BMW 335i has 350hp instead of 302hp?
Jason Cammisa of Automobile Magazine decides to verify BMW’s 302 horsepower and 400Nm of torque claims on the BMW 335i specification sheets. The results did not disappoint, instead strangely the BMW 335i that Cammisa put on the dyno made alot more power than what’s on paper!
Typically, a dyno of power at the wheels would show about 20 to 25 percent drivetrain losses compared to the figures the manufacturer provided which is at the crankshaft. BMW’s 330i sedan which is rated at 255hp and 300Nm of torque at the crankshaft by BMW resulted in about 200hp and 245Nm of torque when dynotested at the wheels. The dyno machine used is a DynoJet dynamometer. That’s about a twenty percent loss, in line with our rough 20-25 percent drivetrain loss estimation.
However, the BMW 335i made 275hp and 406Nm torque when dynoed at the wheels! Even more torque at the wheels than BMW quoted at the crank? This would mean the BMW 335i in question is actually making close to 350hp and 480Nm of torque at the crankshaft, alot higher than BMW’s rated 302hp and 400Nm! Dyno chart can be viewable if you click the image on the left. Torque is rated in lb-ft on the dyno chart, but I’ve done the appropriate conversions to Nm for this post.
Is this by freak chance or is BMW underquoting the BMW 335i’s performance on purpose? If it is underquoted, why? Anyone with a BMW 335i Coupe who wants to re-do the dyno test?
Related Posts:
BMW 335i Driving Experience
August 17, 2006 @ 8:26 pm
350hp and 480nm at the cranks sounds more in line with a 3.5 litre 6cylinder turbo or is it 3 litres? if compare with all the newer turbo engines that came out recently.
that is very nice…esp on a bmw. wish everybody underquoted thier engine power.
August 17, 2006 @ 8:29 pm
the 335i is a 3.0 twin turbo
August 17, 2006 @ 8:42 pm
or izzit like the evo…puposely under state their power figures due to european and japanese regulations on engine capacity power limit…everybody who drove evo 7 n above..clearly knows that the claimed power of 272 bhp is a complete bull ! it feels more like 300! but this kind of cheating..i like!
August 17, 2006 @ 9:07 pm
nicest !
August 17, 2006 @ 10:20 pm
UNDER PROMISE OVER DELIVER, this is what the leader should do.
August 17, 2006 @ 10:23 pm
the question is.. how reliable was the test done by Automobile Mag?
August 18, 2006 @ 6:56 am
Manufacturers are always ‘under quoting’ figures for power because it’s always better to be conservative officially. But there are practical reasons why a manufacturer doesn’t make their cars over-powerful like having ridiculous power rating like 1000Nm or something like that.
They have to think responsibly and make the power accessible and useable, with the kind of reliability a production car should have.
Automobile is an American magazine and the American-specced BMW could be different than that of Europe. I think the results is exaggerated and should be checked out by BMW themselves
August 18, 2006 @ 7:10 am
Cats out of the bag – media car had a specially massaged engine I bet!!
August 18, 2006 @ 8:32 am
Is this tested on a press car or production model?
However, with experience in turbocharged cars, ambient temperature does have a lot to play with your power. On my Mitsu turbo 2.0L@18psi boost, I can get as much as 20% more power on a cool fall evening (ie. 10 degrees C) vs, a hot summer afternoon (28 degrees), which can equate to 40-50hp. My car can make anywhere from 250 to slightly over 300hp@crank just depending on ambient temperature.
BWM might just have quoted the lower figure.
Impressive figure regardless, especially max torque at only 2000rpm. It just shows that once you force feed something, you get hugh lumps of torque.
However, if you look at the dyno chart carefully, you can see that it doen’t really make that much power, especially given this is a modern turbocharged engine. BMW, could get another 20-40% more power fairly easily.
I believe the main reason to underqoute is not to canabilise internal sales. If your regular 335 gets 350+hp, would you pay double that to get a 400hp M3?
August 18, 2006 @ 9:19 am
But this is just assume that what the dyno meter received is about 20% less from the crank shaft, due to friction loss on the gear box, wheels, etc. But what if just that BMW 335i has made an efficient transmission that little energy were loss?
Anyhow, it is very very impressive.
August 18, 2006 @ 10:01 am
I think one of thier marketing strategy…4G63T DSM,is for production model i guess..nice!
August 18, 2006 @ 10:02 am
Hi all. Anyone has any comment or review on Toyota Ipsum 2.0?
August 18, 2006 @ 12:44 pm
but could there be differences in the types of dyno used?
i mean, i’ve heard of some dynos being more ermm.. stingy in giving the right output of power.. such as the case in the US, where the mustang dyno (no relation to the car) is regarded as being more stringent and therefore most of the time giving a reading of a lower hp rating compared to other dynos..
is that true?
August 18, 2006 @ 1:56 pm
What DSM said is kinda logic once u think of it….prevent canabilise of internal sales due to power and price difference between their car lineup
oh well underquoting is good as well…u definitely know it will produce that kinda power at the very least..if ur lucky u get alot more haha
August 18, 2006 @ 3:32 pm
There is another possibility. Engine ratings and test that you get officially in typical German Engineering is based either on average test in various conditions (humidity/temperature) or on a worst case basis, sampling taken from a few testbenches. I wouldn’t be surprised if these published figures were of worst case basis because of American legal issues. North America is a big market which they really need to capitalise.
August 18, 2006 @ 6:28 pm
wats that thing going on with toyota ipsum2.0? google the thing.
this bmw coupe is one beautiful machine. at least now can compete in terms of looks with the lexus IS. you got to see the lexus live especially when it drives past you. very nice lines and muscular.
August 18, 2006 @ 10:02 pm
just like 530i & 525i..
the 525i just a turn down version of 530i with less 40bhp even both 3 litres engine.
glad that 335i now with 350bhp.. 302bhp too little for me..
August 18, 2006 @ 10:07 pm
350bhp sounds great, but if speaking about BMW, i prefer the 5-series “hawk-eye”, M6, 645Ci and 7-series (both 730Li & 760Li). But if really into a great car, i would go for either Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, Lamborghini Gallardo, Ferrari F430, Porsche Cayenne or Mercedes-Benz CLS350. But anyway, Evo IX is in my top-list, at least not so expensive compared to others that I mentioned above.
August 19, 2006 @ 2:41 pm
evo 9 is a great car for its price. but its not an everyday car. i think they will change that in the evo 10. but from your list the best would be the f430 and gallardo spyder. even if you’re filthy rich, there is no need to go beyond these entry level supercars.
August 19, 2006 @ 11:42 pm
[...] 307 kilowatts of power would be approximately 412 horsepower. The engine has a peak torque of 420Nm. That’s only 20Nm of torque higher than the BMW 335i’s figures! Looking at the high horsepower to displacement ratio and the relatively lower torque figures as compared to the horsepower, this is likely a normally aspirated engine that makes its high power from sky high revving like it’s older brother the 5.0 V10. [...]
August 20, 2006 @ 2:56 pm
“but its not an everyday car”
completely wrong! u should ask those EvoIX owner.
November 16, 2006 @ 8:19 pm
[...] The E90 335xi will boast the same 3.0 liter twin turbocharged inline-6 cylinder engine putting out 302hp and 400Nm of torque (sometimes even higher!) introduced with the E92 3 Coupe, with all that massive torque punishing the ground through all four wheels. [...]
February 2, 2007 @ 4:24 pm
[...] muscle on the road now. The quoted 302hp and 400Nm (although there has been suggestions that it is in fact much more ‘thrust’worthy an engine) propels the car to the edge of its handling [...]