This Is The Long Wheelbase G20 BMW 3-Series You Can't Buy

Like the idea of the new G20 BMW 3-series, but plan on transporting particularly tall people in the back from time to time? You might be interested in this: the long-wheelbase version. The only trouble is, you can’t buy it.

Unless that is, you live in China, where the car is also built. BMW Brilliance Automotive - a joint venture between BMW and Brilliance Auto Group - manufactures the car in Shenyang, along with other Chinese market oddities like the 1-series saloon, the long wheelbase ‘G38’ 5-series and ‘F52’ long wheelbase X1. Yep, even the pint-sized BMW crossover gets the LWB treatment.

As for stretched G20 3er, it’s 120mm longer than the standard model. Not a huge difference, so it’ll take some particularly eagle-eyed BMW fans to tell the difference on first glance.

There aren’t any images of the interior yet, so we don’t get to see all that glorious extra legroom the rear-most passengers will enjoy. The only two pictures of the exterior aren’t exactly the best quality, either.

Just to make sure the whole thing is even odder, it also gets a number not used for the G20 in the rest of the world: 325, or to give it the full title, the 325 Li. Under the bonnet, you’ll find the same guts used for the 320i: a 2.0-litre inline-four turbo which sends 179bhp to the rear wheels.