I was out today in my '88 325iX and happened to park next to a new M3. Quite a bit of change over the years, in my opinion not necessarily for the better. 
(edit - can a moderator correct the discussion title? It should say 3 series, I had a slip of the fingers on the keyboard...)
That's crazy. It doesn't actually look much bigger. Gotta be an optical illusion?
The new 3er looks like a Hyundai from before they learned how to design cars but after they stopped using old Mitsubishi tooling. It's blobby and the hood/greenhouse/deck and roof/beltline/rocker proportions are just a little bit odd, in a way that makes you appreciate that there may be something to that whole Golden Ratio business.
It'd probably look a ton better if that body line that follows the underside of the door handles was moved down 2-3cm. The door handles, too. And I can sort of see that they were trying to evoke an old 30s style hood-and-fenders look in the front, and while companies like Ford, Dodge, and Volvo have successfully pulled it off in ways blatant and subtle, this BMW did not.
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