BMW 330i [NEW]
The 330i Has Latterly Been The 3 Series That Offers Much Of The Performance Of An M3 But Without The Attitude. Its A Recipe Many Have Found Irresistible. By Andy Enright
I love BMWs M3. Love it with a passion. Any excuse, however contrived, will do if it means a spell behind the wheel. That hollow metallic engine note, the beautiful chassis balance and the gut-wrenching acceleration and braking are all utterly addictive.
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The problem is I cant afford one and even if I could, the two door coupe shape wouldnt go down at all well with her indoors. Compromise can so often be a dirty word, but when its applied to BMWs 330i, its a concept fully rehabilitated.
With 258bhp to call upon, the 330i doesnt exactly want for power.
BMW quote a sprint to 60mph of six seconds flat. Unless youre a track day fiend, its doubtful you really need to go faster and if, like me, you require four doors, theres really very little that acts as a credible alternative. Yes, Audis S4 is worth a look, but its hugely more expensive and doesnt ride or handle like a 3 Series.
Volvos S60R also looks good on paper but has a disappointingly stodgy chassis and rather crude power delivery. Available in saloon and Touring estate guises, the E90 generation 330i looks set to be an even bigger success than the original E46 series version. Much of that is down to the engine. Whereas the old 330i featured a 231bhp 3.
0-litre straight six under the bonnet, the latest car has an altogether more high-tech powerplant. To some the worlds lightest six cylinder engine will figure in their buying decisions about as prominently as the worlds toughest driveshaft splines or the most precision-milled glovebox hinges in automotive history. It just doesnt seem that significant, especially in a car as laden with luxury gadgetry as the 330i. The key is that the low weight of the engine allows for all the refinements without imposing too much of a penalty on performance.
With less weight hanging out over the nose, there are all sorts of handling benefits plus the usual economy and emissions advantages.
"The 330i offers serious speed without catastrophic running costs"
The 330i features a 3.0-litre Valvetronic engine with technology that does away with conventional throttle butterflies in favour of a complex electrically-powered valve lifting system. Constructed from an aluminium and magnesium composite, this engine sits tucked well back in the cars cavernous engine bay and gives the 330i excellent weight distribution. Less weight also equates to better performance, more agile handling and lower fuel consumption and emissions.
Despite the modest cubic capacity, this engine punches well above its weight, knocking out 258bhp at 6,600rpm. On the road, this will translate into a surprising amount of heft. Both the saloon and Touring will run into BMWs self-imposed electronic limiter at 155mph with plenty to spare yet the 330i can still manage a combined fuel economy figure of over 30mpg. Around twelve per cent up on BMWs old 3.
0-litre petrol engine itself no slouch when it came to fuel figures the Valvetronic unit offers the best of both worlds. The Valvetronic engine also complies with the latest Euro IV emissions regulations and features the worlds first electric water pump to cool the engine block for increased efficiency. Six-speed manual gearboxes are fitted as standard but customers will also be able to specify their car with either an automatic or BMWs racy Sequential Manual Gearbox. Developing an all-new 3-Series was never going to be easy and the latest car shows that the money men and the stylists have gone head to head in the battle between shifting big numbers and continuing the trend for challengingly styled BMWs.
It looks like the stylists have blinked first, the 3-Series looking a good deal more conservatively penned than the rest of the BMW line up. Although those wearing the black polo necks may grumble, its a wise choice. With the 3-Series accounting for fully 52 per cent of BMWs UK sales, alienating this bedrock of customers with a wilfully odd looking car was never going to make a sound business case. Although sales of the latest 5-Series have swelled as people became used to its sharky lines, for the first few months that styling was manna from heaven for Mercedes and
Audi.
Many of the contemporary BMW styling signatures are present although they have been toned down radically. The sill line is bowed, although nowhere near as radically as in, say, a 1-series. Compare how the rear bootlid is a chamfered and smoothed version of that worn by the 5-Series. Even the flanks betray a less aggressive concave contouring, while the rest of the traditional BMW cues such as the Hofmeister Kink at the rear window and the kidney grille are present and correct.
Run-flat tyres are used with every tyre and wheel option on the E90 3-series. Although some have grumbled about the deterioration in ride quality when run flats are specified, its worth noting that this is only normally the case when the run-flat is an optional extra. When, as is the case of the E90 3 Series, the suspension has been tuned to accommodate the stiffer sidewalls of a run flat tyre, the overall ride quality isnt noticeably inferior. BMWs 330i isnt an M3, and the latest rumours suggest that with the new M3 offering upwards of 400bhp from its V8 engine, there will be a turbocharged 335i version to plug the gap.
Therefore despite its boost in power and all-round durability, the 330i is, in effect, being demoted in the 3 Series hierarchy. Dont let that divert your attention from what is possibly the most versatile petrol powered car in the entire 3 Series line up.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: BMW 330i range
PRICES: from £28,460 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUPS: 17
CO2 EMISSIONS: 210 g/km
PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 155mph / 0-60mph 6s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 32.7mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front airbags, twin front side airbags, twin ITS side window airbags / ABS /DSC / runflat tyres
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height 4520/1817/1424mm June 20th 2005
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