The 335I is a compelling car which expands the appeal of the
3-series range considerably before the arrival of the hopefully more hardcore
M3.
‘WHATS NEW’
Porsche would need to adopt a
W11 cylinder configuration for the next 911 to replicate the sense of
tumultuous change created by BMW’s adoption of turbocharger technology for
petrol engines. That’s partly bound up in the legend of its straight sixes
through linear power delivery, perpetually excellent mechanical refinement and
appetite for crank speed. But it’s more to do with two decades of anti-turbo
rhetoric emanating from BMW. While no one at BMW has ever stated categorically
that it will never resort to the exhaust-driven blower, they’ve certainly
chuckled at other manufactures’ attempts to match the performance of its
normally aspirated sixes through turbo-charging. However here we are sitting in
the new 335I. Running the risk of confusing the hell out of even the most
ardent moniker geeks with its naming policy, BMW has decided to call this
3.0-litre twin-turbo coupe the 335I, hinting at a larger donkey out front. But
for once they have a point, because the entire reason for this tangential
engine development route was to create a motor that would provide the type of
performance associated with a V8, but keep weight down to a minimum. But then
that has been always the idea behind turbo-charging. This new three coupe is
another bangle shape incapable of doing itself justice on the page, and is
therefore immeasurably sleeker in the raw. The prominent swage that defines the
car’s hip line and appears to fall away rather too dramatically before the
bootlied somehow doesn’t fall away too dramatically when you’re walking around
the car. The rear view makes the saloon appear fussy and ugly, but then that’s
not saying much. Form most angles, it looks like a different model altogether.
‘WHAT’S OT LIKE’
It sounds like a Focus ST
when you press the starter button. Why a twin-turbo six should produce such a
raspy parp from its tailpipes as the engine catches is a mystery. But at idle
this is an inexpensive-sounding motor. Equally, this is possibly the only
aspect of its performance that isn’t very, very impressive.
With nauseating predictability, BMW has tried its hand at
turbocharging and got it pretty much licked first time around. And by ‘first
time around’ I am, of course, talking about the modern era and therefore
ignoring the 2002 Turbo and the hilarious non-UK 745i from the mid-1980s. We’ll
discuss the finer points of its installation and performance in a moment, but
there is just one observation that needs to be made first: you just don’t ever
know it’s turbocharged. There is a reason for this: compared with many
turbocharged engines, this is a very light form of forced induction. From 2979cc
it produces 302bhp at 5800rpm, which sounds impressive until you realise that
the new 330i manages 272bhp without an octopus hanging off its exhaust
manifold. No, BMW clearly identified everything from the turbocharging handbook
that was anathema to its engineering values, and has developed this motor
accordingly. Response and low emissions vetoed crazy outputs, and the results
are more interesting than bluntly impressive. Using two small turbines - one
each for three cylinders - and piezo direct injectors placed between the valves
for extremely accurate fuel delivery and therefore perfectly judged mixture and
vaporisation, BMW has managed to pull off the required confidence trick. Select
fourth gear at 800rpm, open the throttle wide and it just pulls. No hesitation,
nothing to indicate the presence of a turbocharger, just a small step in power
at around 4000rpm, which is a variable valve phase and nothing to do with the
turbo. This is a very fast car. With 295lb ft of torque from 1300rpm all the
way through to 5000rpm, it will chomp through dawdling traffic. And, in the BMW
tradition, it still likes to rev to around 6500rpm if required, although it
becomes a touch breathless over the last 200rpm. None of this would be
worthwhile if the claimed 70kg weight saving over an equivalent V8 failed to
help the chassis shine. Mostly, it does. There are only two reservations: the
test car was running optional 18-inch rubber and the ride was unnecessarily
harsh, and I can’t give you an accurate assessment of the car’s steering
because ours was fitted with BMW’s infernal active rack. It is lifeless, arcade
game stuff that doesn’t belong on a car whose chassis is otherwise so well
developed.
Written by Unknown
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