2023 BMW 3 Series facelift leaked

The 2023 BMW 3 Series facelift has leaked a year ahead of its scheduled market launch.

Images posted to the Cochespias forum overnight show the updated 3 Series’ front end free of camouflage, confirming previous spy photos indicating the facelifted mid-size BMW won’t move to the tall buck-tooth grilles seen on the new 4 Series range.

The grilles are flanked by revised LED headlights, with arrow-shaped LED daytime-running lights running over the top of of the main light beams, rather than below. A broad hexagonal centre intake with L-shaped signatures on each side feature below.

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There’s also an image of what appears to be the 3 Series’ rear bumper, featuring contrasting black elements and a faux ‘diffuser’.

The undisguised car snapped in China also wears black side decals and BMW M ‘aerodynamic’ mirror caps – likely parts from the M Performance Parts catalogue.

Alongside the exterior changes, it’s expected the 2023 3 Series facelift (or LCI, in BMW parlance) will adopt the twin-screen iDrive 8 dashboard from the new i4 electric sedan, pairing a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster with a 14.9-inch infotainment touchscreen.

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Few changes are expected under the bonnet, aside from the addition of an all-electric, long-wheelbase variant for the Chinese market, slated to wear the i3 L nameplate.

The 2023 BMW 3 Series facelift is expected to be unveiled in full in mid-2022, with production rumoured to start in July 2022, according to trusted BMW insider and BimmerPost forum member ynguldyn. The i3 L is rumoured to enter production earlier, in March 2022.

An Australian launch will likely occur in late 2022 or early 2023, as a Model Year 2023 vehicle.

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Below: The outgoing BMW 3 Series

Below: Spy photos of the new 2023 BMW i3 L