News: 2007 BMW 335i Coupe to Have 302-HP Turbo Six
The new 2007 BMW 335i coupe has 302 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque and breaks ground as the first turbocharged gasoline-powered BMW in decades.
BY MIKE DUSHANE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTA LEHMANN/HIDDEN IMAGE
March 2006
The BMW 335i coupe that will appear later this year may look like nothing more than the latest chapter in the 3-series coupe book, but there are some radical changes under the skin. The 335i (the C goes away on this coupe as it did on the 650i for the 2006 model year) will have a 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six with piezoelectric direct injection. The symmetrical turbos are relatively small and each feed three cylinders. Power output is up only 47 hp over the normally aspirated version of the same 3.0-liter six found in the 330i, but BMW claims that turbo lag is all but avoided and — more importantly — peak torque increases 34 percent and is available from 1500 to 5800 rpm. BMW estimates that the twin-turbo setup gives the 335i's six the power and torque characteristics of a 4.0-liter V-8 with 10 percent less fuel consumption and 145 fewer pounds. BMW expects the 335i to shave more than half a second from the 330i's 0-to-60 time, which should put it in the low-five-second range — scarcely more than the outgoing E46 M3. The 335i is expected to carry a base price of approximately $42,000 when it goes on sale this summer. The 2008 M3 is expected to have a 400-hp naturally aspirated V-8 and cost $10,000 more.
Why, you ask, would BMW go to all the trouble of making this complex turbo engine when a V-8 would be a simpler and purer means to the same end? As worldwide petroleum reserves decline and prices go up, efficiency becomes paramount, even for performance and luxury vehicles. As worldwide emissions standards become increasingly strict, high-performance diesels — recently thought to be the next big thing — become less feasible. Mercedes-Benz also recently announced a piezoelectric direct-injection gasoline six which is naturally aspirated — for now. Dr. Thomas Weber, Mercedes-Benz's top engineering and development officer, confirms that turbocharged smaller-displacement engines are in Mercedes-Benz's near-term future as well. Turbos are here to stay.
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The new 2007 BMW 335i coupe has 302 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque and breaks ground as the first turbocharged gasoline-powered BMW in decades.
BY MIKE DUSHANE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTA LEHMANN/HIDDEN IMAGE
March 2006
The BMW 335i coupe that will appear later this year may look like nothing more than the latest chapter in the 3-series coupe book, but there are some radical changes under the skin. The 335i (the C goes away on this coupe as it did on the 650i for the 2006 model year) will have a 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six with piezoelectric direct injection. The symmetrical turbos are relatively small and each feed three cylinders. Power output is up only 47 hp over the normally aspirated version of the same 3.0-liter six found in the 330i, but BMW claims that turbo lag is all but avoided and — more importantly — peak torque increases 34 percent and is available from 1500 to 5800 rpm. BMW estimates that the twin-turbo setup gives the 335i's six the power and torque characteristics of a 4.0-liter V-8 with 10 percent less fuel consumption and 145 fewer pounds. BMW expects the 335i to shave more than half a second from the 330i's 0-to-60 time, which should put it in the low-five-second range — scarcely more than the outgoing E46 M3. The 335i is expected to carry a base price of approximately $42,000 when it goes on sale this summer. The 2008 M3 is expected to have a 400-hp naturally aspirated V-8 and cost $10,000 more.
Why, you ask, would BMW go to all the trouble of making this complex turbo engine when a V-8 would be a simpler and purer means to the same end? As worldwide petroleum reserves decline and prices go up, efficiency becomes paramount, even for performance and luxury vehicles. As worldwide emissions standards become increasingly strict, high-performance diesels — recently thought to be the next big thing — become less feasible. Mercedes-Benz also recently announced a piezoelectric direct-injection gasoline six which is naturally aspirated — for now. Dr. Thomas Weber, Mercedes-Benz's top engineering and development officer, confirms that turbocharged smaller-displacement engines are in Mercedes-Benz's near-term future as well. Turbos are here to stay.
Source
