The new BMW 3 Series blazes a trail for design and connectivity

The new BMW 3 Series range has once again blazes the trail for sports performance in the premium mid-size segment with its superior powertrain and chassis technology. The latest-generation BMW 3 Series Sedan and BMW 3 Series Touring models are also built to excite with their new and extremely precise – yet still recognisably BMW – styling and their cutting-edge innovations in the areas of control/operation, driver assistance systems and connectivity. Indeed, their attractive design and advanced connectivity technology helped the sporty Sedan and dynamic, elegant Touring to secure a brace of wins in readers’ surveys recently conducted by the motoring magazines auto, motor und sport and Moove. The BMW 3 Series was judged to be the best new car design of the year, earning it the Autonis 2019 award. It also led the way in the Car Connectivity Award’s blue-riband discipline, claiming the title of best-connected car in the Connected Cars category.

BMW picked up three more accolades in this year’s edition of the Car Connectivity Award. In a poll of the magazines’ readers, the BMW Live Cockpit Professional, the Driving Assistant Professional package and the Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System each took top spot in their respective categories. The winning systems already enhance driving pleasure, safety and comfort in several of the brand’s model ranges. The prizes were presented yesterday at an awards ceremony in Stuttgart.

Captivating design, progressive connectivity: a double success for the new BMW 3 Series.

The design of the new BMW 3 Series is a modern take on the sporting elegance for which BMW is renowned, and winning the Autonis 2019 delivers striking evidence of how much it appeals to popular taste; with 32.3 per cent of the votes, the new BMW 3 Series was the clear winner in its class. This was the 14th time a readers’ vote had decided the Autonis winners. More than 13,700 readers of auto, motor und sport took part in the latest poll and were asked to choose their favourites from 100 new models spanning ten vehicle classes.

The Car Connectivity Award is also put to a public vote, with over 12,000 readers of auto, motor und sport and Moove participating in its sixth edition. Standout systems and technologies from BMW in the areas of connectivity, navigation, driver assistance and audio attracted the most votes in four of the eleven categories. The new BMW 3 Series was victorious in the Connected Cars category, taking 35.7 per cent of the votes. The new BMW 3 Series Sedan was the brand’s first new model to be offered with the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant as an option. And the new BMW 3 Series range also offers an exceptional array of online-based functions for increasing comfort and convenience, safety and driving pleasure – from Real Time Traffic Information, On-Street Parking Information, hazard warning, BMW Online services, Remote Services and the BMW Digital Key to the seamless interaction between the car and the driver’s digital devices via BMW Connected. 

BMW also collects awards in the Navigation, Safety and Sound categories.

The BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant is part of the BMW Live Cockpit Professional system, which was judged to be the best new product in the “Navigation systems” category with 33.5 per cent of the votes. As well as connected navigation and the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant, this equipment feature also includes the new BMW Operating System 7.0 – which comprises a fully digital screen grouping made up of the instrument cluster and Control Display, plus customisable graphics. It also enables multimodal operation via the touchscreen display, iDrive Controller, steering wheel buttons or voice and gesture control.

In the “Safety assistance systems” category, the Driving Assistant Professional package was crowned the readers’ favourite with 29.6 per cent of the votes. Its range of functions includes Active Cruise Control with Stop & Go function, the Steering and lane control assistant, the Lane Keeping Assistant with active side collision protection, the Evasion Assistant, Cross Traffic Alert, road priority warning, wrong-way warning and the reversing assistant. The latest version of the Driving Assistant Professional now also features real-time 3D visualisation of the surrounding area using graphics in the instrument cluster, plus – depending on the model – the Lane Change Assistant. It therefore represents the state of the art in driving assistance systems and helps the BMW Group to pave the way for automated driving.

In the “Sound systems” category, the Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Surround Sound System – available for the BMW 5 Series, BMW 6 Series, BMW 7 Series, BMW 8 Series, BMW X5, BMW X6 and BMW X7 – accounted for every second vote cast. Boasting a fully active ten-channel amplifier, dynamic equalizing, as many as 20 partly illuminated speakers and up to 1,508 watts of music power (depending on the model specified), the system delivers a beautifully precise and multifaceted acoustic experience whose pristine quality can be enjoyed from all seats in equal measure.