The 2012 BMW 328i is the first example of the all-new 6th-generation 3 Series sedan (code name: F30) we've had in the shop.
It's hard to tell with the naked eye, but the footprint of BMW's volume seller has grown significantly. Longer overall by 4.3 inches, it now rides on a wheelbase that's 1.9 inches longer. And even though its overall width has shrunk by a scant 0.2 inches, the U.S.-spec 2012 328's tires have been spread farther apart by 1.2 inches up front and 2.3 inches out back. Despite all this, the curb weight of a 328i manual only increases by 44 pounds.
In CAFE terms, the footprint has been increased 5 percent, from 44.8 square feet to 46.9 square feet. That's interesting because cars with bigger footprints have less aggressive fuel economy increase targets. And the new CAFE standards only regulate the footprints you build in a given year, not the footprints you built last time out. At least in part, this size growth may be an example of strategic upsizing for CAFE purposes.
But such regulatory talk is boring. Let's see the metal.
Along the way you might want to open my walkaround of a 2009 BMW 3 Series in another window. That one was an M3, so you'll see more aluminum, but you can still see how the basic architecture differs...or doesn't.