Bimmerpost
3
/
4 Series
BMW Garage BMW Meets Register Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
2019+ BMW 3 AND 4-SERIES FORUMS (G2x Generation) General G20 Sedan / G22 Coupe / G26 Gran Coupe Discussions More official looks at G20 BMW 3 Series as it enters the final phase of testing

Closed Thread
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      09-11-2018, 11:21 AM   #1
Jason
Administrator
Jason's Avatar
United_States
40286
Rep
21,232
Posts

Drives: F80 M3
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: USA

iTrader: (0)

More official looks at G20 BMW 3 Series as it enters the final phase of testing

BIMMERPOST NEWS
A car’s lifetime in fast-forward: The new BMW 3 Series Sedan enters the final phase of testing.
58
COMMENTS
Name:  P90321042_highRes_the-new-bmw-3-series.jpg
Views: 15229
Size:  382.2 KB

Munich. As the new BMW 3 Series Sedan prepares for its world premiere, it can already look back over a lifetime of hard work. The new generation of the sports sedan is entering the final phase of an extensive programme of testing that every new BMW model must go through as part of its pre-production development. Here, the full range of stresses and strains a car will encounter over many years of everyday driving are reproduced in concentrated form. From extended periods driving flat out to endless stop-start traffic, sub-zero temperatures to searing heat, twisty country roads and high-speed autobahns to pothole-infested tracks, ice and snow to gravel and desert sand – the prototypes sent through the test programme for the new BMW 3 Series Sedan have experienced everything their production equivalents will come across in everyday life. Only they have done so at a much higher level of intensity and with seasoned developed engineers on board to record in detail the pre-production model’s every response to the various weather and road conditions and countless other influencing factors. In short, the testers ensure there are no circumstances – however unusual – which might compromise driving pleasure in the final production car.

Welcome to Death Valley, in the US state of Nevada. Here, it is not only the automatic climate control system of the new BMW 3 Series Sedan that can expect a taxing work-out. The multi-day heat tests see the cars fried repeatedly in the sun for several hours, then cooled and thoroughly checked over. Everything has to work, there can be no squeaks or creaks – even when the temperature tops 50 degrees Celsius in the shade outside the car and 60 degrees inside, and the interior is then cooled again as quickly as possible.

Heat, dust, hill climbs and electromagnetism – ideal conditions for informative testing.
The heat certainly gives the electronics something to think about, but that’s not the whole story: the electromagnetic rays emitted by the hydroelectric plant at the Hoover Dam represent the ultimate test of strength for the functional reliability of the electronic systems on board the new 3 Series. This is why all the car’s functions – from the digital instrument cluster to the tyre pressure indicator – are tested extensively in the shadows of the huge forest of electricity pylons on the banks of Lake Mead. At the same time, another development team is putting engines, transmissions and brakes through their paces. They are even given police protection for their runs up and down the 4,000-metre-high Mount Whitney. While law enforcement secures the test route at the top and bottom of the climb, the testers hustle the prototypes time and again up the snaking roads and back down – accelerating hard and braking suddenly to a standstill with crushing frequency. The bone-dry desert roads of Death Valley and beyond also provide an ideal place to find out how effective the cars’ flaps, doors, bonnets and lids are at keeping out dust. In their test drives around the gambling hot-spot of Las Vegas, the engineers leave nothing to chance.




There could be few greater contrasts with the hot-weather testing in the USA than what goes on at the BMW Group’s winter testing centre not far from the Arctic Circle. Arjeplog in Sweden offers the perfect conditions for a testing programme that eclipses anything day-to-day driving in central Europe, North America or Asia can throw at a car. However, Arjeplog doesn’t only give the prototypes the chance to demonstrate their imperviousness to extreme cold – it also provides the stage for the new model’s chassis controls systems to show off their full range of abilities. The closed-off expanses of ice offered by Lake Kakel and the “Mellanström-Runde”, one of the most popular test routes around Arjeplog, couldn’t be better suited for fine-tuning the DSC stability system and its myriad functions. Indeed, on this glassy surface you don’t need to drive quickly to provoke the control systems into action and therefore analyse their responses. All of which allows the link-up between DSC and the xDrive all-wheel-drive system and the interplay with the new BMW 3 Series Sedan’s M Sport differential to be refined down to the last detail under constant conditions.




Here again, cutting-edge technology helps to identify and consistently eliminate weak points. If an inconsistency crops up during testing, the engineer presses a button on the small testing screen next to the transmission’s selector lever to log it for subsequent analysis. For the problem to be solved, the relevant situation has to be reproduced exactly. The vehicle data is stored on a large hard drive in the car’s boot, pored over every day and reworked.

Dressed to test – in tailored camouflage suits.
In the north of Sweden, as in the west of the USA, the test drives carried out by the BMW development teams rarely go unnoticed. Which means that, to prevent curious onlookers from clocking too many details of the new BMW 3 Series Sedan’s design, every prototype is carefully clad in a disguise before it heads out onto public roads. In the basement of BMW’s Research and Innovation Centre (FIZ) in Munich, pre-production vehicles are kitted out with a made-to-measure and confusingly patterned cloak of camouflage. Applying the black-and-white wrap requires an expert hand and takes a whole working day to complete. Then comes the plastic cladding, which distorts the lines and surfaces of the car. The light units, sections of the window surfaces and, of course, the brand badges also get a layer of sticky camouflage. The interior needs to be hidden from sight as well. To this end, the cockpit is “curtained off” with black matting, which the test engineers partially remove at the start of testing and then painstakingly replace at every pause in proceedings – so that no prying eyes can spot or even get a photograph of the displays and controls.

From a computer model via a test bench to the road.
Long before the first test runs on public roads, the development process sees each new model taken into the company’s own testing facilities. In the initial phase of the programme, computer simulations help to set important areas of the car off on the right path. Here, the testing programme – which is still purely digital at this stage – involves simulating more than 12,000 driving manoeuvres (from lane changes to cornering and roundabout driving to dynamic acceleration and braking) using a computer-generated vehicle model, with the sole aim of determining and optimising its dynamic properties. On the basis of the knowledge gained here, development mules are made consisting of just a body and chassis. On the kinematics compliance test bench they are fixed into a test assembly and sent on virtual test drives. A variety of road conditions can be faithfully reproduced on this test rig, from cobblestones to the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife circuit, so the rigidity of the body structure or the susceptibility to vibrations of axle constructions can be properly inspected. This intensive development work is essential in enabling the first full prototypes to already display the target driving characteristics. However, they still have to prove they can do it on the road. In normal traffic, on BMW proving grounds and on the race track they undergo a detailed tuning process, which gives the eventual production cars their inimitable driving pleasure.

Wind tunnel for detailed touches, crash tests for controlled deformation.
Optimisation of aerodynamics and passive safety also takes place largely behind closed doors. At the BMW Group’s Aerodynamic Test Centre in Munich, full-size vehicle models, prototypes and production vehicles are tested using precise reproduction of real-life airflow conditions on the road. At the centre’s wind tunnel, the new BMW 3 Series Sedan has been given the detailed touches required to bring its drag coefficient down to 0.23. The key factors here are not only how the car manipulates the airflow, the ideal channelling of air around the underbody and the optimisation of the spoiler lip at the rear of the body, but also details such as combinations of wheels and tyres. The introduction of the WLTP fuel consumption testing procedure has meant all the wheel variants available for a particular model have to be put through an extensive aerodynamics test. Every variant is checked to establish how the wheel design and tyre size impact on the aerodynamic characteristics of the new BMW 3 Series Sedan and therefore its fuel consumption and emissions.

Differences in the stipulations for occupant protection applicable in different continents mean that several pre-production examples of a new model have to be deformed in a controlled process as part of crash testing at BMW’s Safety Centre. As a result, the new BMW 3 Series Sedan not only provides driving pleasure to customers around the globe, it also meets the full set of safety requirements to score top marks in all the relevant crash tests worldwide.



Driving pleasure made in Aschheim, at Miramas and on the Nürburgring.
The proving grounds at Aschheim, a few miles north-east of the development centre in Munich, provides the venue for undisturbed dynamic testing. It was here, at an early stage of the development process, where the first steps were taken in imbuing the new BMW 3 Series Sedan with its impressive dynamic potential. The testing programmes at the BMW Group’s test facility in Miramas, southern France are even more extensive. Used by BMW for the development and testing of new models for over 30 years, Miramas has a long asphalt oval, a motorway “ring” for high-speed testing, slalom, twisty and spherical tracks, plus several handling courses and circuits with surfaces of every kind. Detailed analysis and optimisation of the new BMW 3 Series Sedan’s acceleration, steering and braking responses was also carried out here.

The acid test for a vehicle’s driving dynamics remains the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife circuit. Precise tuning of all powertrain and chassis systems is carried out at the legendary venue in Germany’s Eifel mountains. Here, too, every lap of testing with the new BMW 3 Series Sedan carries far more weight than the number of miles notched up might suggest. After all, if a car gets the thumbs up from the BMW test engineers at the Nordschleife, you can be confident it will provide driving pleasure in everyday conditions throughout its lifetime.




G20 3 Series Wind Tunnel Testing

G20 3 Series in Track and Extreme Condition Testing




__________________
Check on the Latest BMW News
Become a fan of Bimmerpost Facebook
Follow us on Bimmerpost Twitter
Subscribe to Bimmerpost Youtube Channel
Appreciate 4
Law6377.00
Maks///M2271.00
cwulffy150.00
lab_rat394.50
      09-11-2018, 01:03 PM   #2
Thescout13
Brigadier General
Thescout13's Avatar
United_States
4944
Rep
4,976
Posts

Drives: '20 F80 M3CS, %E2%80%9818 GT3
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: California

iTrader: (0)

I'm intrigued.
__________________
Wife's Car: 2020 X4M Competition, Alpine White on Black Alcantara and Biege
Current Car: 2018 F80 M3CS, SMB, DCT, ZEC, MPE
Recently Departed: 2020 F87 M2C, LBB, ZEC, 6MT (Euro Delivery Aug. 29, 2019, totaled by an idiot in a Camry who then ran from the scene)
Wife's Prior Car: 2018 F80 M3, Yas Marina Blue, DCT, Black 19s, Carbon Structure Anthracite Cloth/Leather Combination, Driving Assistance Package (Euro Delivery Oct. 9, 2017)
Appreciate 0
      09-11-2018, 01:10 PM   #3
psuibmw
Brigadier General
psuibmw's Avatar
United_States
3465
Rep
3,071
Posts

Drives: G06/G20/F30/F15/F10/E90
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Baltimore, MD

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
2018 BMW 320xi  [10.00]
2023 BMW M340  [9.75]
2022 BMW  [10.00]
Just bring it on the F30 is really aging against the competition
Appreciate 0
      09-11-2018, 01:13 PM   #4
SpenceRx
Lieutenant
SpenceRx's Avatar
Canada
243
Rep
445
Posts

Drives: BMW 330i EBII
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: YVR

iTrader: (0)

I'm looking forward to seeing the reveal. I plan to wait until the LCI to even consider purchasing one but I'll be following it closely as my 2017 F30 ages.
__________________
Appreciate 0
      09-11-2018, 01:13 PM   #5
rjd598
Banned
United_States
1770
Rep
6,696
Posts

Drives: F30 340i
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: San Diego,CA

iTrader: (2)

Garage List
2016 BMW 340i  [0.00]
does anyone know roughly when we can start placing orders at the dealership for a g20?
Appreciate 0
      09-11-2018, 01:14 PM   #6
SpenceRx
Lieutenant
SpenceRx's Avatar
Canada
243
Rep
445
Posts

Drives: BMW 330i EBII
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: YVR

iTrader: (0)

I'm looking forward to seeing the reveal. I plan to wait until the LCI to even consider purchasing one but I'll be following it closely as my 2017 F30 ages.
__________________
Appreciate 0
      09-11-2018, 01:20 PM   #7
seis-speed
#savethemanuals
seis-speed's Avatar
United_States
2426
Rep
1,967
Posts

Drives: 1M | GT3 | J392 | GRc
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: West Coast

iTrader: (0)

Really disappointed, no 6MT.
Appreciate 6
ZHPsedan135.50
IB M2765.50
lab_rat394.50
Germanauto9665.50
      09-11-2018, 01:25 PM   #8
Law
Global Moderator
Law's Avatar
United_States
6377
Rep
2,309
Posts

Drives: E90 M3 6MT
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: USA

iTrader: (1)

Garage List
2011.5 BMW M3  [10.00]
2004 BMW M3  [10.00]
Quote:
Originally Posted by rjd598 View Post
does anyone know roughly when we can start placing orders at the dealership for a g20?
Should be fairly soon since SOP is November 2018, and we are literally just weeks away from the Paris Motor Show debut.
__________________
2011.5 E90 ///M3 | 6-Speed Manual | Slicktop | Jerez Black | Fox Red

E9x M3 Press/Media Archives Thread | S65-based Racing Engines Thread
Appreciate 1
rjd5981769.50
      09-11-2018, 01:33 PM   #9
AustinL
Private First Class
26
Rep
106
Posts

Drives: -11 E91 320d LBE
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Finland

iTrader: (0)

Who cares? No manual transmission with 6 sylinder diesel as with F30. Really a shame they don't value the joy of driving anymore...
Appreciate 0
      09-11-2018, 01:34 PM   #10
AustinL
Private First Class
26
Rep
106
Posts

Drives: -11 E91 320d LBE
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Finland

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by seis-speed View Post
Really disappointed, no 6MT.
+1
Appreciate 0
      09-11-2018, 01:37 PM   #11
Germanauto
Major General
Germanauto's Avatar
United_States
9666
Rep
6,075
Posts

Drives: Alfa Romeo Giulia, Rosso
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: LA

iTrader: (0)

Steering wheel turns far too easily at 0:18 in the first video.

Preparing myself for disappointment.
Appreciate 0
      09-11-2018, 01:38 PM   #12
raysspl
Brigadier General
raysspl's Avatar
992
Rep
3,001
Posts

Drives: walking, bicycle, & bus
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: SoCal

iTrader: (0)

Very very cool story telling! Can't wait to see the final product
__________________
re
Appreciate 0
      09-11-2018, 02:15 PM   #13
JustChris
General
JustChris's Avatar
No_Country
17423
Rep
25,086
Posts

Drives: Tesla MYRWD
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: UK

iTrader: (0)

Front overhang looks suitably 3 series and super short
__________________
My car made front page of Bimmerpost
Appreciate 0
      09-11-2018, 02:19 PM   #14
clubsport
First Lieutenant
204
Rep
365
Posts

Drives: LBB
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Sunny West Coast

iTrader: (0)

Death Valley, Nevada????


Only a couple of "city blocks" cross the state line.



I'm interested in the E version specs.
Appreciate 0
      09-11-2018, 02:41 PM   #15
TajoMan
Lieutenant
TajoMan's Avatar
174
Rep
400
Posts

Drives: M240 xdrive, X3M40i
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: Chicago, IL

iTrader: (0)

It was very hot this summer in Vegas area.
We saw over 50C (120F+) frequently during our test trip. (not BMW)

If you want to see any test vehicle, go here during summer time.

https://goo.gl/maps/hM64ywcqWzm

This is very typical hot temperature hill climb test spot.
It's about 1.5 hr from Vegas. (called Davis dam hill)
Appreciate 0
      09-11-2018, 02:51 PM   #16
am3r1ka
Captain
am3r1ka's Avatar
No_Country
1411
Rep
610
Posts

Drives: M340i
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Dallas, TX

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
2020 BMW M340i  [0.00]
Tailpipes still childish compared to the competition but way better then the outgoing model for sure.
__________________
Retired: 2011 328i
Appreciate 0
      09-11-2018, 03:39 PM   #17
Biorin
Lieutenant
Biorin's Avatar
2785
Rep
421
Posts

Drives: to get cheeseburgers
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Sweatervests & Range Rovers

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by seis-speed View Post
Really disappointed, no 6MT.
It was confirmed they're not doing 6MT for this? I haven't been keeping up at all but had thought the last word was that BMW was going to stick with manuals as long as there was demand. Real shame if that's the case.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Verbiage View Post
you're like, the cocaine godmother of BP.
Appreciate 0
      09-11-2018, 04:13 PM   #18
rjd598
Banned
United_States
1770
Rep
6,696
Posts

Drives: F30 340i
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: San Diego,CA

iTrader: (2)

Garage List
2016 BMW 340i  [0.00]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Germanauto View Post
Steering wheel turns far too easily at 0:18 in the first video.

Preparing myself for disappointment.
for sure, chris harris.
Appreciate 1
JRobUSC861.00
      09-11-2018, 04:56 PM   #19
JRobUSC
First Lieutenant
United_States
861
Rep
349
Posts

Drives: Mineral Gray 2019 330i xDrive
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: United States

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by am3r1ka View Post
Tailpipes still childish compared to the competition but way better then the outgoing model for sure.
ok, I'll bite, what are "childish tailpipes"?
Appreciate 0
      09-11-2018, 05:01 PM   #20
am3r1ka
Captain
am3r1ka's Avatar
No_Country
1411
Rep
610
Posts

Drives: M340i
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Dallas, TX

iTrader: (0)

Garage List
2020 BMW M340i  [0.00]
Quote:
Originally Posted by JRobUSC View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by am3r1ka View Post
Tailpipes still childish compared to the competition but way better then the outgoing model for sure.
ok, I'll bite, what are "childish tailpipes"?
There's no type of aggressiveness with these type of pipes (especially the all silver/chrome ones). I mean even the base A4 looks better then these.
Attached Images
 
__________________
Retired: 2011 328i
Appreciate 0
      09-11-2018, 06:04 PM   #21
BillD1953
Lieutenant
232
Rep
417
Posts

Drives: 2018 X3 M40i
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Portsmouth NH

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by AustinL View Post
Who cares? No manual transmission with 6 sylinder diesel as with F30. Really a shame they don't value the joy of driving anymore...
+2
Appreciate 0
      09-11-2018, 06:28 PM   #22
nozydog
Driver
nozydog's Avatar
United Kingdom
465
Rep
1,002
Posts

Drives: 2020 X2 M35i
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Bristol

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by seis-speed View Post
Really disappointed, no 6MT.
Apparently we’ll get models up to 320 with manual here in the UK!! Not sure about in the states though!

Don’t think 190 horses is quite enough for me though, the 330i will probably tempt me but I’ll have to break the habit of a lifetime and go auto!
Appreciate 0
Closed Thread

Bookmarks

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:00 AM.




g20
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST