Facts and figures
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335i
27.10.2006 |
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If you take just one thing from this road test, remember this: never make the mistake of underestimating a BMW 335i. So you don’t forget, we’ll hit you with the numbers early: 5.4sec to 60mph and a scarcely believable 12.8sec to 100mph. To give that some perspective, a current E46 M3 is just a second quicker to three figures. Perhaps even more important in the real world are the in-gear times; this svelte, inconspicuous coupé will rip from 50-70mph in top gear 1.6sec faster than its M-badged brother. Let there be no doubt: this is a sensationally rapid coupé.
These figures are important, because little about the styling of this new 3-series coupé suggests such potency. To say it’s understated is, well, an understatement – despite the fact that this is the most divergent 3-series coupé yet, sharing just three body parts with the saloon. Find one looming large in your mirror and you’ll notice the lower front lights (possible because of standard-fit dual xenons), aggressively flared wheelarches and mesh-filled grille. And as it effortlessly wafts past, you’ll be looking at a broader, sleeker, less bland-looking rear.
Does it possess the presence a coupé should? Perhaps not. Is it more attractive than the saloon? Immeasurably so. Unmistakably a BMW, it looks so much better in the metal than in pictures, which don’t do justice to the discreet crease lines.
Inside, the experience is more familiar, the coupé changing little from other 3-series variants. There are different door linings and sculptured rear seats, but you’re more likely to notice the new robotic arms that offer forward the front passenger seatbelts. It’s hardly ground-breaking technology (Mercedes has had a similar system on its coupés for years) but the execution is perfect and the integration seamless. With a broad transmission tunnel, rear-seat accommodation is strictly for two, but nevertheless this represents the most usable 3-series coupé yet. The rear seats are adequate for most adults, and with memory front seats access isn’t difficult. Likewise, luggage space increases by 20 litres over the previous model.
So it’s business as usual for the 3-series coupé: upmarket, practical and desirable. The range for the moment starts with the £28,090 325i (cheaper four-cylinder models will arrive next year), is fleshed out with familiar 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesel and petrol units and is topped by two models wearing a 335 badge, one suffixed with an ‘i’ the other a ‘d’. At £35,475 it’s the diesel that’s more expensive, and with an uprated version of the praised 535d engine powering a smaller car, the 335d promises to be a firecracker. But it’s the petrol version we’re most interested in, not just for its diesel-eclipsing 302bhp and faster ultimate pace, but for the landmark it represents in BMW engine history.
The 335i is not, as the name might suggest, a 3.5-litre six or eight, but a 2979cc straight six with twin turbos, each feeding three cylinders and operating in unison. With the exception of the 2002 Turbo and non-UK 745i, BMW has long eschewed forced induction for its petrol engines, preferring natural aspiration and high revs. But don’t let the fact that it’s turbocharged mislead you. BMW’s thinking was never about outright power (the 335i offers just 30bhp more than the naturally aspirated 330i), but rather the balance of power, flexibility and weight. Against a similar-performing 4.0-litre V8
For the eagle-eyed, there’s a clue to the 335i’s intent even before the starter button is thumbed. There, nestling under the rev counter, is an oil temperature gauge, normally the reserve of M-badged BMWs. Further M-style theatre follows when a cold-started 335i settles for the first five minutes at a fast idle, twin exhausts emitting a busy, bassy, resonant tone, setting the air alive with expectation. Expectation on which the 335i resoundingly delivers. Load the engine through the mid-range and you’re rewarded with a distant psuedo-V8 rumble. And stay committed beyond 5000rpm and you’ll find the turbos have done little to diminish the familiar straight-six purr.
Even more impressive than the 335i’s test-track performance, where it steamrolled from rest to its electronically enforced top speed of 155mph in just 38 seconds, is how effortlessly fast it feels on the road, the crushing force of 295lb ft arriving from just 1300rpm with almost zero lag. So flexible and linear is the delivery that you can pull away from a standstill in third gear and just 21 seconds later be sitting on the rev limiter at 105mph. Fourth will take you from walking pace all the way to 140mph. Of course, you’ll rarely need all this performance, but there’s deep satisfaction in just knowing it’s there. In fact, so broad-shouldered is this engine that it instils the 335i with the character of a bigger, more substantial car. Factor in the Three’s inherent refinement and the instant and seemingly bottomless urge available and the 335i makes a classic long-distance machine, covering over 400 miles between fills thanks to a realistic touring consumption of 32.1mpg.
The coupé inherits the same chassis merits and foibles as other 3-series variants, chiefly excellent body control and an enjoyable degree of throttle adjustability but a fidgety ride on its run-flat tyres. The 335i and 335d coupés get sports suspension as standard, further sharpening body control at the expense of a firmer urban ride. Which, along with an annoyingly short first gear and heavy steering, makes city work the 335i’s least favourable habitat.
Despite BMW stiffening the chassis as much as possible without rendering it uncomfortable, such is the 335i’s punch that at times a 10 per cent stiffer set-up wouldn’t go amiss. High-speed direction changes are best anticipated, the resultant body roll pre-empted and settled before commiting the 335i to a series of bends. Equally, driven with gusto, the trick self-drying, soft-stop brakes wilt quickly with repeated use from high speeds, and the steering, although accurate, is a touch wooden, not quite transmitting the subtleties you crave. At least the gearchange improves when you move into the higher ratios, becoming slicker and more pleasurable to use. For those wanting to avoid the task altogether, there is the alternative of a new six-speed automatic (£1590).
We suspected the 335i would be good, but we weren’t expecting BMW’s first modern turbo petrol engine to be quite such a masterstroke – so multi-talented, so effortless, so sensationally quick. Wrapped in a discreet, graceful and yet practical coupé body, you’re faced with car so deeply satisfying that it makes the £33,420 price seem good value.
