The BMW 3 series has always been criticised for its rear-seat comfort, despite being a luxury sedan. The current 3 series (E90) is soon to be replaced by an all-new version, (F30) which is comparatively longer and wider. However, if you are still not satisfied with the specification sheet, then the German car-maker has some plans for you already.
What we have here is the new F30’s, Long Wheel-base (LWB) version gearing up for its debut in China. Long wheel-base variant’s offer more rear-seat legroom and are especially for customers who prefer to be chauffeur driven. All the LWB Bimmers* sport the Li branding instead of the regular “D” or “I”. This one here is called the 335 Li and as one can see, it has a slightly longer rear door and expanded rear cabin to give that extra leg room over the regular 3 Series sedan.
The 335 Li Sedan will debut at the Beijing Motor Show in April and will not be sold in the United States or Europe. It will be powered by the same 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six unit, which we’ll see in the 330i (F30) later this year. The F30 sedan is yet to makes its debut in India, and with that we are still unsure if the 335 Li will come here or not. Currently only the 7 –series is available in a long-wheel base variant, which leaves enough room for the 3- series to come up with one too!
The 3 Series with long wheel base will not see a Indian debut as it could cannibalise the sales of the 5 Series and also the market is not big unlike China which has an appetite for different wheelbases in the same segment.
* Bimmer (pronounced Beemer) – A Slang used for BMW’s.
Image Source: Autohome