Save The Date: New BMW 3 Series Debuts September 30

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At long last, we finally know when the wraps are coming off the 3 Series G50. Depending on where you live, the reveal actually happens on September 29.

BMW has finally told us when the next-generation 3 Series will break cover. The G50 is scheduled to make its world debut on September 30 at 12:01 a.m. CEST, meaning some parts of the world will actually see the new sports sedan on the evening of September 29. At long last, the seventh-generation 3 Series is about to give way to the eighth.

In the meantime, BMW has been unusually generous with previews by sharing many pieces of the 3er puzzle. We already know the G50 will look radically different from the outgoing G20, inherit much of its design and technology from the electric i3, and launch with a new M Performance flagship. Now, we’re just days away from seeing the production car without the camouflage.

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BMW is taking an unusual approach with its core sedan. Instead of putting the combustion-engined 3 Series and electric i3 on the same architecture, the company is effectively splitting the family across two platforms. The G50 remains on an evolution of CLAR, while the i3 uses the dedicated Neue Klasse platform. They’re fundamentally different underneath, and they’re even built at different factories. The i3 comes from Munich, whereas production of the combustion-engined 3 Series is moving to Dingolfing.

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Look at them from the outside, however, and you’d be forgiven for thinking they’re two versions of the same car. BMW design boss Adrian van Hooydonk has previously said customers should be hard-pressed to tell the two apart. Spy shots and the production i3 have certainly backed that up. Even their interiors will be borderline identical, although the electric sedan has a flat floor. By contrast, the ICE model will inevitably have a hump for the driveshaft, robbing passengers of some rear legroom.

Other differences remain because the G50 still needs to accommodate an engine. The i3 benefits from a dedicated EV architecture, letting BMW push the front wheels farther forward and give the car a shorter front overhang, with a frunk instead of an engine. The G50 has a longer nose to make room for its combustion engines. At least one plug-in hybrid powertrain has already been confirmed.

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At the top of the lineup, the M340i is going away, but BMW has already announced its replacement. The new M350 will have a more powerful B58 engine, but all signs point to an all-wheel-drive-only layout. Even if xDrive comes standard, a dedicated RWD model will be added via an over-the-air update next year. Looking ahead, BMW has already confirmed that a full-fat M3 is coming later, with the G84 likely launching in 2028. That one too might be exclusively xDrive and automatic, but nothing is official.

If you’re like me and believe the Touring is the superior body style, the G51 isn’t far behind. We may see it as early as next year, possibly followed before the decade’s end by a long-roof G88 M3. While the 3 Series lineup will remain diverse, it won’t include a successor to today’s M340d or any other six-cylinder diesel flavor.

Depending on where you live, we’ll learn everything there is to know about the G50 on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.