Styling
Both the 3 Series (all the ones with an ICE, so the 320 and this M350) and the i3 (the EV, with 40 xDrive and 50 xDrive options from the off) look almost identical, but they have different development codes in BMW-speak. So the fuel-powered cars are numbered G50, while the zero-emission models are NA0. This is because the petrol Threes sit on the CLAR II platform, an evolution of the underpinnings of the old G20 3 Series, while the i3s run on the Neue Klasse 'NAx' baseboard.
This, in turn, leads to subtle proportional differences. The ICE 3 Series is 5mm longer overall (4,765mm), 15mm narrower (1,850mm), 25mm lower (1,455mm) and has its wheelbase shortened by 37mm (2,860mm) when compared to the i3. The reasoning for this is simple: the ICE Threes have a slightly longer conk to accommodate their engines, the electric ones a stretched wheelbase to house the giant battery packs.
Either way, the distinctive styling of the 3 Series/i3 is going to divide opinion, undoubtedly. For what it's worth... we love it. This is where the NK styling works its best, in our opinion, with those kidney-shaped light signatures, angled DRLs and the mean face giving the front of the BMW real aggression and presence; helped no end on this M350 with the yellow-tinged headlights that we last saw on the mighty
M3 CS Touring. Oh, and luscious Fire Red metallic paint, too.
Interior
Technophobes won't like the BMW Panoramic iDrive arrangement, and we're normally against overly touchscreen-centric car interiors. But the vast 17.9-inch Central Display infotainment panel, plus the even vaster Panoramic Vision strip across the base of the windscreen, are real showstoppers and they work as slickly as you'd expect from BMW, a company which has been honing its infotainment skills for decades with the once-much-maligned iDrive.
Happily, it's not all solely grandiose tech within, as the material quality is excellent throughout and the steering wheel is significantly less fat to hold in your hands than M Sport items of the recent past. This is a good thing; its button-busy, slightly contentious design perhaps less so, although it does also demonstrate 'Shy Tech' (say that phrase slowly and carefully, and enunciate clearly) with various operations that blank themselves out according to road speed.
Practicality
A 450-litre boot in the petrol 3 Series models, this M350 included, is bigger by 30 litres than the same cargo bay in the i3, but that latter car has a frunk of 31 litres to make up for the deficit. Space in the back of the M350 xDrive isn't bad at all, but it's also not amazing roomy and the ICE Threes have a transmission tunnel in the footwell which makes the car more of a four-seater than a five. On the plus side, the driver's seat in the M350 felt like it lowered closer to the BMW's floor than the chair in the i3 50 xDrive we drove the next day, so there's a more hunkered position behind the wheel in the sportiest petrol Beemer.
Performance
How wonderful it is to be reviewing a straight-six, petrol-powered BMW sports saloon in late 2026. This is a throwback to the dynamic heartland which made this German firm so revered among petrolheads, and though the M350 is an xDrive (so all-corners traction, rather than rear-driven) and also a 48-volt mild hybrid, it has bags of powertrain character that the i3s - for all their undoubted brilliance - just can't match.
With 443hp and 580 hybrid-augmented Newton metres, the M350 makes light of its hefty 1,935kg kerb weight to post a 4.1-second 0-62mph time. Having driven it with gusto on some astounding roads in southern France, we have no reason to doubt that stat. Even in an age of mega-torque EVs, the M350 remains blisteringly quick across ground. It sounds terrific too, although we'll admit there's some synthetic enhancement of its voice going on.
But (and it's been a long time since we've said this in a new-car review) the BMW has a splendid eight-speed slushbox that's beyond reproach, plus fabulous, progressive brakes and and minimal sensation of any turbo lag. It's just a joy to drive quickly, as evidenced by our 20.6mpg final economy figure having thrashed it round a loop for 110 miles of highly satisfying motoring.
Ride & Handling
The M350 xDrive gains Adaptive M suspension and an M Sport limited-slip diff as part of its chassis upgrades, and we'll very quickly say that for ride comfort and rolling refinement, it's mightily impressive for a sports saloon like this. Yes, it has firm and taut comportment when ambling around town at lower speeds, but as the pace rises, so does the inherent quality of the shock absorbers. At 50mph and above, the M350 is surprisingly but most welcomely graceful.
However, it's the way it moves around so much, and so readily, on throttle that has us in raptures about the M350. We remember driving its
M340i G20 predecessor a few years back and being entirely lukewarm about its dynamics, but the M350 is a heck of a lot livelier. It always feels agile, alert and awake, with magnificent steering and body/wheel control from the very top drawer.
So you can play with it and exploit it on give-and-take roads, without ever worrying about it snapping violently on you, nor really being aware of the fact it comes in at nearly two tonnes on the scales. Sensational.
Value
At £66,785 before options, the M350 xDrive is not a cheap car, and it remains more than nine-grand dearer than the next most expensive Three in the line-up, the i3 50 xDrive in M Sport Pro specification. But for a BMW which drives like some of its best old-school hits, maybe 67 thousand pounds isn't so extortionate after all. Or maybe we've just lost our grip on financial reality, who knows?
Verdict
Neue Klasse by name and design, refreshingly, excitingly and marvellously
Alt Schule in the way it drives, the BMW M350 immediately cements itself as one of our favourite cars to come out of Munich in recent years. Sure, an i3 is going to be a lot more worthy than this, and it's an excellent thing in and of itself, but if you were asking where our money would go? It'd be straight on this epic M350 xDrive, no doubt about it. In red, please, BMW.
