323i

BMW first applied the 323i nameplate to the 3 Series in the late E21 era, when the car became the brand’s six-cylinder flagship and helped establish the 3 Series’ sporting identity. BMW’s own history pages place the 323i’s introduction in early 1978, following the launch of the original 3 Series in 1975. The badge returned in the E30 generation, where the 323i was positioned as the sportiest version at launch and remained on sale until the mid-1980s, after which it was replaced by the 325i. The nameplate reappeared again in the E36 generation in the mid-1990s, expanding across multiple body styles including sedan, coupé, convertible and Touring, before appearing on the E46 sedan from late 1997 until 2000. In that final E46 application, BMW later replaced the 323i with the 325i. Because the 323i badge was discontinued and then revived across several separate eras, it should be treated as a recurring BMW 3 Series nameplate rather than one continuous production run. The model is significant among enthusiasts for marking several of the 3 Series’ key six-cylinder milestones and for recurring whenever BMW wanted a sharper, upper-end mainstream 3 Series variant.