• The 2022 BMW 3 Series starts at $41,000
• We’d take the 2022 BMW M340i, starting at $53,000
• BMW offers loads of standard features in their super-safe sports sedan

BMW has been making the 3 Series for almost 50 years, nearly as long as the Porsche 911 has been in production. And like the 911, the 2022 BMW 3 Series represents decades of generational changes. For 2022, the brand offers varying degrees of go-fast 3’er, as well as a plug-in hybrid. This is everything you’ll ever need to know about the newest BMW sports sedan.

2022 BMW 3 Series specs and fuel economy

Let’s start with the basics. BMW’s lineup for the new 3 Series starts with the 330i, offering RWD or AWD pushed by a turbo four and producing 255 hp/294 lb-ft. It’ll get a respectable 26 mpg city with RWD and 25 mpg city with AWD. Then there’s the AWD Baby M3: the BMW M340i. Now motivated by a 3.0L inline-six, this 3’er makes 382 hp/368 lb-ft through the rear and front wheels. This one manages either 23 mpg city (RWD) or 25 mpg city (AWD). Then there’s the 2022 BMW 330e, the hybrid. Moved by the above four-cylinder and either RWD or AWD, it produces 288hp/310 lb-ft and scores 75 mpg-e.

3 Series safety features

For 2022, the ever-popular BMW earns 5/5 stars from the NHTSA. The IIHS score is a little more complicated. The IIHS has yet to rate the 2022 3’er, but the 2021 BMW 3’er nailed the agency’s testing to score a Top Safety Pick designation. The 2021 car also scored in the highest category for all six of the IIHS’ crashworthiness tests. These include rollover and side-impact tests.

BMW also offers a plethora of standard safety gubbins for their newest sports sedan. There’s forward emergency braking, as well as automatic headlights (with high-beam) and automatic wipers. Unfortunately, you’ll have to shell out for more advanced features like adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, and lane-keep assist. We recommend at least getting blind-spot monitoring. Or some $6 bubble mirrors off Amazon.

Interior space and cargo capacity

What’s a sports sedan without practicality? Thankfully, the 2022 BMW 3 Series offers that in spades across all of its trim levels, the M3 included (though that warrants its own M3 buyer’s guide). BMW has a penchant for large trunks, something I discovered while in my BMW M240i test car. This one beats out the Audi A4 with 17 cubic feet of trunk space to Audi’s 12. The opening is also noticeably wider than similar Audis or Mercedes. As an added bonus, the seats also fold down, though not quite flat.

2022 BMW 3 Series technology

New cars with tech features are important to consumers, and BMW nailed it here. The gauge cluster is fairly customizable (though it’s not as good as Audi’s), and the new 3 Series also comes with a 10-inch screen just to the right. Thankfully, Carplay and Android Auto are both standard on all 3 Series models. Of course, BMW also offers its own GPS software. There’s also BMW’s optional 360-degree camera system and an optional 16-speaker Harmon Kardon sound system for you to choose over the brand’s 10-speaker unit. Finally, there’s also four USB ports distributed equally between the front and rear seating areas.

Which 2022 3 Series trim should you buy?

If it’s me you’re asking, the 2022 BMW M340i is the way to go. You get to skip the M3 and M4’s buck-toothed grin and save a huge slab of cash while you’re at it. This is a sports sedan, so you ought to opt for the sporty trim. It’s well worth the $53,000 base price, despite the missing stick-shift benefitting a sports sedan of this caliber. Supposing you can’t be convinced to go sporty, the 330e does “economical” quite well, and starts around $43K. No matter which one you pick, you’re getting a sports sedan with decades of improvement behind it.