X3, Z4 May Share 3-Series Foundation

BMW AG may migrate its next-generation X3 cross/utility vehicle and Z4 sports car line to the new 3-Series platform, executives say.

“It's not a done deal,” Albin Dirndorfer, director-driving dynamics development, says at the international media launch of the new 3-Series hardtop convertible. “The platform has to fit the car.”

The first priority is ensuring every BMW vehicle exhibits the brand's distinctive handling attributes, Dirndorfer tells Ward's. These include balance, slight understeer and stiffness.

Also critical are the manufacturing repercussions of using the 3-Series foundation, new last year, to underpin the X3, which is assembled at Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik AG & Co. KG's site in Graz, Austria.

Magna's contract to build the X3 runs out in 2010-11, and Mark Hogan, president of corporate parent Magna International Inc., recently told analysts a decision about where to build the next-generation model should happen “pretty quick” to ensure a smooth launch.