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Culture War Roundup for the week of July 15, 2024

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No? I think my nomenclature was off though, it's 330i with xdrive, it used to be xi instead. The 30 stopped meaning a 3.0 a while ago though, it's 2.0 liter turbo mild hybrid.

Ah, okay. The 330xi seems to be a model of years past.

https://www.carfax.com/Used-BMW-3-Series-330xi_t1477

It's really just a model nomenclature, a 3er with a 3.0 liter engine and x drive used to be 330xi.

Now a car with x drive isn't in the model name, and the number is just ordinal 20<30<40 in power but not related directly to size.

It's still a 3er with appropriate power and all wheel drive, which is the core concept.