[citation needed] After a long hiatus, BMW decided to develop a six-cylinder car in the early 1960s.

[1] The design team was led by Wilhelm Hofmeister, with some detail work executed by Italy's Bertone and Michelotti studios.

[3] The new sedan was noticeably a "driver's car", focusing on the front-seat occupants, and the smaller E9 coupé was more of a 2+2 than a full four-seater.

[4][5] A new feature was the twin headlights, set into the grille, a design which was to define BMW styling for decades.

Early mockups of the E3 featured broad rectangular single headlamps with rounded corners, but these never went into production - perhaps as a result of the lukewarm reception of the similarly designed 2000 CS.

[4] They were large six-cylinder cars with fully independent suspension and four wheel disc brakes that handled well and impressed contemporary reviewers.

Surprisingly, considering their respective marketing profiles, the 3.0 Si sedan was faster than the 3.0 coupé;[citation needed] which was a heavier car by 50 kg, with the same drivetrain.

[11] Following the success of the 3.0 Si, many police forces in the UK began purchasing BMW cars, next one being the 5 Series (E12) in late 1970s.

Subsequent to the introduction of a 3.2 liter version of this engine in the 1976 BMW 633CSi, this slightly smaller model found its way into the 3.3 Li as well.

For the 1974 model year the E3 received the ungainly, federally mandated 5 mph (8 km/h) bumpers front and rear, significantly altering its profile.

In 1975 BMW introduced fuel injection to the US market M30 motor, replacing the twin two-barrel Zenith carburetors used since its inception.

Bavaria Production: The CS coupé models were based on the standard 2800 sedans, and looked very similar from the front.