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BMW EfficientDynamics Showcase at Pavillion

October 20, 2011 at 8:49 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Local News

BMW Group Malaysia today launched the BMW EfficientDynamics showcase at Pavillion, Bukit Bintang, with the centrepiece of the exhibit being the BMW Active E electric coupe that we test drove last week. Read our test drive report to find out more about the EV coupe.

“The BMW Active E is BMW’s next systematic step towards an emission-free mobility solution and demonstrates our leadership and commitment in Sustainable Innovation as facilitated through the BMW EfficientDynamics strategy,” said BMW Malaysia’s MD Geoffrey Briscoe.

The showcase intends to provide Malaysians an understanding of the various technologies that the premium automotive industry employs to improve fuel efficiency and allow for greener motoring.

“The Malaysian government’s extension of full exemption of import duty and excise duty on hybrid and electric cars until 2013 is an important first step as it also initiates the momentum towards the establishment of a roadmap for mass adoption of clean and green technology in the automotive industry. However, more can and should be done to include immediate technologies available today such as advanced petrol and diesel engines which run on lower sulphur content Euro IV specification fuel, as well as the introduction of incentives for all hybrid technology including those for hybrid vehicles above the 2 litre capacity,” said Briscoe, in reference on the recent Budget announcement.

“BMW Group Malaysia has made strong commitments to the country in its efforts to promote the use of clean and sustainable technology which has led to the introduction of advanced assembly techniques and technology to the country, first with the introduction of Advanced Diesel technology and hopefully with other sustainable drivetrains in the near future,” said Datuk Jacob Dungau Sagan, Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry, who officiated the showcase.

BMW has quite a few strategies for fuel efficiency and green motoring in their stables – they’ve got the EfficientDynamics diesel models, the ActiveHybrid petrol electric hybrids, and an upcoming range of plug-in charging pure electric vehicles. They also dabbled with hydrogen power in the past.

But according to Malaysia’s NAP, only hybrid and electric vehicles are able to get duty exemptions, so none of BMW’s EfficientDynamics diesel models qualify to be brought in with a tax break. And these (models like the 320d and 520d EfficientDynamics) are the only BMW models that are relatively affordable – the petrol hybrids are all expensive high end items and the EVs are not mass production ready yet.

As it stands, none of the BMW ActiveHybrid models qualify for tax breaks because of engine sizes of over 2.0 litres in displacement – Malaysia’s hybrid tax breaks only allow for engine sizes of 2.0 litres and below, which explains why the Toyota Prius can be sold here, but not the Camry Hybrid.

For some reason BMW finds the need to equip its hybrids with turbocharged inline-6 and V8 engines when they now have smaller engines at their disposal. I had hoped for the ActiveHybrid 3 to get their new 2.0 litre inline-4 turbo engine so the Lexus CT 200h will have some competition in the premium segment.

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New BMW M3 Sedan Rendering by Theophilus Chin

October 20, 2011 at 4:43 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars

Pretty good looking renderings by Theophilus Chin, although it would probably be closer to hitting the mark if the bumper was inverted like the M5, the X5 M and X6 M. This bumper shape is usually used by the M-Sport cars.

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BMW ActiveE: We drive Munich’s electric 1-Series Coupe

October 17, 2011 at 12:37 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Feature Stories, Test Drive Reviews

The new BMW ActiveE is an electric car based on the BMW 1-Series Coupe, and is BMW’s second electric vehicle key learning project after the MINI E which made its debut in 2009.

BMW has used data obtained from the MINI E’s lease to learn user behaviour, customer acceptance as well as requirements for an e-infrastructure. From MINI E usage patterns, vehicle usage for the electric MINI only differed marginally from that of comparable MINI Cooper and 116i users. Basically the conclusion was that an electric city car with a range of about 100 miles with an expanded interior space would meet virtually 100% of the mobility needs of urban drivers.

There are quite a few MINI E leasers who will be “upgrading” to the BMW ActiveE, and perhaps later to the new BMW i3. The ActiveE willl be offered with a 24 month/50,000km lease period, and will fill the gap until the launch of the BMW i3.

The main purpose of the ActiveE is to approve the new electric power train and battery. As opposed to the MINI E where BMW worked with a third party to supply the EV components, the BMW ActiveE’s electric power train is an in-house development, and will also be used in the upcoming BMW i3.

The ActiveE is produced together with other normal BMW cars in an in-line assembly process at their Leipzig plant. BMW has designed a 1,100 car production line for the ActiveE there. It is still a conversion vehicle like the MINI – this means BMW took a chassis designed to house the power and fuel components of a regular international combustion engine and converted it for electric use. As the chassis is not optimal for EV usage, the ActiveE ends up weighing a massive 1,815kg – compared to the purposes EV built BMW i3 Concept which weighs just 1,250kg.

Now for some tech specs – the BMW ActiveE has its electric motor integrated into the rear axle. Peak power is 125kW while maximum torque is rated at 250Nm from standstill. The electric motor has no transmission, so its 12,000rpm redline can take the car up to about 145km/h. The car hits 100km/h in 9 seconds, which isn’t particularly fast but brisk enough not to feel underpowered.

Power is provided by a 32kWh lithium ion battery with a total of 192 x 40 Ah cells supplied by SB LiMotive. It is liquid cooled and separated into three storage packs to help the car achieve a 50:50 axle weight ratio. Charging time is approximately 10 to 12 hours on a 230V/12A power supply, or as low as 4 to 5 hours on a 230V/32A power supply. The battery pack provides an New European Driving Cycle pattern range of 205km, or a customer driving average range of 160km.

We had a chance to try out the BMW ActiveE in Munich recently. It was a pretty rainy day and the route was designed to simulate a typical city commute of about 35km, so we didn’t exactly get any opportunities to test out the 50:50 weight distribution of the car, if you know what I mean. But we came away with findings on how the ActiveE tackled city car duties.

Firstly, this car is quiet. Really eeriely quiet. Ease onto the throttle and you get a diesel like surge in acceleration, except all you can hear is a soft whine from the electric motor, kinda like how one of those new direct drive motor washing machines sound like. Throttle response is very good, but it takes some getting used to because there’s some really strong engine braking upon releasing the throttle.

This is because ActiveE puts its motor into reverse to become a generator to recharge the batteries upon lift-off. If you leave the throttle closed, the car will eventually come to a stop pretty quick – you have to keep the pedal pressed to coast and the engine management will adjust the power needed to maintain your speed accordingly. The engine braking is so strong that you can probably control the car’s stop and go within the city using the accelerator pedal alone, and indeed I managed to do this for quite some time.

We managed to hit the top speed of about 145km/h while on a straight highway section – check out the video above to see that happen. There was no drama, but of course if you plan to drive this car at 145km/h often don’t expect much range out of the batteries.

The iDrive screen has lots of information on how much power you’re using and how much range you have left but it’s kinda hidden in the menus. But info on range and remaining battery charge can be had at a glance as BMW has appropriately reworked the instrumentation panel gauge to show battery charge instead of fuel tank level.

The car felt just like any other BMW – there was no odd feeling of any weight imbalance because the EV components were mounted strategically, as well as low in the chassis to help lower the center of gravity. Everything else also functioned like a regular internal combustion engine car, down to the air conditioning system which worked well. It was a cold rainy day of course, so I don’t think the air conditioning system needed to work much.

The ActiveE doesn’t ask much from the driver in terms of getting adjusted to the idea of driving an electric car instead of a car with a normal engine, other than the fact that you should remember to charge it.

Look after the jump for a photo gallery as well as 2 other videos.
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BMW ActiveHybrid 3: turbo-ed six pot does 6.4L/100km

October 16, 2011 at 12:15 am By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars

BMW’s reveal of the new F30 BMW 3-Series comprises of a total of 5 different cars – the Sport Line, the Modern Line, the Luxury Line, the traditional M Sport package and the car you see here – the BMW ActiveHybrid 3. It’s basically a 335i with an electric motor integrated into the 8-speed automatic.

Maximum combined output is 340 horsepower and 450Nm of torque, with 306hp coming from the engine and about 54hp from the electric motor. The car can run on electric power only for between 3km to 4km on a full charge of the battery in the boot. Top speed in electric only mode is about 60km/h under load, and up to almost 160km/h during coasting.

I was hoping to see a more reasonably sized engine paired with an electric motor since BMW has the new four cylinder turbo N20 engines to play with, but BMW continues with the philosophy of focusing on high fuel efficiency with their EfficientDynamics turbo diesel models and keeping the ActiveHybrid cars as more of a greener performance car kinda thing. The ActiveHybrid 3 ended up being a smaller ActiveHybrid 5, or you can consider it a 335i with a KERS system, depending on how you want to look at things.

Average fuel consumption for the BMW ActiveHybrid 3 is expected to be less than 6.4 litres per 100km on the EU test cycle, which BMW says is a savings of 12.5 percent compared to other BMW models of a similar performance level. As a comparison, the 320d EfficientDynamics is rated at just 4.1 litres per 100km on the EU driving cycle.

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GALLERY: F30 BMW 3-Series Interior (Hi-Res)

October 15, 2011 at 12:58 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars


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GALLERY: F30 BMW 3-Series Luxury Line (Hi-Res)

October 15, 2011 at 12:42 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars


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GALLERY: F30 BMW 3-Series Modern Line (Hi-Res)

October 15, 2011 at 2:22 am By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars


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GALLERY: F30 BMW 3-Series Sport Line (Hi-Res)

October 15, 2011 at 2:03 am By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars


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VIDEO: BMW new 3-Series Modern, Luxury and Sport Line

October 15, 2011 at 12:35 am By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars

BMW has put up an interactive video on YouTube where they introduce the concept of trim “lines” to their latest compact sports sedan. This concept of lines first debuted on the 1-Series, where it was offered as either an Urban Line, a Sport Line or the M-Sport.

For the 3-Series, three different trim lines are introduced at launch – the Luxury Line, the Modern Line and the Sport Line. It kinda reminds me of Mercedes-Benz’s Classic, Elegance and Avantgarde. Watch the video above, and choose either one of the three different trim levels when prompted to in the little interactive menu at the end.


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BMW F30 3 Series unveiled: four engines at launch, three equipment lines, market debut in Feb 2012

October 14, 2011 at 11:15 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under BMW, Cars, International News

BMW has unveiled its sixth-generation 3 Series in its sedan form, and the F30 will roll in with plenty to offer aficionados when it makes its market debut beginning Feburary 11 next year.

At point of launch, the car will be available with four engine choices, all TwinPower Turbo units. The range topper is the 335i, with its 3.0 litre, 306 hp and 400 Nm mill leading the way. Next is the 328i, which sees the 2.0 litre petrol TPT unit offering 245 hp at 5,000 to 6,500 rpm and 350 Nm at 1,250 – 4,800 rpm.

The remaining two are diesel jobs, these being the 320d and the 320d EfficientDynamics Edition. Both run a 2.0 litre commonrail DI variable geometry turbocharged block, with differing outputs – the 320d ED Edition puts out 163 hp, while the 320d offers 184 hp, both at 4,000 rpm. Torque figures are identical, with both offering 380 Nm at 1,750 – 2,750 rpm.

The F30 will come with a six-speed manual transmission as standard, with an eight-speed automatic – a first in this segment class – available as an option for all four engine choices; both the manual and the automatic models are equipped with Auto Start-Stop function.

In spring of next year, three further engines will be introduced for the car. The first is the new 320i, which will be the second model to be powered by the new-generation 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine – figures for the TwinPower Turbo unit are 184 hp at 5,000 rpm and peak torque of 270 Nm at just 1,250 rpm.

The other two are turbodiesel models, the 318d, which will have 143 hp at 4,000 rpm and 320 Nm from 1,750 and 2,500 rpm, and the 316d, with 116 hp at 4,000 rpm and maximum torque of 260 Nm, again at between 1,750 and 2,500 rpm.

Further engine versions are set to follow, including a six-cylinder diesel unit and a slew of xDrive models – the 335i xDrive, 328i xDrive, 320i xDrive and 320d xDrive all-wheel-drive models will go on sale in the summer of 2012. Next year will also see BMW’s first full-hybrid 3 Series making its premiere in autumn with the introduction of the ActiveHybrid 3.

The car is larger than the outgoing E90, with a wider track (front increased by 37 mm, rear by 47 mm) particularly prominent, and increased length (by 93 mm) and augmented wheelbase (by 50 mm) being just some of the numbers.

The increased exterior dimensions also bring about increased interior space, with rear passengers set to enjoy the benefits of extra legroom; there’s 15 mm of additional knee room and 8 mm of extra head room to help things along. Despite its larger dimensions, the F30 weighs up to 45 kg less than the E90, depending on model.

Exterior shape-wise, elements include the new BMW face, with flat headlights reaching along as far as the kidney grille, and an accentuated width, which helps to improve the car’s presence. Aside from the merged headlights/grille design, the F30 replaces the central air intake of the E90 with two larger intakes, positioned underneath the headlights to the outer edges of the front end.

On the sides, highlights include flanks that are shaped by a double swage line made up of two character lines running alongside each other, helping to reinforce the silhouette’s dynamicism, and the back features richly contrasting light surfaces that give the rear end a fresh dynamic perspective.

Interior features include a driver-focused cockpit, angled towards the driver by seven degrees, with the four main circular dials (fuel gauge, speedometer, rev counter and oil temperature gauge) dressed with a black panel display.

The F30 also features more interior storage space – for example, larger pockets in the front doors now mean space for drinks bottles up to one litre in size, and two large drinks holders are now integrated into the centre console ahead of the gearshift lever, among others. Boot space on the F30 is also up, with 480 litres of capacity, 20 litres more than that of the E90. Additionally, 40:20:40 split rear backrests mean the ability to carry longer items.

The F30 will be available in three equipment lines, in addition to the entry-level version. The Sport Line, Luxury Line and Modern Line, as they are called, will allow customers to personalise their rides and adapt it to their individual preferences, with exterior design elements and selection of materials and colours available for each model. Next year will see an M Sport package with special exterior and interior features joining the fray.

The M Sport package includes a lowered M Sport suspension, featuring a 10 mm drop in ride height, which works with firmer suspension and damping as well as harder anti-roll bars, and also featured are 18 or 19-inch M alloy wheels. A further option is an Adaptive M Sport suspension, with electronically controlled damping.

The package will be completed by an M aerodynamics package, which can be specified separately, featuring special body parts and by chrome tailpipes, exclusive exterior paintwork and interior trim to match – the last has sports seats boasting distinctive cloth/Alcantara upholstery, trim elements with blue accent strips, an M Shortshifter (in models with manual gearbox), M door sill finishers, an M driver’s footrest and the new M leather steering wheel.

An electromechanical power steering system EPS (Electronic Power Steering) – which uses an electric motor to provide steering assistance and which only operates the EPS when steering assistance is actually required – comes as standard, though an optional new, purely mechanical variable-ratio steering system is available, offering a more precise response to input and sharper handling. In the case of the 335i and 328i, a Servotronic function for speed-sensitive power assistance is standard issue.

The F30 wears a larger brake system, with lightweight sliding-calliper brakes with large vented discs, and at the front the use of aluminium for the callipers bring a further reduction in unsprung masses. If that’s not enough, one can plonk for the optional M Sport brake system, with aluminium four-piston fixed callipers at the front and two-piston fixed callipers at the rear, replete with blue paint finish.

For wheels, the 335i and 328i run on 17-inch Star-spoke wheels, wearing 225/50 R17 tyres, while the 320d and 320d EfficientDynamics Edition diesel models ride on 16-inch V-spoke or Streamline-style alloy wheels, wrapped with 205/60 R16 tyres.

Alongside Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), which offers ABS, ASC, DTC, DBC and CBC, along with start-off assist, brake drying and an electronic limited slip function for the rear differential under its operating umbrella, the new 3er will come with a new Driving Experience Control function as standard specification on all models – four modes are available for this one, namely COMFORT, SPORT, SPORT+ and a new mode called ECO PRO.

The latter, as its name suggests, supports an extra-efficient and economy-conscious driving style. It does this by changing the accelerator mapping so that the same pedal travel delivers less power than in the standard mode.

Also, in this mode, the Optimum Shift Indicator for manual models and the transmission control strategy for automatic models are modified, so as to bring forward upshifts and to delay downshifts, while intelligent energy and climate management reduces the mechanical power consumption as well as the consumption of electrical systems. All of which enables additional fuel savings, depending on individual driving style, of up to 20%.

Elsewhere, the F30 is loaded with tons of ConnectedDrive tech, from driver assistance systems to infotainment. New to the car is the latest-generation, full-colour Head-Up Display, and aside from this the likes of Lane Change Warning System, Lane Departure Warning System, Active Protection safety package and Advance eCall are items on the list.

Other CD-related tech available for the car includes BMW Parking Assistant, Surround View (with Side View and Top View), Active Cruise Control with Stop&Go function, Speed Limit Info including No Passing Info display and Real-Time Traffic Information (RTTI). Elsewhere, new Bluetooth office functions allow internet-based services such as weather and news, as well as calendar entries and text-based messages (SMS and e-mail), to be viewed in the Control Display of the iDrive operating system and read out via the Text to Speech function.

As with any new BMW, we’re expecting the F30 to debut as a CBU unit first with CKD/SKD to come later. Please enjoy the photo gallery that we’ve uploaded after the jump. They’re of medium res for now – we’ll upload hi-res galleries later as the BMW Press servers become more stable.
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