Paul Tan's Automotive News » BMW

Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi: Grab the E90 BMW 3-Series 323i with a special financing plan [AD]

Harvinder Sidhu — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:01:23 +0000

As you would know, Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi is currently off-loading the E90 BMW 3-Series with the entry of the F30. The BMW dealership has been offering an interesting financing package which allows potential owners to pay as low as RM1,888 and RM1,988 for both the 320i and 323i models respectively. The package is for a 7 year term with monthly repayments to increase slightly year on year.

At this point, all E90 320i models have been sold and what’s available is the E90 323i. Unlike its 320i sibling, the 323i is powered by a 6-cylinder 2.5 liter engine which makes 190 hp and 230 Nm of torque between 3,250 and 5,000 revs.

Other features include iDrive with GPS and Bluetooth, engine start/stop button and important safety equipment such as DSC which is ESP (electronic stability programme) in BMW’s terms, airbags, ABS with EBD, run-flat tyres and so on.

To learn more about the financing package, please call Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi at 03-9223 3200. Enjoy your weekend

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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Wheelcorp Premium opens BMW 4S in Setia Alam

Paul Tan — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:24:42 +0000

There’s a new BMW dealership in town, and it’s located at the thriving township of Bandar Setia Alam, in Shah Alam. The new Wheelcorp Premium BMW 4S centre is just down the main road from the newly launched Setia City Mall, and is located in the Setia Avenue business park. We did some research and it turns out Wheelcorp are related to the businessmen who operated Persada Auto and already have experience running dealerships from a few brands.

Wheelcorp Premium’s 4S dealership occupyies a total built up space of 12,600 sqft and has 5 display cars, a 3 bay service centre which also offers BMW Fastlane Service, as well as a lounge, a discussion room, an Isetta bar, and employs 15 sales and service staff members.

A larger 3-storey 4S centre (3D impression shown) scheduled to be opened in Q3 2012 will be built on a 1.1 acre plot of land nearby – if you’re familiar with Bandar Setia Alam, the bigger 4S dealership will be on Jalan Setia Murni near the big Toyota and Honda showrooms, across the main road from Setia Avenue. The upcoming building will display up to 12 cars on teh ground floor and up to 30 cars on the mezzanine floor, with 8 service bays.

The current Wheelcorp Premium BMW 4S Centre is located at No.22-1, 23-1 & 23A-1, Jalan Setia Prima S, U13/S, Setia Alam Seksyen 13, 40170 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan. The future Wheelcorp Premium BMW 4S Centre will be located at No 1, Jalan Setia Murni AH U13/AH, Setia Alam Seksyen U13, 40170 Shah Alam, Selangor.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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BMW Brand Store: first new-direction outlet opens in Paris

Anthony Lim — Fri, 25 May 2012 06:23:45 +0000

BMW has opened its first BMW Brand Store, and the inaugural outlet is located in the luxurious area of metropolitan Paris, at the Avenue George V.

Designed by luxury retail architect Eric Carlson and his team from Carbondale Architects and Version Architects, the 800 sq metre store kicks off the company’s plans for a new generation of BMW brand stores as well as the beginning of a comprehensive programme referred to as “Future Retail.”

With Future Retail, the company is looking at three objectives – first, to increase the number of possible contact points with customers and prospects, second, to increase the services and benefits offered in its retail channels, and third, to enhance the retail experience at all touch points.

The Munich-based automaker is also in the process of introducing an additional role to dealers, namely a Product Genius. The PGs – or well-informed sales advisors, if you prefer – will be equipped with a state of the art Information Management System on a tablet device, which will allow them to clearly define a product configuration and offer an in-depth explanation of features supported by visuals and films.

The objective, of course, is to better support customers with in-depth product knowledge as well as enabling the customer to better utilise and configure products in accordance with his or her particular needs. In simpler terms, call it a savvier way to sell a car.

The first markets planned to offer Future Retail, including the Product Genius, are France, UK, China and the Netherlands.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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BMW Connected 6NR apps now available in Malaysia

Paul Tan — Tue, 22 May 2012 06:41:51 +0000

Geeks rejoice – BMW’s suite of ConnectedDrive applications are finally in Malaysia. In case you were wondering about the title of this story, the BMW apps option is codenamed 6NR on the order sheet. Malaysians got a taste of BMW apps of this type first around the time of the MINI Countryman launch – MINI Connected was introduced first, and the MINI Connected app appeared in the Malaysian iOS App Store around that time.

There’s probably a reason for this – MINI Connected was introduced before BMW Connected in the international market, and this might be because the MINI buyer demographic is made up of people who are early adopters, and are more likely to embrace social media, which are some of the features that ConnectedDrive provides.

Look after the jump for the full story.

BMW Connected was launched in the Malaysian iOS App Store around the launch of the F30 3-Series. If you have a recent BMW, you can check if it supports the ConnectedDrive suite of services by looking at the iDrive main menu to see if the word ConnectedDrive appears as a menu item – it’s normally above the Vehicle Info and Setting menu items.

You can use the basic set of ConnectedDrive services by simply opening the BMW Connected app on your iOS device and connected it via USB port in the armrest (not the one in the glovebox). A further set of features such as full iPod Out support (with an all new iPod music GUI with full support for controlling the Genius playlist features) are only available if you purchase a special Media Cradle dock, but we were not able to test this as the F30 328i CBU that we were testing was not equipped with the Media Cradle. But we’ll walk you through the features that we got to try.

One of the first features you’ll notice on the BMW Connected app once plugging your iPhone into the USB port is a fuel reading display. You’ll be able to see your remaining fuel in litres (instead of an analog display), as well as how many km you can go before you’re stranded. This is the status screen, to access more and make things a little more interesting, you click the little BMW apps icon on the bottom right.

This is the main Apps menu screen where you can see what you can do. There’s Web radio which allows you to listen to streaming radio stations from around the world, read RSS news feeds which you can configure from within the app, as well as Facebook and tweet from your phone in a limited capacity – we’ll go into that soon enough.

The Last Mile feature allows you to continue your navigation on foot once you’ve parked your car. I suppose it could also be used as a way for you to remember where you parked your car if you parked it in a large outdoors space – don’t think GPS is accurate enough for in-door car parks.

There’s a huge list of countries of origin for the Web radio function, so you could be tuning into radio stations in Mongolia or Nepal if you really wanted to. The selection starts off by asking you which continent you even goes down to really weird areas like Antartica.

K-pop fans will be able to stream their favorite music in their car directly from the radio stations in South Korea. Even newer Malaysian radio stations such as BFM 89.9 are listed, and if West Malaysians ever wonder what East Malaysian radio stations sound like, you can tune in to stations like Cats FM.

If you’ve been looking closely are the images, you’ll have noticed different bit rates being listed for different stations – the K-pop station above had a 64kbps stream while BFM was pushing out a 32kbps stream. These aren’t going to sound the best on your BMW Professional audio system, but it’s of an acceptable quality if you just want some variety during rush hour.

And of course, the playability of the streams are going to depend on how reliably your mobile phone’s data network will be able to sustain the stream while you are barreling down the highway at 160km/h.

The stations are also tagged by the type of music they play, so if you decide you like a particular style of music, you can browse for similiar stations.

As I mentioned before, the News app allows you to read your RSS feeds via your iDrive screen. You can define what RSS feeds you would like to load via the BMW Connected app on the iPhone, so you don’t have to go through the horror of keying in lengthy RSS feed addresses via the iDrive control knob.

Here’s an obligatory paultan.org RSS feed entry – you don’t have to “read” it – we tried selecting the speaker button and the F30 3-Series actually read out the contents of the RSS text out to us via the car’s built in text to speech feature.

It doesn’t sound very natural or pleasant to listen to though as it’s very robotic, so we don’t expect anyone to use this feature very often.

Other information that you can retrieve from the service include weather reports for the area you are in.

Here’s something interesting to use if you’re driving to neighboring countries or even nearby states – I’d imagine this would be quite useful in Europe where such cross-country (literally) trips are more common – you can look up Wikipedia entries for the area you are in via the Wiki TourGuide app.

For Facebook access, you’ll have to login to Facebook via the BMW Connected app and iDrive will access your Facebook news feed through your iPhone.

You can view Facebook posts by either friends or fan pages, you can get the car to read out the post via the text to speech feature, and you can “like” the post.

As for posting Facebook updates – you’re kind of limited in the sense that you can’t actually use the iDrive control knob to key in your status message.

Instead, you’re limited to a few predefined messages that’s customised to your surroundings – you can tweet where you are based on the car’s GPS data, or you can tweet the ambient temperature of the area you’re in, etc.

The screen where you can read your Twitter feed is also pretty straight forward – Twitter’s short updates fit easily on the screen for you to read, and BMW also displays the user’s Twitter display picture. Your BMW can also read out your tweets to you.

And like the Facebook status updates, updating your Twitter account is also limited to pre-defined messages such as those in the image above.

And of course, the new ConnectedDrive equipped iDrive systems continues to have a built in web browser – something that’s not new but has been on Malaysian spec BMWs around the time when the F10 5-Series was first introduced.

Your data goes through a proxy server in Germany, so sites like Google and Facebook defaults to a German local version. Keying in addresses with the iDrive knob is hard, but at least there’s a Favorites feature so you can pre-define a few websites that you like to visit.

It all seems quite “canggih”, but other than the Web Radio feature which should be very very useful if you’re sick of the endless ads and gotcha calls on local radio, the limited set of truly “connected” functions in Malaysia doesn’t really add much value to the owner’s experience, especially if you need an a smart phone that runs the BMW Connected app to make it all happen. Why not just use Facebook and Twitter on the smart phone and bypass the whole iDrive stuff?

Things are different overseas as there’s an option for a built in modem and SIM card in the car. We also wish the UI worked a little faster – it seems to take awhile to load screens especially when it’s requesting for data – after all we’re in a society where we’re spoiled by our very quick responding iOS and Android phones.

There’s also alot more you can do with your BMW overseas – for example did you know that in certain countries you can lock and unlock your BMW from your phone, find your car remotely, and activate the lights remotely via a My BMW Remote iOS app?

You can also set a schedule for your climate control to turn on and off, so you could pre-cool down your car interior before you get into it for example. That’s the full potential of BMW Assist and ConnectedDrive, too bad it’s all not available in Malaysia!

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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Drop by at Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi this weekend to get special deals on the E90 BMW 3-Series [AD]

Harvinder Sidhu — Sat, 19 May 2012 03:08:13 +0000

As mentioned previously, Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi is having a special financing package for the E90 BMW 3-Series, which has been replaced by the all-new F30 BMW 3-Series. The 7-year financing package is applicable to the BMW 320i and the BMW 323i sedans.

For the 320i, you can drive one home for just RM1,888 per month while the 6-cylinder 323i can be owned from RM1,988 per month. Both models benefit from various features including BMW iDrive which gives you navigation, iPod playability, Bluetooth and so on. So if you are looking to replace you current ride, you may consider these two models

For more information, please call Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi at 03-9223 3200.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

New Enhanced Black Panel for BMW F10 from July 2012

Paul Tan — Sun, 13 May 2012 16:34:39 +0000

A regular Black Panel display

BMW updates the production specs of their cars twice a year – and for the 07/12 production update they have something nice in plan for whoever’s ordering the F10 5-Series – a new optional Enhanced Black Panel which features a completely reconfigurable instrument panel on the Enhanced Black Panel’s 10.25 inch display.

BMW’s new Enhanced Black Panel dipslay

The arrangement of the information is familiar to those who drive the current range of BMWs – two chrome rings on the black surface, flanked by a fuel level and temperature displays. The temperature and fuel displays remain visible when the ignition is turned off, but the rest of the display blacks out.

Something interesting happens when you switch to certain drive modes – as you can see above, ECO PRO mode brings on a blue theme which replaces the RPM meter with a huge fuel economy meter – essentially a giant version of the small meter that’s usually positioned below the RPM meter.

Switch to Sport mode and the display turns red, with the the speedometer turning digital and the RPM meter having a huge gear indicator.

The F10 is currently offered with two different instrument panels in Malaysia – the 520d and 520i come with a lower end Black Panel cluster which only has a color display in the bottom right section. The 528i and 535i gets the full Black Panel display – the kind that goes blank when you turn the ignition off. Given that we don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing options when it comes to ordering cars in Malaysia, chances of this optional feature appearing in cars sold by BMW Malaysia would depend entirely on them.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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BMW 114i debuts with 3-door BMW 1-Series hatch body

Paul Tan — Sun, 13 May 2012 13:16:24 +0000

BMW has announced a new 114i engine variant for the new 1-Series, which slots in under the previous baseline petrol model, the 116i.

The most affordable (and lowest powered) 1-er is powered by a variant of the 1.6 litre TwinPower Turbo 4 cylinder engine as the 136hp 116i and 170hp 118i, except in the 114i it’s tuned to make 102 hp at 4,000rpm and 180Nm from as low as 1,100rpm.

It looks like BMW is pretty set on a 100% turbocharged line-up for every single model in its range, even the low-end models. And 180Nm from 1,100rpm would mean good torque from low RPM, despite it running out of breath higher up in the rev range with a low peak.

Its TwinPower Turbo engines now come in various sizes – 1.6 litre, 2.0 litre, 3.0 litre, 4.4 litre and 6.0 litre, and the typical BMW engine size notation doesn’t reflect cubic capacity any longer – we’ve got 14i, 16i, 18i, 20i, 23i, 28i, 30i, 40i, 50i, and 60i all from the mentioned 5 engine displacement sizes.

Look after the jump for a gallery of the new 3-door bodystyle.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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BMW M135i – if you ever need 320hp in a 3-door hatch!

Paul Tan — Sun, 13 May 2012 11:44:22 +0000

The 3-Series isn’t the only car in the BMW range to get a new body type today – BMW also announced the new 3-door body for the 1-Series hatchback, including the hot blue car you see above – the new M135i, the four model in the BMW Performance Automobiles range, which previously only included the M550xd, the X5 M50d and the X6 M50d.

Under the hood is a twin turbocharged 3.0 litre six cylinder turbo engine, making 320 horsepower. This is the N55 though, but the tuned up version of the N54 that was installed in the 1 M Coupe – that car is a different class altogether and a true M car, while the M135i is an M Performance car.

The M135i gets bespoke looks as compared to the rest of the 1-Series range, and like the previously launched BMW M Performance cars, in place of fog lamps, you get air inlets decorated with a signature horizontal slat in metallic Ferric Grey. It’s available with either an 8-speed auto or a 6-speed dry sump manual.

The specs seem a little less exciting though as compared to the 50d 5-er, X5 and X6 trio – those cars introduced a powerful new tri-turbo diesel engine, but a 320 horsepower and 450Nm tune of the N55 is nothing we’ve never seen before. It does have M-specific suspension tuning, and is delivered with a fixed caliper four piston M Sport Brake System with oversized discs.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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F31 BMW 3-Series Touring body makes world debut!

Paul Tan — Sun, 13 May 2012 09:51:11 +0000

The new F31 Touring has been unveiled – the second body type in BMW’s new 3-Series range. Like the sedan, the new 3-er Touring will come in various lines – Modern Line, Luxury Line, Sport Line and M Sport, as well as a basic “fleet car” spec like the one on the CBU 320d sedan launched in Malaysia recently.

The Touring tailgate opens into a rear storage area with a low loading sill 62cm from the ground, that now stores 35 litres more capacity compared to the outgoing E91, and BMW claims this is more space than any of its rivals. The rear bench splits and folds 40:20:40 to extend the storage area into the passenger cabin.

The rear window also opens separately from the rest of the tailgate for convenient loading of small items. Like the F30 sedan, the Touring also gets the Smart Opener feature, which basically means you can give an area under the centre of the rear bumper a light kick to raise the tailgate, in case your hands are full with goods.

The range kicks off with three engines – two turbodiesels – a powerful 258hp/560Nm 3.0 litre six pot 330d and a 184hp/380Nm 2.0 litre four pot 320d, and a turbocharged 2.0 litre four pot petrol – a 245hp/350Nm 328i. All engines meet Euro 5 standards, and the 320d can also be specced to Euro 6 standards.

The four cylinder engines can be had with either a 6-speed manual or a 8-speed auto, while the 330d is available as an automatic only. Both transmissions have Auto Start-Stop for reduced fuel consumption.

BMW has also announced that more engine variants will be added later – a 320i, a 318d and a 316d. Curiously, no mention of a 335i…

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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Driving home a BMW is easier than ever with Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi’s E90 3-Series financing pack: RM1,888 per month!

Harvinder Sidhu — Fri, 11 May 2012 04:26:22 +0000

Is it the time to upgrade to a new set of wheels and you are hovering around the RM2,000 per month mark? Well you can now include a BMW to your list with Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi’s latest financing package for the E90 3-Series.

The package applies to the E90 BMW 320i which you can drive home for just RM1,888 per month and the E90 BMW 323i which can be yours for RM1,988 monthly. The former gives you 156 hp and 200 Nm of torque from its 2.0 litre 4-pot engine while the 323i gives you a sweet 2.5 litre 6-cylinder unit with 190 hp and 230 Nm of torque.

Both models also come with BMW’s iDrive system which gives you navigation and more. For further information, please feel free to visit Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi or call 03-9223 3200.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

Own an E90 BMW 3-Series from as low as RM1,888 with Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi’s attractive financing package

Harvinder Sidhu — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:59:16 +0000

With the local introduction of the all new F30 BMW 3-Series took place just months ago, Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi is set to off load the previous generation E90 BMW 3-Series with the introduction of attractive financing packages where you can walk home with a pre-registered 2012 E90 320i from as low as RM1,888 per month.

Also available is the pre-registered 2012 E90 323i which is being offered at RM1,988 monthly. To learn more about this interesting package, feel free to contact Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi at 03-9223 3200.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

BMW Z4 – next-gen is in the works and due in 2015

Chris Ng — Wed, 09 May 2012 04:33:26 +0000

BMW is lining up the Porsche Boxster in its sights and will do so with the next-generation Z4, according to a report from Insideline. The report quotes well-placed company sources, who also say the new Z4 will be sportier than the previous versions, making it more of a driver’s car than the current Z4 and the previous Z3.

The next Z4 will go through some design changes. The new car will have its long hood shortened, but it will have minimal impact on the overall design of the car. It seems that there are a lot of people out there who like the shape of the current model, and the German carmaker does not want to turn away current fans.

The report also says that the current four-cylinder turbocharged N20 engine, which powers the current Z4, can also be found in the next one. The lighter engine will give the two-seater roadster a more favourable weight distribution for better handling performance.

The new Z4 is planned for a 2015 launch date, though little else can be pried from the report.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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BMW and Hyundai rumoured to be in engine tie-up talks

Anthony Lim — Tue, 08 May 2012 05:13:57 +0000

Some news on the cooperation and partnership front. The latest talk about bedfellows concerns BMW and Hyundai – according to reports, the two companies are supposedly discussing a possible tie-up in engine development and other areas. Talks are at an early stage, said a source close to the matter.

Automobil Produktion, a German industry publication, had reported last week that Chung Euisun, Hyundai chairman Chung Mongkoo’s son, met top BMW personnel in Munich to discuss sharing engine development costs.

The sum reportedly goes to the tune of one to two billion euros. Another source said that both parties had been discussing a comprehensive alliance, including jointly developing an engine and sharing development costs equally.

The need to meet requirements of stricter European Union carbon-emission norms in 2020 means companies have to spend considerably in research and development of new conventional and alternative energy powertrains.

In addressing the tie-up talk, BMW dismissed the speculation it might look to add another technology partner beyond Peugeot, Toyota and possibly General Motors, with chief executive Norbert Reithofer telling reporters that further cooperation partners are currently not foreseen.

A Hyundai Motor spokesman added there were no alliance talks or meetings between senior company officials, stating the speculation was groundless.

Meanwhile, analysts said some form of tie-up with Hyundai would be beneficial to BMW, since its 1.6 million vehicle sales base limits its scale compared to Audi, which can share development costs with parent company VW.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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BMW X1 facelifted – xLine and Sport Line introduced

Paul Tan — Mon, 07 May 2012 03:30:09 +0000

After two and a half years and over 275,000 units, the BMW X1 gets its midlife facelift. The smallest X now sports revised looks, an upgraded interior, a revised engine portfolio, new features, as well as the introduction of BMW Lines, like the F30 3-Series. BMW will now introduce the X1 in America, which never got the original.

No difference at a glance, but the new X1 has a new tripartite air intake, and the foglamps are now level with an extra crease line that forms a discreet scoop along the upper edge of the lights and continues into the side walls. The increased surface area painted in body colour adds to the car’s elegance, says Munich. The new headlights feature a chrome strip and an LED accent light.

From the side, you’ll see that the indicators have moved from the body to the wing mirrors. The rear gets some repositioning and tidying up. The effect is a slimmer area for the black plastic elements and more prominence for the underguard, which has a new surface. The reflectors now “float”.

Inside, BMW says that the side of the centre console angled towards the driver is now shallower and boasts a high-grade surface quality. The panel for the sound and climate system controls are now in high-gloss black, while chrome accents on the side surrounds of the onboard monitor highlight the screen. There are flashes of chrome elsewhere, too.

The range of engines comprises three petrol and five diesel units. The former starts with a 2.0L naturally aspirated four-cylinder in the sDrive18i with 150 hp and 200 Nm (0-100 in 9.7 sec).

The other two 2.0L four-pot units feature BMW TwinPower Turbo tech. The one powering the 20i provides 184 hp and 270 Nm, enabling 0-100 km/h in 7.4 (RWD) and 7.8 seconds (AWD) respectively. The top dog xDrive28i boasts 245 hp and 350 Nm, taking just 6.1 seconds to do the century sprint.

In the diesel department, there are five output levels and two variants of the BMW TwinPower Turbo package, from the new entry-level sDrive16d (116 hp/260 Nm) to the xDrive25d with 218 hp and 450 Nm. This latter does 0-100 km/h in 6.8 seconds and fuel consumption of 5.9 litres per 100 km.

There’s also a new sDrive20d EfficientDynamics Edition which looks like a great balance of performance and economy – 163 hp, 380 Nm, 8.3 seconds and 4.5 litres per 100 km FC. Manual only, though.

All engines are combined as standard with a six-speed manual. Alternatively, all variants – with the exception of the sDrive18i, sDrive16d and sDrive20d EfficientDynamics Edition – can be optionally combined with an eight-speed automatic. The base petrol model can be had with a six-speed auto.

The final drive and the power divider of the xDrive AWD system has been optimised for efficiency and all variants come with Brake Energy Regeneration and Auto Start-Stop. Already in the 3-and 5-Series, the ECO PRO function, which supports a relaxed, economy-optimised driving style, is now present in the X1.

For the new lines, the xLine comes with underguard elements for the front and rear aprons, side skirt covers, air intake and kidney grille slats in Titanium Silver matte finish, as well as exclusive 18-inch alloys in Y-spoke design.

Inside, there are xLine entry strips, a sports leather steering wheel with multifunction buttons, interior trim strips in Dark Copper high-gloss and new ‘Carve’ seats with hardwearing fabric for the seat surface and leather for the side supports.

Sport Line X1s have their kidney grille slats in gloss black, tailpipe finishers in Black Chrome, exclusive alloys, entry strips with “BMW Sport” lettering, sport seats upholstered in anthracite fabric, red stitching and interior trim in high-gloss black. Optionally available are leather sports seats in a choice of two colours, while interior trim strips in aluminium are an optional extra exclusive to the Sport Line.

Full high-res gallery after the jump.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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BMW’s i8 Concept blows the top off at Auto China 2012

Jonathan James Tan — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:50 +0000

Making its first global appearance in Beijing is the BMW i8 Spyder Concept, which is an open top variant of the i8 plug-in hybrid that first debuted at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.

It is the third variation of the i8 to be launched so far, but the first to feature the eDrive emblem on the rear. It will be a badge that all future BMW i models with an electric motor, lithium-ion battery and motor management system will proudly carry.

The i8 Spyder’s hybrid powertrain remains unchanged from its coupe sister’s – an electric motor powers the front wheels while a 1.5 litre three-cylinder petrol engine powers the rear wheels. Total output is 350 hp and top speed is limited at 250 km/h.

It is, however, slightly shorter both in wheelbase and overall length than the coupe. Also, due to its roll-over hoops and solid metal doors, the i8 Spyder is 100 kg heavier than the coupe, and therefore takes five seconds to sprint to 100 km/h, compared to the coupe’s 4.6. Not so significant then, as shortcomings go.

A long and flat 7.2 kWh lithium-ion battery along the bottom length of the car gives it a front/rear weight distribution of nearly 50:50, as well as a range of 35 km on electric power alone. A full charge takes two hours.

BMW says it plans to have the i8 in production by 2014.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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BMW 5 Series wins award, ActiveHybrid announced

Chris Ng — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 03:04:02 +0000

The BMW 5 Series adds another feather to BMW’s already very feathered hat. The research firm Frost & Sullivan has named the 5 Series ‘Luxury Car of the Year’ at the 2012 Frost & Sullivan Malaysia Excellence Awards.

The award recognizes outstanding achievements and superior performance in areas such as leadership technological innovation, customer service and strategic product development.

This award is now shares trophy space in its cabinet with more than 70 international awards. Other awards won includes ‘Red Dot Design award’, ‘2010 Good Design Award’, ‘iF Product Design Award’, ‘Germany’s Favourite Car’, ‘Car of the Year’ in UK and other countries including Malaysia.

Mr. Geoffrey Briscoe, Managing Director of BMW Group Malaysia said that the success of the 5 Series in Malaysia is only matched by its sales success. The car sold 3,710 units since its introduction in 2010.

Briscoe then gives us something to chew on by saying that the BMW ActiveHybrid models will be introduced this year starting with the BMW ActiveHybrid 5. He adds that BMW will bring in the full range of ActiveHybrid vehicles shortly after. This means that we will welcoming the BMW ActiveHybrid 3 and the BMW ActiveHybrid 7 sooner than you think.

When that becomes a reality, BMW will have a complete portfolio of long range, fuel-efficient cars, which include the Advanced Diesel models. This will be an interesting year for BMW.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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China overtakes USA as BMW Group’s biggest market

Danny Tan — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 06:21:49 +0000

China is a goldmine for almost every luxury brand out there, from Louis Vuitton to Ferrari. Now, the world’s largest auto market has overtaken the United States as the BMW Group’s largest market, according to figures released by the Munich-based company.

In the first quarter of this year, the BMW Group, which produces BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce vehicles, sold 80,014 vehicles in China, an increase of 37% from the same period last year. By contrast, the group sold 75,729 units during the same period in America, up 17% year-on-year. BMW’s domestic market is third, up 2% to 66,222 units.

Expect to see more upward movement, as BMW has just launched the long wheelbase version of its F30 3-Series for China. The Shenyang-made Three has a 110 mm longer wheelbase to cater to Chinese premium buyers, who generally prefer big cabins.

This news comes as no surprise, since China is already the largest market for BMW’s premium segment rival Audi. Mercedes-Benz, the other German heavyweight, counts the Middle Kingdom as its third largest market after USA and Germany.

Japanese premium brands such as Lexus, Infiniti and Acura are way behind the Germans in China, as they don’t produce locally and lack brand cachet. Some are trying to address the situation – for instance, Nissan’s Infiniti is looking to sell 100,000 units in China by 2016, five times the amount it managed last year.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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RHB Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi Experience Days: test drive the latest BMW range including the all-new BMW 3 Series this weekend!

Harvinder Sidhu — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 04:00:03 +0000

Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi and RHB will be holding a test drive event at the RHB Centre, Jalan Tun Razak this weekend, on the 14th and 15th of April 2012.

During the event, visitors will get to test drive the latest range of BMW’s local offering including the 5 Series, the X lineup and the fully imported all-new BMW 3 Series, which is still hot and fresh from its launch.

During the event, RHB will also showcase attractive packages that cover auto financing, insurance or takaful and more. To RSVP, simply call BMW Voice at 1-800-88-3000 and select your preferred session (each session is 1.5 hours long).

Refreshments will be served and limited seats available, so call quick!

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

Long wheelbase BMW 3-Series – made in China for China

Danny Tan — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:25:47 +0000

As expected, BMW is giving China a long wheelbase version of the F30 3-Series. To debut at the upcoming Beijing show, the “Li” variants of the F30 will be made at the new Shenyang production plant in China to cater to Chinese customers, who prefer more rear legroom in their German sedans.

For this LWB version, BMW has stretched the F30′s wheelbase by 110 mm, from 2,810 mm to 2,920 mm. The result shows “conspicuously elegant design” and has “best rear seat travel comfort” in its class, says Munich. Chinese customers can choose from the 335Li, 328Li, or 320Li, all featuring BMW TwinPower Turbo technology.

In Malaysia, the sixth-generation 3-Series was launched last month – click here to read the launch report. Also captured at the local launch is a high-res 72-pic gallery of the 3-Series lineage, as well as a demo unit showcasing optional BMW M Performance kit.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi’s Weekend Specials: Attractive offers for the BMW X3 20i, BMW 520i as well as for the 2012 E90 323i and 320d!

Harvinder Sidhu — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:11:18 +0000

Another weekend is approaching and it is time for attractive packages from Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi, for your quest to drive home a Munich beauty.

The dealership will be offering interesting trade-in value of your current car when you purchase BMW’s N20-powered turbocharged models including the BMW X3 20i and the BMW 520i.

While ushering the F30 which is still fresh from its local launch, Auto Bavaria is off-loading the 2012 BMW 323i and its diesel-powered counterpart, the 320d from the E90 range at attractive prices!

For more information, feel free to give the dealership a call at 03-9223 3200.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

Castrol EDGE Experience Nurburgring – The Sequel concluded! Tan Seng Yew heads to the Green Hell!

Harvinder Sidhu — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 06:42:44 +0000

The second year of the Castrol EDGE Experience Nurburgring has concluded following a 2-month long campaign which included a virtual Nurburgring race in a BMW M3® on Castrol Malaysia Facebook where the top 20 finalists were selected to battle it out in a BMW at the exclusive Castrol EDGE Experience Malaysia-Nurburgring challenge at the Malaysian Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS).

More than 4,800 virtual racers competed in a virtual BMW M3® via the Castrol Malaysia Facebook. The virtual Nurburgring race recorded massive success with over 390,000 virtual laps raced, equivalent to more than 9,700 hours of gaming time. Some of the stats from the virtual race were absolutely incredible, with the total distance recorded being a massive 47,000 km! That’s more than the distance it takes to travel around the world.

During the Castrol EDGE Experience Malaysia-Nurburgring Challenge, 20 finalists along with 10 members of the media battled it out in BMWs in the ultimate test of driving skills to win the coveted driving experience of a lifetime at the Nurburgring. The Malaysian representative would have the opportunity to push a BMW M3® at the Green Hell. Definitely not a virtual game no more!

The 1-day exclusive challenge kicked off with a theory session, followed by advanced driving training sessions which allowed all participants to sharpen their skills before battling each other out in a BMW 325i Sport. There were three modules, meant to prepare the participants for the ‘real’ challenge later on in the day (and to of course, prepare the winner bound for the Green Hell).

Among the modules held were Steering Dynamics, Straight Line Braking, Obstacle Avoidance and Understeer/Oversteer. The latter proved to be an interesting module as finalists had to disable the ESP (Electronic Stability Programme) to experience the ‘real’ oversteer and understeer experience. Exciting stuff indeed!

After a quick lunch, the challenge begun! Finalists were eager to show of their skills. All wanted to emerge as the “strongest” driver. They had to undergo three battles: Advanced Autokhana, Advanced Obstacle Avoidance and Advance Driving Over Skid Pad. For Advanced Autokhana, finalists had to veer around a course which included a slalom range. It was a test of precise steering and throttle inputs. Of course good hand-eye coordination couldn’t hurt!

Sounds easy? Well, not so, especially when the score cards consisted of both precision and speed! For Advanced Obstacle Avoidance, finalists had to slam on the brakes and avoid a set of cones at high speed. The cones were placed super close, making it tough for drivers to maneuver around, much less at the speed required. Points were deducted for those who hit the cones or was not going at the ‘right’ speed. Trust me folks, this one is tougher than it looks.

Finally, the challenge that kept drivers at the edge of their seats: Advanced Driving Over Skid Pad. In this challenge, finalists had to drive along an autokhana track which included a slippery oily hairpin (and with the ESP completely disabled!). Catch 22? Drive too fast and the car would oversteer, which would lead to the driver losing time. Drive too slow? Well, the challenge is based on the quickest time possible! The key here, is very fine steering and throttle inputs.

And to add to the already challenging exercises, the rain came down pouring making the track more slippery and even much tougher to maneuver. It brings out the skills and confidence of the finalists to tackle both sunny & rainy condition while battling it out on the track, just like the actual experience at the Green Hell where the winner gets to experience sun on one side of the track and rainy condition on the other side of the track at the same time. Unbelievable experience!

Finally, after a grueling day in which finalists battled it out tooth and nail, Tan Seng Yaw proved to be the “Strongest” and emerged victorious with a highest overall score among the finalists. This month, he will be heading to the Nurburgring to experience the legendary circuit with an iconic machine, the BMW M3® , equipped with a powerful 414 hp 4.4 litre V8 lubricated by Castrol EDGE that exemplifies just how strong the new Castrol EDGE engineered with Titanium Fluid Strength Technology™ can perform under extreme pressure, even under the most grueling and demanding conditions of powering around the track with maximum revs at times.

David Ng Chow Siong came in second, walking home with a cool Castrol EDGE Nurburgring Home Experience which includes the Castrol EDGE Apiga AP1 Professional Racing Simulator + Sony PS3 + Sony Bravia 40’’ LCD TV. All finalists walked home with something in hand, ranging from the Tag Heuer Kimi Raikkonen watch to various Apple products. The media prize went to Ian Khong, who won the new HP netbook.

The next day, 17th March 2012, the Castrol EDGE Nurburgring Car Club Challenge was held. The driving challenges were the same as Day 1, but exclusively for car clubs. Car club finalists included BMW Club Malaysia, Team Street, MY Forte Club, Lancer GT, Vios 07 Club, MyVI Motorsport Club, Saga Club Malaysia and Inspira Club. Each car club was represented by 3 members, whose points collectively would determine the winner. Bragging rights were at stake. It was no doubt a day of pushing the car and one’s skills to the limit.

After a day of intense steering and braking, MY Forte Club proved to be the most consistent and emerged victorious, winning their car club RM5,000 cash and bragging rights to be the ‘Strongest’. First runner-up was Vios 07 Club, winning their car club RM3000 cash and MyVI Motorsport Club coming in third with RM1500 cash. All finalists received a carton of Castrol EDGE, engineered with Titanium Fluid strength Technology™, Castrol’s strongest and most advanced performance oil.

Indeed an exciting 2 days for all finalists. Ultimately, there can only be one winner for the Castrol EDGE Experience Nurburgring: The Sequel. Next week, Tan Seng Yaw will head over to the Green Hell to drive the BMW M3® around 72 frighteningly fast corners, truly a lifetime money-can’t-buy experience! Together with other winners around the world, he will have the chance to power drift, floor it on the hot laps, weave around the slalom course, and receive guided instructions from BMW motorsport racers.

For those who did not come through, fret not. Head over to Castrol Malaysia Facebook to find out what other exciting activities that Castrol has in store for you. Who knows, you may stand a chance to win a dream trip to watch UEFA EURO 2012™ live in Poland instead!

Check out a mega photo gallery from the event after the jump!

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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VIDEO: F30 BMW 3-Series Malaysian TVC (Sport Line)

Paul Tan — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 07:27:34 +0000

Here’s BMW Malaysia’s launch TVC for the newly launched F30 BMW 3-Series, currently available in CBU form as a 320d, 328i and 335i. The 320d is a “line-less” model – it’s the base model, while the Luxury and Sport lines on the 328i and 335i adds different variations to the car to represent the ‘mood’ that the car is supposed to portray.

The Luxury line has more chrome decorations (such as around the window trim), and the interior trim as well as car key fob have a more traditional BMW looks – wood with a silver-ish liner, while the Sports Line uses more black trim in place of the chrome, and the interior has some flashy red around the meter panel and dash trim.

The car in the video above is a Melbourne Red car in Sports Line trim.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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BMW i8 Spyder Concept – topless i8 set for Beijing debut

Danny Tan — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 04:55:04 +0000

This is the BMW i8 Spyder Concept that will debut at the upcoming Beijing motor show. This topless i8 comes barely a year after BMW wheeled out the i3 and i8 concepts at Frankfurt. The i8 also famously starred in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, driven by Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt.

Described as an open top with genuine sports car performance, but with fuel consumption no higher than you would expect from a small car, the i8 Spyder has a slightly shorter wheelbase and overall length compared to the fixed-top i8.

Highlights include the upward-swivelling windowless doors and a range of purpose-oriented on-board equipment such as electric kickboards stowed under a transparent tailgate.

Based on BMW’s LifeDrive architecture, the i8 Spyder Concept is a plug-in hybrid powered by an eDrive drivetrain combining an electric motor and a petrol combustion engine.

The 131 hp electric motor on the front axle works in tandem with a turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine sending 223 hp through the rear wheels.

Both units are in-house BMW developments and generate an aggregate system output of 354 hp and 550 Nm. That is enough to accelerate the car from 0-100 km/h in five seconds flat. This performance is married to super low fuel consumption of just three litres of unleaded per 100 km!

The lithium-ion battery can be fully charged from a domestic power socket in less than two hours. The pack is located in the “energy tunnel” between the front and rear axle modules to keep the car’s centre of gravity as low as possible – the i8 Spyder also features BMW’s famous 50:50 weight distribution. Fully charged, the car can travel 30 km on electric power alone.

We’ve covered the i3/i8 launch extensively – click here for the full story, gallery and various videos explaining Munich’s i sub-brand.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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BMW F30 3-Series launch: BMW M Performance kit display

Paul Tan — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:17:56 +0000

BMW showcased this kitted up BMW M Performance F30 328i at the Malaysian launch of the new 3-Series. From what we can observe, there are a few BMW M Performance items fitted onto the car, which you’ll eventually be able to order to fit onto your F30 from the local BMW dealerships. This is BMW’s attempt at entering the retrofit accessory market.

It’s not the full range though – the car wears the normal Sport line bodykit instead of the BMW M Performance look that’s full of carbon fibre, and there aren’t even the carbon fibre wing mirrors or the carbon fibre rear spoiler.

Not all is lost – the car wears the BMW M Performance black strips on white paint, and those wheels are the 20 inch Style 405M Bicolour BMW M Performance wheels, which cover BMW M Performance 19″ brakes with 4-pot calipers at the front and 2-pot calipers at the rear.

On the interior, we sighted the BMW M Performance Alcantara steering wheel, the variant with the red marking indicating the centre position, but there’s also another version with a race display which is a little LCD at the top of the steering wheel which can act as an additional multi-function display. The interior also has BMW M Performance parts on the dash trim, gear lever and handbrake lever. There are a few things missing here as well such as BMW M Performance pedals, etc.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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GALLERY: BMW 3-Series lineage display at the F30 launch

Danny Tan — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 07:49:53 +0000

At the F30 3-Series launch last week, BMW put on display the rich lineage that the sixth-generation car has, just like what they did for the F10 5-Series launch some years back. The previous generations and history of the BMW 3-Series also appeared in full page ads in local dailies.

On display at the Mines Convention Centre were all five previous generations of the sports sedan. The first 3-Series (E21) made its debut back in 1975, followed by the replacement E30 that we still see on the road today. Speaking of that, our Harvinder will be parting with his beautiful E30 Coupe very soon, with a heavy heart. Don’t worry bro, we will be there for you!

The 1990s saw the introduction of the E36 3-Series, which was significantly larger than the 3er of the 80s. The modern era continued with the curvy E46, before the baton was passed to the E90 that came out in 2005. Fast forward seven years, and we have a new chapter.

Also invited to the family party was the BMW 2002, which was part of the Neue Klasse models that propelled BMW on to the world stage, cementing the Munich firm’s reputation as a maker of sporty cars. The 2002 was the precursor to the 3-Series.

Click here to read about the rich heritage of the BMW 3-Series. Not as titillating as the one posted by colleague Anthony earlier, but I hope you enjoy this gallery nonetheless

Continue reading to check out the full gallery.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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BMW and Toyota to work together on battery research

Paul Tan — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:57:25 +0000

The BMW Group and Toyota Motor Corporation have officially announced that they have signed an agreement to collaboratively research next generation lithium ion battery cells, following an MoU signed in December last year. Research work begins immediately, and will focus on increasing the performance and capacity of li-ion battery cells via the usage of new combinations of materials for cathodes, anodes and electrolytes.

A fleet of BMW ActiveE electric cars – read our test drive story.

This is not the first time BMW and Toyota have collaborated – they also entered into a contract where BMW will supply Toyota its 1.6 litre and 2.0 litre diesel engines to the Japanese company beginning 2014.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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BMW F30 335i Race Car: World’s first 3 Series racer

Chris Ng — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:01:15 +0000

You’d expect Germany to come up with something like this first seeing how BMW is in, well, Germany. But no. This is the F30 BMW 335i racing car and it belongs to BMW South Africa (BMW SA) and its partner ADF Motorsport. BMW SA said that this is the first F30 3 Series racing car in the world and its debut race will be at the Wesbank Super Series at Killarney in Cape Town on March 31.

ADF Motorsport is responsible for the development of the car; the drivers are the 2010 Production Car Champion Anthony Taylor and Etienne van der Lindec. It took the team less than two months and about USD260,000 to build the racer, according to team principal Donovan van Heerden.

The F30 will be racing with the N55 TwinPower turbocharged engine with no power upgrades. You read that right, and that is due to the SA Production car regulations. However, the engine management system, exhaust and turbocharger have been modified to produce 402 hp and 600 Nm of torque.

As per norm, the car gets plenty of carbon-fibre parts from the M Performance catalogue, which makes it tip the scales at just over 1,360 kg. Which means, by using the M Performance catalog, you could make your own 335i – which was launched recently – into the car you see in the pictures. Cool? I definitely think so.

Read the full story here: bmwblog.com.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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BMW F30 3-Series launched – 335i, 328i, 320d from RM269k

Danny Tan — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:15:46 +0000

The sixth-generation BMW 3 Series was revealed to the media this morning at the Mines Convention Centre. Codenamed F30, the latest compact sports sedan from Munich is available in three variants here – 335i, 328i and 320d.

The two petrol powered units can be had in ‘Luxury’ or ‘Sport’ trim lines. ‘Modern’ is not offered here, and the 320d gets no such choice, appearing quite basic in spec compared to its petrol siblings.

The trim lines are being introduced for the first time in the F30, which made its market debut in Europe just last month – good job to BMW Group Malaysia for introducing it so soon after! Sport and Luxury trims feature different lower front bumper designs and 18-inch wheel designs, among other details.

The Sport Line car’s kidney grille, window frame and and tailpipe trim are finished in gloss black, as opposed to chrome for Luxury. There’s also a small badge on the fenders that spells out the trim. The red car you see here is obviously the Sport.

Inside, Sport Line comes with sports seats, sports steering wheel, red stitching (steering and seats) and red accents on the dash – the latter is repeated on the key fob, quite a cool touch. There are also additional rings on the two dials.

Luxury Line features a “selection of classic colours”, chrome accents and wood trim. Many will opt for visually aggressive Sport, but I personally find Luxury very handsome in its own way, like a mini F10. Click here and here for hi-res galleries of the Sport Line and Luxury Line.

Moving on, under the 335i’s hood is BMW’s award winning TwinPower Turbo 3.0L inline-six with 306 hp and 400 Nm, good enough to propel the saloon to a 0-100 km/h time of just 5.5 seconds. Unlike before, this is the only six-cylinder unit available in a new all-turbo engine range.

Like the six-pot, the 328i’s 2.0L four-cylinder engine has twin-scroll turbo, direct injection and Valvetronic. It makes 245 hp and 350 Nm of torque, and is not much slower with a century sprint time of 6.1 seconds. That’s eight tenths faster than a Golf GTI, mind you.

The 320d is a great all rounder, marrying 184 hp/380 Nm output and 0-100 km/h in 7.6 seconds to a claimed fuel consumption figure of just 4.5 litres per 100 km. All self-shifting F30s use an eight-speed automatic gearbox.

Another new feature is ECO PRO mode, which can be activated from the “Driving Experience Control” button. Doing so reduces engine power delivery, air con output and non essential electric comfort functions to deliver up to 20% extra fuel savings. The savings can be seen as “bonus kilometres” added to the car’s range, so you can pat yourself on the back. Auto Start/Stop is also standard across the range. It can be switched off, if you wish.

BMW ConnectedDrive has been upgraded to include BMW ConnectedDrive Apps, an interface system which integrates the car’s Video Playback and iPod Plug-In functions to allow direct access to web radio, Facebook and Twitter directly through the on-board Control Display. This is enabled on the 328i and 335i.

The range topper adds on HUD and Variable Sport Steering that changes steering ratio based on angle.

The F30 range starts from RM268,800 for the 320d, moving on to RM309,800 for the 328i. The range topping 335i will set you back RM488,800. All prices are on the road, without insurance, but with BMW Service + Repair Inclusive.

Like how BMW Malaysia always does it, the initial batch of around 450 cars will be CBU imported units. It will take around three months from now for the CKD programme to start. The locally assembled units should be more competitively priced, with more kit for the money, but CKD prices have not been finalised as we type.

Click here to read our comprehensive test drive report of the new 3 Series from Spain.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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BMW Classic to remanufacture Original BMW 328 gearbox

Anthony Lim — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:07:40 +0000

We read about the return of an old name earlier. Now, something new for the old. In this case, it’s a brand new gearbox for the Original BMW 328, which celebrated its 75th anniversary last year.

BMW Classic has commissioned the remanufacture of gear-wheel kits for the original Hurth gearbox installed in the car in the 1930s, which featured first and second gears that were not synchronised, and third and fourth gears that were.

Over the years, the existing gearboxes have pretty much been modified and optimised from the original configuration, and the biggest challenge was establishing the actual status of the original.

Together with Classic’s experts and external specialists, gearbox specialists ZF Friedrichshafen has banded together to work on getting things closer to the original status from the 1930s, and it’s all enough to give the project a status akin to prototype construction for modern gearboxes.

The first prototypes have already been installed in BMW Classic’s works vehicles for endurance testing, and deliveries to customers should begin at the end of this year or early 2013.

The reinvention is borne out of necessity – of the 464 examples of the BMW 328 ever built, around 200 are stiill in existence, some 120 of which are in Germany. You can imagine that there’ll be plenty of owners lining up for the new kits.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.

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Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi offers special discounts for the BMW 320i Sports

Harvinder Sidhu — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:57:21 +0000

Yes, the launch of the all-new F30 BMW 3-Series is just around the corner, as we’ve started to catch the F30 in the flesh on at least two occasions. With that said, it’s also no surprise that the outgoing E90 3-Series is being offered with attractive discounts and promotions.

Following last weekend’s successful sales campaign of the BMW 323i at Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi, where all units were sold out at interesting prices, the dealership is now offering pre-registered units of the BMW 320i Sport at very special prices. Not only that, these very limited units are being offered with 3 years of BSRI, which of course stands for BMW Service + Repair Inclusive. For more information, you can call Auto Bavaria Sg. Besi at 03-9223 3200.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 27 May 12 15:30:58 +0000.