BMW 335i Coupe Media Test Drive in Austria
Wednesday, 12 July, Innsbruck, Austria – A group of 11 Malaysian motoring journalists took the brand new BMW 335i Coupe for an extended drive through the Austrian Alps today in conjunction with the world media launch of this latest and very exciting coupe from BMW AG.
Fresh from the factory, the new BMW 335i coupe is of course, a two door model, that seats four comfortably, and five only if the center rear passenger is willing to straddle the console that sits on top of the transmission tunnel. This effectively cuts off the rear left passenger compartment from the right hand side; one possible reason for this very unconventional arrangement is that the new 335i is built to take a 4WD drive train, and since the tunnel is already taking up so much space in the middle, it made sense to extend the center console that normally sits between the front seats, backwards into the rear. The extended console also houses an additional air-conditioner blower for the rear passengers. The overall effect is quite neat really, except that left to right mobility and vice versa is compromised.
Moving out of its mould for the first time in twenty five years, BMW have put not one, but two turbochargers onto the straight six 3.0 litre DOHC engine, giving the car enormous grunt and making it plenty of fun to drive. According to the designers, the turbo was a logical step towards getting more power out of the straight six 3-litre engine. More important was of course the search for better efficiency and fuel economy, which meant that the search for more power was also tempered with the fuel consumption in mind, giving due consideration to the rising trend of nowadays. In fact European models include a diesel turbo version, something we should be looking at too. The petrol powered version has a claimed fuel consumption of 9.5 litres per 100 kilometres, which is remarkably good. That is of course the principal reason that the horsepower only a slight increase over that of a conventional 3.0 litre. The twin turbos are relatively small, the reasoning being that there would be little or no lag. Boost is maintained electronically at 0.4 bar; the design emphasis where performance is concerned is on smooth and linear build-up of power rather than an avalanche of power. Electronics play a big part, working with direct injection principles. Going further to make driving dynamics better, the maximum torque is available from as low as 1,300 rpm, all the way to 5,000 rpm before tapering off. Translated to the road, power delivery is instantaneous, and you feel a very linear pull throughout the power band. You can pull it all the way to the 7,000 rpm redline, but changing up at 5000 rpm would suffice if you just want to maintain a good high speed drive. In a way, one might say that this car would be very enjoyable as a grand tourer.
Our drive route took us through mountain roads with plenty of winding stretches, allowing us to feel the excellent handling characteristics and also the power that responds immediately to throttle. Lag, if any, is not apparent to the driver at all. With 306horses that come with a maximum torque of 400Nm, the BMW335i is not only great to drive; it can toodle along at 40 kilometres per hour without fuss, a characteristic that is appreciated especially in the parts where we have to go through the villages and small towns that are a part of the Austrian landscape.
The new coupe is available with a 6-speed manual gearbox or a 6-speed auto with Steptronic (manual shift option). We got the manual on day one, and with six speeds, the design engineers were able to place the ratios very close together, making the transition from one gear to the next very smooth and jerk-free. In top gear, speed per thousand RPM is around 48 km/hr, making it very fuel efficient for long hauls.
Vehicle dimensions are 4580mm (overall length), 1782mm (overall width), and 1395 (overall height). The 335i sits lower than the standard 3-series, has a longer front end, and is slightly wider. The effect is a really sporty look that sets it apart from the sedan version. Unlike other makes that have a coupe model with exactly the same mechanicals, the BMW 3-Series coupe goes one step further by giving it more ‘go’. Tyre size is 225/45 R17 at the front and 255/40 R 17 at the rear. From our drive experience, there seems to be no necessity for wheel upgrades, although it can be easily done for those really finicky ones. Macpherson struts hold up the front while the rear has a central arm axle with longitudinal control arms and double track control arms (read as multi-link, independent suspension).
Brakes are massive 348mm discs at the front while the rear has 336mm ones (which are actually larger than the ones I had on my rally prepared cars in the old days). Driver stability systems that come as standard equipment are ABS, Traction Control, wheel-selective Electronic Braking Distribution, Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), Electronic differential Lock (ADB) and Dynamic Brake Control (DBC). Quite a mouthful of stuff, but translated to the road, it makes the 335i a very safe car to drive or be driven in.
Claimed acceleration from zero to 100 km/hr is 5.5 seconds for the manual, and 5.7 seconds for the auto. We didn’t have time to do that test, but the numbers are credible. Top speed is claimed at 250 km/hr, probably electronically controlled. On day one, all I could hit was 190 km/hr on a very short straight. The Austrian cops are very fussy about speed limits, and if you are caught hitting anything more than 40 km/hr above the legal speed limit of 130 km/hr on the highways, the fine is as high a 2,180 Euros, an amount which none of us wanted to pay. On day two, Vijay, our host from BMW Malaysia took us on an unscheduled drive into Germany, where we could unleash the full power of the BMW 335i on the Autobahn, where there is no speed limit. Unfortunately, due to heavy traffic, the autobahn was a little crowded; nevertheless, we managed to squeeze 260 km/hr out of the car on a stretch that was devoid of traffic for a short while.
Overall handling is great on the highway sections. On the mountain sections, the 335i gave a very good account of itself too, being able to take whatever punishment we could mete out. All the coupe models come with sports suspension, and can take exuberant driving without any need for suspension upgrades; one small concern I have is whether it would be too harsh on our Malaysian roads. Whereas everything felt good on the Austrian roads, I note that they are generally smoother than what we have at home, and save for one small section in the entire drive, there are none of those infamous ‘ripples’ that we so often find on our roads.
Overall, the BMW 335i Coupe is a great car to drive, and I am sure that it will be a pleasure to own. I enjoyed the time I spent with it tremendously, and would not discourage anyone from getting one. The Malaysian prices have not been finalized, but all will be imported in CBU form, and therefore, will not be expected to be below RM450k, based on my personal estimate.
