The E46 3 Series carried BMW’s reputation into a new millennium, and it had to look the part. Loved for its balance, precision and timeless design, it became one of the most influential models in the brand’s history, shaping the expectations of every subsequent generation. It probably defined better than any other vehicle what a sports sedan should be. But behind this unmistakable “BMW” look lies a lesser-known twist. While enthusiasts can imagine bespectacled Germans drafting their texts in a quiet Munich studio, the origins of this benchmark 3-series model are by no means in Bavaria. Quite the opposite: They come from thousands of kilometers away on the California coast.
The BMW E46 3 Series: Born in California
You read that right: One of BMW’s most iconic designs arguably comes from the good old USA by A. Erik Goplen of DesignworksUSA – now known simply as Designworks – submitted the winning design to BMW’s company-wide “design competition”. In case you didn’t know, this happens regularly at BMW. Designers from around the world write what they think will be the next generation of a new model and send it to Munich for approval. From there, the designer is given the opportunity to work directly with the Germans to bring the car into reality.
Goplen’s winning design was a milestone for the then young company Designworks. Although the company had been involved with BMW since the E31 BMW 8 Series in the late 1980s, it was new for the studio to take on a major role in such an important BMW product as the BMW 3 Series. In 1991, BMW acquired 50 percent of the company’s shares and in 1995 Designworks became a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW AG. “When Designworks won this program,” Adrian van Hooydonk said at a media event, “I can still remember what an impact it had. Nobody expected the small Designworks studio to win the big prize for the core 3 Series model. But they did it.” Looking at it on a larger scale – combining the successful designs of the BMW 3 Series E46 with the BMW X5, the Californian studio’s other success story – one has to assume that BMW’s investment has paid off.
Sketches of limousines
Unfortunately, BMW hasn’t released any images for us to show here yet, so we’ll have to describe what we saw at a press event. The BMW 3 Series E46 project was more like a sedan with a long hood and a short overhang. A stubby boot and simple lines reduced the vertical presence while emphasizing horizontality. As the concept evolved, split headlights appeared, as did flush door handles. Of course, these particular design revolutions wouldn’t make their way into production for another few decades. The E46 3 Series wasn’t the last sedan from Designworks either; The pretty G30 5 Series also came from Los Angeles. This perhaps suggests that it was one of the last “traditional looking” BMW models in the portfolio. Who would have thought that Californians had such a good sense of aesthetics?
