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BMW 335i now goes topless!!!!

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fzanetti

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Summer never felt so good as it will in a 335i Convertible, and winter ain't bad, either.

2008 BMW 335i Convertible Topless Two-Timer http://www.autoweek.com/graphics/aw_spacer.gif

By MARK VAUGHN

http://www.autoweek.com/graphics/aw_spacer.gif

AutoWeek | Updated: 02/15/07, 12:26 pm et http://www.autoweek.com/graphics/aw_spacer.gif

AT A GLANCE: 2007 BMW 335I CONVERTIBLE

ON SALE: March

BASE PRICE: $47,500 (est.)

CURB WEIGHT: 3946 lbs

POWERTRAIN: 3.0-liter, 300-hp, 300-lb-ft inline six; six-speed manual, rwd

0 TO 60 MPH: 5.5 seconds (mfg)

FUEL MILEAGE (EPA COMBINED): 24.8 mpg

http://www.autoweek.com/graphics/aw_spacer.gifhttp://www.autoweek.com/graphics/aw_spacer.gif What could be more fun than a 335i? How about a 335i with no roof?

 

BMW chopped the top off this iconic coupe and replaced it with three concentrically stacking pieces of steel that eventually make their way into the trunk in 22 seconds of holding your finger on a button. That’s less time than some of the relationships you’ll enjoy once you buy one of these cars.

 

For those keeping track, this is the fourth BMW 3 Series convertible made since the first one 20 years ago. We remember that one, with its bolt-upright front end and straight-up windshield hacking through the German air like a badly deflating Zeppelin. We drove an original in Deutschland 20 years ago, with its fabric top stowed snugly beneath a hard tonneau cover as the wind tried to rip the shoulder belt and our left shoulder completely out of their sockets. Wind management is much better in this version.

 

Engineers went for an “open” feel, but not at the expense of wind management. Indeed, driving the newest 3 Series convertible was a lesson in proper aerodynamics. The new car comes with a massive wind blocker covering the rear seat and holding back much of the roar that would rage against the back of your head, despite the car’s relatively short windscreen. With the windows up, you almost don’t notice the wind at all, as long as you’re not going at more than double-digit speeds.

 

Yeah, yeah, you say. Quit yappin’ about how yer damned pompadour stayed in place, and tell us about structural rigidity.

 

It is not only structurally sound, but it might just be the stiffest convertible we’ve ever piloted—no discernible wiggles or shimmies on any of the roads we drove it over in and around Scottsdale, Arizona. It is 50 percent stiffer than the most recent 3 Series convertible, and who knows how much stiffer than that car we drove in the ’80s. The technically proficient will appreciate that when you twist the convertible body, it requires 15,000 newton meters of force to deflect it one degree (Newton would have loved this car, and not just because his fancy hairdo would not be ruffled while under way). http://cwimg.sv.publicus.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=CW&Date=20070216&Category=FREE&ArtNo=70214010&Ref=V2&Profile=1009&maxw=490

The retractable hardtop is a nifty gadget, but it'll set you back an extra 375 pounds and $7,000 compared to a 335i Coupe. The drawbacks? It weighs 375 pounds more than the coupe and probably will cost about $7,000 more when it arrives in showrooms in late March.

 

It also uses the same two engines that power U.S. versions of the coupe, with the same outputs despite the added curb weight. Both have 3.0-liter inline sixes, but the one with two turbochargers is what you’ll want. It powers the 335i and makes 300 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque, enough to push the 3946-pound car around with abandon, though not quite as much abandon as the 3571-pound coupe. That’s for a manual; automatics are 3582 and 3957 pounds in U.S. trim.

 

The 328i convertible also gets a 3.0-liter straight-six but without the turbos. It makes 230 hp and 200 lb-ft of torque.

 

But either version offers the same amount of style, which was described at length during the car’s introduction. See that beltline? It’s purposely lower to add to that open-air feeling and to display your mug all the better to passing admirers. “If you want to show somebody in a flattering way, you show them as a bust, not just a head,” said project manager Dr. Albin Dindorfer.

 

Well, in L.A., showing busts has an entirely different meaning, Dr. D, but I think we get your drift.

 

Your bust will ride in an all-new and much more roomy interior than the previous convertible’s. Rear-seat shoulder room is up by 3.15 inches, elbow room by 4.72 inches. The steel roof also allows 30 percent more rear side glass than before, as well as 38 percent more rear glass. So it feels roomy even when it’s closed.

 

That rear seatback has a nice fold-down panel that protects the seat bottoms when you want to pile in luggage. There is also a ski-sack trunk pass-through for long objects like, say, skis.

 

The leather on the seats even reflects heat better than the old leather, keeping it up to 36 degrees cooler, so when you return to your car after it’s been sitting in the sun with the top down, you are 36 percent less likely to scream when your skin touches it.

 

Whether you scream in delight upon driving it depends. As we said, it has a very stiff body. Suspensions are the same between Europe and the United States, though we will get a choice of 17- and 18-inch wheels, while the Europeans and those lucky Canadians can get 19s just because they take better care of their roads. A New York pothole could crack those stylish 19s, engineers fear. Sheesh, they should see what’s available at SEMA.

 

The basic geometry of the suspensions is the same for coupe or convertible—struts in front and a five-link rear. In general, the response and feel are much more taut than you’d expect in a convertible. Our test car had full European specs right down to the kilometers on the speedo. It had 17-inch wheels with 225/45 run-flats; the 18s are 245/40 in front and 255/35 in the rear.

 

Our test car also had a six-speed automatic instead of the standard six-speed manual. U.S.-spec six-speed automatics with paddle shifters will come only as part of the sport package with 18-inch wheels. Our Euro-spec test car had the paddles but no sport package and rode on 17-inch wheels. So it’s not representative of what we will get in late March, as near as we can tell.

 

The automatic was superb, shifting quickly and smoothly just about as fast as you could want it to, either via the paddles on the steering wheel or just on its own in drive. http://cwimg.sv.publicus.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=CW&Date=20070216&Category=FREE&ArtNo=70214010&Ref=V3&Profile=1009&maxw=490

It's obvious BMW aimed to perfect top-down driving: even the leather seating is designed to reflect heat. If we had to complain, and we have to, we couldn’t help but say that the 3 Series coupe drove better. Yeah, yeah, you say, of course the coupe drove better; it has an even stiffer body. But that wasn’t it. The tuning on our car during the short three-hour ride-and-drive from sunny Scottsdale to cosmopolitan Tortilla Flats and back left us feeling that the convertible was just a little too touchy in the controls. The brakes, steering and throttle response all felt a little overboosted to our taste.

 

Our car had Active Steering changing the ratios between wheel and pinion, too. While this version is much improved over the original, we still like steering feel to come straight from the ground up with as little interference as possible. But we also know that after a week with an Active Steering car, you appreciate all the good things the system does, such as parking.

 

Nonetheless, the feedback from the road was just a little more muted than we’d have liked. Maybe later, when we’ve driven a few more versions and get into the U.S.-spec cars, we’ll feel differently. Or maybe we’re just too analog for this modern digital world.

 

We’ll give it a few more drives in different trims before passing final judgment.

 

You can pass final judgment in about a month and a half. Let us know what you think.

 

 

Flavio Zanetti

Boston, MA

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  • 2 months later...
crazyjay1089 Rising Star

crazyjay1089

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^^ I'm sorry, but it is. haha.

 

The car isn't crazy powerful, but the power delivery is great. It's a BMW, after all. And with a 0-60 of 5.5 seconds, its pretty fast. Buying a folding hard top car for performance reasons is the stupidest thing in the world, though. I always hate seeing really fast convertibles--- it's such an impediment on performance!

 

On a tangent, what's the tuning potential? Are the turbos good for a decent power gain with some sort of engine management?

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