BMW set for mid-year onslaught here?
BMW recently announced several face-lifted models which should make their way here around the middle of this year
By Andy Hum
With a total of at least six cars arriving around the middle of this year, it looks like German performance and luxury car-maker BMW is getting ready for an onslaught.
The range of models include an updated 135i Coupe, a face-lifted 3 Series Coupe and Convertible, the mini sport utility vehicle X1 sDrive18i, the 340bhp range-topping Z4 sDrive35is and the new 5 Series.
Recently also announced in Germany was the addition of a 2.0-litre 318i to the 3 Series Coupe and Convertible line-up, but BMW Asia says that it will not be available in Singapore. Instead, we will get a 320i in both hard- and retractable-top forms.
The new 3 has received aesthetic updates, with the lower area around the front air intake now forming a large, singular horizontal grille. The trademark BMW kidney grille is also wider and the side mirrors have been transplanted from the current 3 Series Saloon, replacing the previously more streamlined-looking ones.
More exciting news is that under the skin, the new 335i Coupe and Convertible, and the 135i Coupe have received a new engine. While it’s still a 3.0-litre in-line six engine making the same 306bhp and 400Nm of torque, it has a new twin-scroll turbocharger. BMW calls this technology ‘TwinPower Turbo’. While it doesn’t actually have two turbochargers like the previous engine, it’s actually one turbine that’s driven by the exhaust gases from two sets of three cylinders. This is also the first time BMW has fitted a turbocharged engine with its clever Valvetronic system, which supplants the need for a throttle butterfly system and allows the engine to breathe easier.
The engine’s power output may be the same, but peak torque arrives 100rpm earlier and is now spread across a wider engine rev range. Even better now is that both the 135i and 335i will feature BMW’s dual-clutch transmission, called DCT. Expect 0-100km/h times to be slightly quicker.
A range-topping 340bhp 335is using the twin-turbo in-line six engine has also been rumoured to be in the works, thought BMW Asia officials have refused to comment on it.