BMW’s naming system is irreparably broken. A 535i used to denote a 5 Series with a 3.5-litre engine and a 325i used to tell the world that your BMW had a 2.5-litre engine.
BMW has moved away from this simple and elegant naming convention, and now the alphabet soup on the back of its cars is very confusing. This isn’t even taking into account the fact that the “i” used to denote fuel injection, and it’s a bit silly to put that on every new BMW because the last carbureted car in Canada was sold in 1991.
According to a tipster on BimmerPost.com, all of BMW’s new 3 Series models will receive new names. The 328i will become a 330i and the 335i will become the 340i. The 330i will be powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder and the 340i will be powered by a 3.0-litre six-cylinder. Confused yet? We are, too.
This seemingly arbitrary renaming of what could have (and should have) been a new 320i and 330i takes BMW naming even farther down the rabbit hole of confusion. BMW makes some great cars (M235i, M3) but when will its naming scheme ever return to its logical roots?
