BMW 320i Coming Next Year

In a world where non-luxury auto brands are doing everything they can to make their own vehicles more and more luxurious at a lower price than our own high-quality vehicles, our own higher-ups have made a decision to parry that offense by releasing a more affordable BMW 3 Series vehicle here in the U.S. next year.

This car will be called the 2014 BMW 320i, and it will feature a lot of the same bells and whistles as the wildly popular 328i, though with a few cost-saving measures to knock down the price a few thousand bucks.  The idea here, obviously, is to come up with an entry level sedan that can hopefully usher some folks into the brand.  From there, we’ll just assume they’ll fall in love and then look for some upgrades the next time around.  That’s the philosophy of any good car dealership.  Don’t just sell a car; build a relationship.

And we think the relationship between customers and this new 320i is going to be a good one.  Under the hood will be a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine that makes 180 horsepower and 200 lb-ft of torque, and it will be paired with rear-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic transmission that should help it maintain similar fuel efficiency as the 328i.

Other than that, we’ve been told the majority of the add-ons in the 3 Series will be available in the 320i, so that’s good for anyone looking to buy a new BMW in Florida.  Someday, we’ll get the new M3 and the 335d diesel-powered sedan, too, but we’ll take this extension for now and be absolutely thrilled about it.