It's been months since the F30 sedan has been spotted testing on the Nurburgring, but this F30 335i sedan was just spotted today making testing runs on the ring. This is the first space gray F30 prototype to be spied.
The last time the F30 was on the Nurburgring, it was in much heavier camouflage, but now appears in the latest level of camouflage and with premium wheels, first seen on the
recent white F30 photos.
The F30 3-series sedan will begin production in
November 2011, shortly after the E90 3-series stops production. The F30 2012 Model Year will run until June 2012, upon which point it will switch to the 2013 Model Year.
As
this schedule shows, the F30 3-series will come as
328i and
335i models. The 328i will most certainly be powered by the 'N20' turbo 4-cylinder inline engine (as found in the Z4 28i,
details) and the 335i by a turbo 6-cylinder inline motor. Output will be in the ballpark of 245hp and 306hp, respectively.
F30 sales are expected to begin in Europe around the time of its world public premiere at the 2011 Geneva show - in March, 2012. US sales should begin in late Spring of 2012. Usually, production starts just two or three months prior to market launch, but we assume BMW will use the four months' time between production start and market launch to build enough demo cars for their dealerships around the globe.
See our F30 spy photo mega compilation thread at http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=524810
Follow our full F30 coverage at http://www.bimmerpost.com/3-series/f30/
UPDATED WITH VIDEO:
Updated photos as of 7/20/11:
Original Pics: