Hot on the heels of the first images of the new-look BMW 3-series, the German giant has given a glimpse of the revised, and more powerful diesel engines which will be fitted to the cars. Not surprisingly, fuel economy and CO2 figures have been improved, in some cases by enough to drop a company car tax band.

A revised version of BMW’s all-aluminium 2993cc six-cylinder diesel engine, featuring piezo injectors and a variable vane turbocharger, will be fitted to the BMW 330d and as a result power goes up to 245bhp, a 14bhp increase on the current car. There’s also 384lb/ft of torque, up from 368lb/ft.

In keeping with BMW’s aggressive stance on fuel economy and emissions, despite the increase in performance the manual 330d will deliver a combined 49.6mpg and 152g/km compared to the outgoingmodel’s 46.3mpg and 160g/km. The auto 330d, meanwhile, drops its emissions from 176g/km to165g/km. That’s enough to drop it from VED band ‘E’ to band ‘D’ – a £30 saving on road tax from next year.

The four-cylinder 318d and 320d continue as before, although the 318d will be offered with theoption of a six-speed automatic gearbox for the first time.