Alastair's BLE 2 Blog: BMW 3-Series

It’s not very often that a smaller vehicle is a company’s flagship, but we don’t care what BMW might tell you about the 7-Series, the 3-Series is the automaker’s top dog. Its styling has always worked and never been vulgar like some other models in the BMW lineup and it’s won more awards from the automotive press than the Los Angeles Lakers.

Believe it or not, the 3-Series has been around since 1975, but it really came into its own in 1992, when it won the first of 19 straight Car and Driver 10 Best awards. In 2006, it won the World Car of the Year and also the What Car? Car of the Year. Under the hood, the 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six won the International Engine of the Year Awards for 2007.

So, needless to say, when a new version comes along, it can’t just be a minor evolution, it needs to be a revolution that will keep the tradition of excellence alive. For 2012, there is a new version that hopes to do just that.

UPDATE 10/10/2011: BMW has announced that the new generation 3-Series will be making its world debut on October 14th, 2011 at the BMW plant in Munich. The unveiling will be broadcast by livestream on Facebook starting at 4PM.

Hit the jump to read about it.

BMW 3-Series originally appeared on topspeed.com on Monday, 10 October 2011 14:00 EST.