BMW’s seminal 3 Series has just turned the big 4-0, which means it’s been four decades since its sparked of a motoring revolution that we should all be glad for. Here’s why everyone at BMW — and millions of outsiders including us — adore the 3 Series.

SINGAPORE – What comes to mind when you think about BMW? There’s its claim of building the best cars to drive, of course. Or, if sales volumes are anything to go by, how about its status as the world’s leading maker of luxury cars?

But BMW’s latter day mojo was established relatively late in its history. If there’s a moment in time when this aircraft manufacturer-turned motorcycle maker-turned luxury car specialist really began to find itself, it’s July 1975.

BMW as a company was born in 1916, but it was the arrival of the first 3 Series that gave it its soul.

“I think it was the start of probably the most successful period in any automotive company, anywhere in the world,” says Ian Robertson, the worldwide head of sales and marketing for BMW, and a member of the company’s board.

The 5 Series of 1972 may have paved the way for BMW (and other German premium carmakers) to organise its products into distinct model lines, but it took the smaller 3 Series to put the Munich-based brand on the map. Three years after its launch, BMW’s global sales were up a staggering 74 percent.

In 40 years, 14 million 3 Series cars have been sold, making it arguably the most successful luxury car of all time. Today, it is still BMW’s best-selling car in terms of worldwide volume — one out of every four BMWs sold is a 3 Series.

It also defined the compact executive car segment. It’s arguable whether the Mercedes-Benz C-Class or Lexus IS would have come along had the 3 Series never been born, and somehow it has yet to be outsold by any rival. “Its leading position has never been shaken in any single year since 1975,” says Dr Robertson.

Naturally enough, insiders tend to speak fondly of the car. But that could also be because BMW had traveled a fairly rocky road on its way to the birth of the 3 Series. It was nearly swallowed by Mercedes’ parent company Daimler-Benz in 1959 (private investors stepped in instead), and while a successful “New Class” series of cars had returned it to profitability by the early 1960s, BMW was still a minor player with a presence confined mainly to Europe.

The 3 Series changed that. It was the subject of BMW’s Ultimate Driving Machine advertising tagline in the USA, and established its maker’s reputation for building sporty sedans in that key market.

BMW’s first factory outside of Europe was built in South Africa to assemble the 3 Series. And in 2003, the 3 Series was the first car customised by BMW for China. There, BMW builds a stretched version to meet the tastes of what is now its largest market.

Those are just some examples, says Dr Robertson, of how this car provided the seeds of BMW’s future. “It has been the success of this company,” he says.

Today, BMW as a group builds more than 2.1 million cars a year, more than any luxury competitor. To get there, it planted a seed which over 40 years has grown into a mighty 3.

Check back tomorrow for more stories celebrating the BMW 3 Series’ success over 40 years

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