We generally don’t cover videos in foreign languages, but we’re willing to make an exception for this one. After all, how often do you see a BMW painted in such a special color as Tourmaline Violet? It’s one of the lesser-known paints and the first and last time we talked about it was back in early 2018 when we showcased an M4 Convertible.
Filmed at a BMW dealer in Turkey, the 2023 3 Series is a 320i with an optional paint from the Individual catalog that costs 140,000 TRY. That works out to approximately $7,500 at current exchange rates. The car in question looks extra special courtesy of its 50 years of M anniversary emblems. It also happens to have the M Sport Package and the Shadowline upgrade to black out certain parts, including the kidney grille.
Riding on black 19-inch wheels with M-branded blue brake calipers, this 3 Series is an LCI model with the Operating System 8 featuring a 12.3-inch driver’s display housed within the same piece of curved glass as the 14.9-inch touchscreen. The sports sedan has been configured with black Vernasca leather upholstery with contrasting blue stitching along with fancy Individual aluminum trim on the dashboard and center console.
There’s just one problem with the car – its engine. Although we said it’s a 320i, some of you will be surprised to hear it doesn’t have a 2.0-liter unit under its hood. Instead, it uses a smaller 1.6-liter unit to dodge the high taxes applied to vehicles with larger-displacement engines in Turkey. It’s good for 170 horsepower and 250 Newton-meters (184 pound-feet) of torque. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s painfully slow as 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) takes 8.1 seconds en route to 142 mph (228 km/h).
As a refresher, BMW doesn’t even sell a 320i in the United States while the namesake European model has 184 hp and 300 Nm (221 lb-ft) on tap from a 2.0-liter engine.
Source: Erdal gülüm / YouTube
