels like it’s working against you when you try to carve the perfect path through a string of bends.
To go with its built-in agility, there’s the stirring howl of an eager, silky straight-six, its music building with your speed until you inevitably lift off, at which point your ears are treated to a delicious crackle from the exhaust. I spent 90 per cent of my time in Sport mode to keep the power train on its toes.
In short, the new M350 reaffirms why the 3 Series is the most BMW of BMWs, and slinging it through the wine country in the South of France reminded me why I love driving so much.
The M350 can be surprisingly comfy, too. The ride is composed without being soft, and whoever designed the engine knows that certain moments call for sotto voce.
Inside, it shares the i3’s cabin design, including the slanted 17.9-inch touch screen and the Panoramic Vision Display that projects information gorgeously across the bottom of the windscreen.
With no battery under the floor, the back seats offer more headroom, width and thigh support.
But, some i3 foibles carry over: a glass roof with no shade, which on a hot day in Singapore could feel like criminal negligence, and air-con vents that you control via touch screen, which is an idea I will denounce till I draw my final breath.
The boot holds 450 litres, 30 litres less than before, which I suspect is because some hardware for the M350’s mild hybrid set-up lives under the floor there. It’s a 48-volt system with a small electric motor that adds 18 horsepower, though I can’t see it making much difference to anyone’s fuel bills.
Most buyers will choose the less thirsty, 156-horsepower 318 variant that is headed here alongside the M350.
That would give the new 3 Series an interesting line-up for Singapore: the 318 for the majority, the M350 for people who love driving enough to want to part with more than S$400,000 – if my estimates are right – and the i3 50 to tempt both types from petrol.
I put it to Mike Reichelt, BMW’s head of the Neue Klasse programme, that EVs are effective. However, petrol cars are still more emotional.
He promised that properly emotional electric cars from BMW’s high-performance M division are on the way, but said what he personally loves about EVs is their refinement. “For me, it feels like a flying carpet,” he added.
Flying carpets are lovely, I’m sure, but the M350 is what to drive if you would sell a kidney for a car with a great chassis and a great engine, making it an easy choice over the i3 for me. Mind you, if I were that good at making choices, I wouldn’t be wondering how much my kidneys are currently worth.
BMW M350 xDrive
Engine 2,998 cc, in-line six turbocharged Power 426 hp at 5,600 to 6,500 rpm Torque 540 Nm from 1,980 to 5,400 rpm Motor power/torque 18 hp/200 Nm System power/torque 443 hp/580 Nm Gearbox 8-speed automatic 0-100 kmh 4.1 seconds Top speed 250 kmh Fuel efficiency 8.2 to 7.5 L/100 km Agent Eurokars BMW or Performance Motors Price To be announced Available January 2027
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