BMW 335i Coupe Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: BMW 335i
Prices: £31,970-£41,250 - on the road
Insurance Group: 18
Emissions: 218g/km
Performance: Max Speed 155mph / 0-60mph 5.5s
Fuel Consumption: (combined) 31mpg
Safety: Twin front airbags, twin front side airbags, twin ITS side window airbags / ABS /DSC / runflat tyres
Dimensions: Length/Width/Height 4580/1985/1395 mm August 20th 2008

BOOSTED

Our Rating: 7.6 / 10

BMW’s twin-turbo 335i offers virtual M3 performance with a whole lot more everyday practicality and affordability. Andy Enright reports…

For some years, BMW has maintained an air of amused superiority as rival manufacturers have attempted to match the performance of its normally aspirated engines with various turbocharged and supercharged units. The concept of turbocharging a petrol engine seemed anathema to the Bavarians but the 335i, a headline derivative in BMW’s latest 3 Series coupe range, features not one but two blowers. What’s prompted this sea change in corporate philosophy? We take a look at the product and the story behind it.

Let’s clear one thing up from the start. Despite the 335i badge, the engine fitted up front in this car is ‘only’ a 3.0-litre, much akin to that found in the 330i. Whereas that car develops 272bhp, the ‘blown’ 335i is good for 306bhp. BMW could have no doubt turned the wick up on the turbochargers to offer way more power but the key to the 335i is in offering a turbocharged model that offers none of the drawbacks of turbo cars. These include a soggy throttle pedal, limp off-boost acceleration, unruly road manners when the turbo is fully on-song and fierce fuel consumption. By offering only very light pressure blowers, the 335i drives like a larger capacity normally aspirated model, hence the logic behind the badge.

In real terms, that means a sprint to 60mph in 5.5 seconds and a top speed limited to 155mph. That’s not far off the old M3 and in terms of torque to weight, the 335i trounces the old hotrod, the M3 offering 232Nm per tonne compared to the turbo car’s 249Nm per tonne. What compounds the newer car’s advantage is the fact that this vast welter of muscle is on stream from as low as 1,300rpm, whereas an M3 had to be wound up to almost 5,000rpm before it really started pulling. This means that a 335i will feel brawnier and get the drop on an M3 off the line in most instances. Customers can choose standard SE trim or the M Sport which is as close to an M3 as you’ll get without buying one.

It’s hard to underline quite what an about face this is by BMW. Think of the next Porsche 911 getting a V8 or Audi ditching quattro all-wheel drive and you’ll appreciate quite what a marked shift in engineering focus this engine represents. Those with long memories will point to BMW’s introduction of the 2002 turbo back in 1973 and the Brabham BMW turbocharged Formula 1 engines of the Eighties. If you’re a real anorak, you might even recall the 1979 Euro-only 745i turbo. Nevertheless, BMW has been cool on forced induction. In an era of ever tighter emissions regulations, the demand for more power within certain weight limits and a need to position a stepping stone model between the 330i and the latest V8 M3 model, the 335i was a logical move, albeit one that required a certain swallowing of corporate pride to bring to market.

The 335i’s engine is a very impressive installation from a company that professes not a great deal of recent experience at turbocharged petrol engines. Granted, BMW have sold thousands of turbodiesels in the last few years but that’s a rather different discipline. In this instance, each bank of three cylinders of the V6 unit gets its own small turbine. BMW claims that this engine is around 70 kilos lighter than a similarly powerful V8 model and this weight saving has easily identifiable benefits in terms of agility, fuel economy and emissions that are enhanced by BMW’s EfficientDynamics technology. With a combined consumption figure of 31mpg and CO2 emissions of just 218g/km, the 335i turns in excellent figures for a car with this level of performance.

That said, this car could potentially become a very popular model with aftermarket tuners who care rather more about headline horsepower figures and less about all round driveability and durability. Turning up the boost pressure on the blowers would theoretically be a relatively inexpensive way to liberate serious power, although BMW’s excellent warranty cover would probably disappear in the pr