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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

BMW M6 Gran Coupe to be 2013 MotoGP Safety Car

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2013 marks BMW’s 15th consecutive year as the Official Car of MotoGP, the Bavarian company having supplied support vehicles and safety cars for the premier motorcycle racing series since 1999. New for 2013 is the addition of the latest BMW M6 Gran Coupe, which made its public debut at the season opener in Losail, Qatar last weekend.
The specially modified and M-liveried four-door super coupe joins BMW’s MotoGP roster as the pace car out on the racetrack. With 560 hp from its 4.4 litre twin-turbo V8 and a 0-100 km/h time of 4.2 seconds, the M6 Gran Coupe should be plenty fast enough.
Four other BMW M and M Performance models are also on duty: A BMW M6 Coupe and M5 as Safety Cars, while the Safety Officer will take to the track in an M3 Coupe with two M550d xDrive Tourings used as medical cars. BMW Motorrad will also provide two new BMW HP4s as Safety Bikes.
The BMW M6 Gran Coupe is not available in Malaysia just yet, but the two-door M6 Coupe is. And if you insist on having four-doors, there’s always the 640i Gran Coupe or the M5 saloon.

BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe – plenty of flair

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The BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupé has made its official debut – the car premiered at the latest edition of the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in Lake Como over the weekend. The four-seater luxury coupé exhibits typical BMW proportions (a long wheelbase, stretched bonnet and set-back greenhouse), allied to Pininfarina-based elements that lend it added flair.
Lots of flowing lines and contours, with the Hofmeister kink at hand, replete with a V12 logo sitting behind it. Visual elements include a slender, flowing tail light design set within high-grade trim in matt-sheen aluminium. A particular highlight is their open design, allowing air to flow through them. Also to be seen are freestanding B-pillars; when viewed from the outside the visual impression is of a homogeneous glazed area and frameless doors that appear very light.
Based on the 7-Series platform, the Gran Lusso Coupé sits on exclusively designed five triple-spoke 21-inch wheels finished in a mix of matt-sheen aluminium, black and black chrome. A V12 powerplant resides underneath the bonnet, though no specific details are mentioned – presumably, it’s the same 535 hp 6.0 litre twin-turbocharged unit as found in the 760Li.
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The interior is where the plush is – an evolution of the 7-Series interior, the cabin features a special colour concept and choice materials, among other things. There’s high-grade leather from the Foglizzo leather factory – in black and a light shade of Tobacco Brown – contrasting with metal highlights in black chrome, for starters.
Also to be found, kauri wood from New Zealand – here, a single piece of wood is selected by the Italian timber experts of Riva 1920 exclusively for the car. Kauri wood has a unique grain and shifts in colour from gold to red to brown, depending on the incidence of light and angle of view, and in this case is simply polished and oiled.
Other bits include a roof liner fabricated from fine Italian virgin wool in a grey plaid “Principe di Galles” pattern. The brown leather seats also pick up on the pattern in their all-round piping. Is this the precursor to the return of a fresh 8 Series flagship coupe in the future then?

BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupé – a new 8 Series?

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BMW has released a sketch and two teaser images of the BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupé concept, set to be unveiled on May 24 at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. It’s a follow up to the BMW Zagato Coupéshown at the same show last year and a debut cooperation between the BMW Group and Italian design house Pininfarina.
Little is known of the new high-end luxury class show car, other than its hallmark BMW coupe proportions and a V12 engine under the bonnet. A long wheelbase, stretched bonnet, short overhangs and a cab-back greenhouse with sloping roofline is classic BMW while the convex surfaces add a modern touch.
A V12 engine is mentioned, and BMW only has one such motor in its stable – the 535hp 6.0 litre twin-turbocharged beast used in the 760Li limo. A change of focus from refinement to performance will probably see a few more horses find its way into the new coupe, making it a big hitting GT car that BMW has lacked for long time.
If it ever becomes a reality, the Gran Lusso Coupé could spell the return of the 8 Series moniker as BMW’s flagship coupe sitting above the 6 Series. V12 power at the front, rear-wheel drive and BMW dynamics all dressed up in Pininfarina’s finest, now wouldn’t that be an absolute dream?

DRIVEN: New BMW M6 Gran Coupe tested in Munich

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All’s fair with love and phwoar. BMW has long woken up to the idea that some implant action with the sexiest vital statistics of its cars generate just the right raising of the eyebrows, quickening of heart rate and shortness of breath to allow it to get away with otherwise intolerable prices.
The recipe is simple enough: shoehorn a high-power big-bore V8 into a car normally powered by a humble four or six-cylinder unit and uprate the chassis, brakes and steering. That is all. Instant horsepower bimbo. You know who you are, BMW M5Mercedes-Benz E 63 AMG and Audi RS6.
This BMW M6 Gran Coupe on the other hand is somewhat different. It’s based on a coupe – albeit one with not two but four doors – and thus is already ahead of the rest of the pack in concept, competence and character. Read on to find out if it has any substance behind the obvious flair.

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New to the M division, the M6 GC features the latest variation of BMW M GmbH’s 4.4 litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine. It makes 560 hp between 6,000 and 7,000 rpm and 680 Nm of torque from 1,500 to 5,750 rpm – the same state of tune to that fitted on the mechanically similar BMW M5 super saloon and M6 Coupe andConvertible.
Its technical wizardry includes a pair of twin-scroll turbochargers, a cross-bank exhaust manifold, high precision direct petrol injection, Valvetronic variable valve timing and Double-Vanos continuously variable camshaft control. Clever engine management allows customisable twist-action peaks and accelerator-to-engine characteristics, so you can have it tailored to your needs.
There isn’t a choice of transmission here. The world of performance-oriented automobiles has almost completely abandoned manual trannies in favour of quicker dual-clutch two-pedal set-ups. That’s a regrettable move for most driving enthusiasts, but in the case of the M6 Gran Coupe, it’s really better off with the standard seven-speed M DCT.
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The quick-acting and intelligent dual-clutch auto ‘box is well suited for slicing this loaf of torque, in such a way that banishes any call for a manual variant. Cries for traditional trannies aren’t usually heard from customers in this market sector anyway, and the M DCT really is a plus rather than a fuss.
While the competing Audi RS6 and Mercedes E 63 AMG boast permanent four-wheel drive (optional on the Merc), the Bimmer’s blown V8 drives the rear wheels only. BMW M GmbH is adamant that rear-wheel drive paired to a petrol engine is the only way to go, leaving all-wheel systems and diesel motors, no matter how comparatively powerful and efficient they are, to the lesser M Performance boys. No complaints here.
Comparatively speaking, the current-generation BMW M5 is a subtle variation of its base model (F10 5 Series). The M6 Gran Coupe leaves the onlooker in no doubt about its true mission. It sports flared wheel arches, lowered suspension, extra-wide 20-inch wheels, quad chrome tailpipes, prominent badges, a bespoke grille and exquisitely finished carbonfibre roof – a first for a four-door M car.
Next to the M6 Gran Coupe, a BMW M5 looks a little outmoded, even in its new facelifted form. Its closest competition on the other hand, the Mercedes E 63 AMG and CLS 63 AMG, prefer to flaunt their go-faster treatment like how testosterone-pumped teenagers wear hair gel. There’s a fine line between sporty and OTT, and the BMW falls in the more favourable camp. You decide where the AMG pair goes.
Inside, the latest M car provides a go-faster atmosphere that is quite different in execution and taste compared to the class norm. It would lose out on the living-room-on-wheels contest to sedan-based alternatives for favouring a tighter but more engaging cabin ambiance.
Leather-covered dashboard is standard fare here, as are finely finished and intuitive controls. The M sports seats look fine, is thinly but very comfortably upholstered and offer more than sufficient adjustability. The pull-out element adds thigh support that’s desperately short on other such machines.
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Rear passenger space is at a premium, especially compared to conventionally-bodied alternatives. There are three sets of seat belts back there, but the centre seat is best forgotten entirely. One would have to straddle the centre console to fit in, and even then the deeply sculpted bench is barely bolstered for three-abreast seating. Just two is cool though, the lavishly adorned interior proves as cossetting as you’d expect of a high-end BMW.
The only other debatable M6 cabin feature is the omnipresent piano black plastic trim across the dashboard, instead of more exotic materials like lacquered carbonfibre. Some may say it’s passé, that they look like laminated pieces of a turn-of-the-century morning gowns while the other camp think it’s really spiffy and classy. BMW M seems to agree on the former. The generous real aluminium inserts are the cabin’s saving grace.
Otherwise, it looks and feels like a downsized 7 Series. Strong points include the fantastic new three-spoke M steering wheel with long and easily-reachable pedals plus the short and purposeful gear knob with a raft of M-specific controls around it. Not that you’ll ever mistake it for a standard 6 GC, but there’s a load of M badges in here.
The large wide-screen display is easily legible with the controls logically laid out that you don’t need to be a Harvard graduate to understand the basic functions. The iDrive’s dark days are long gone, and it’s now one of the most intuitive of all-in-one interfaces among premium brands.
Back to the crucial bit: the performance. The engine revs to a maximum of 7,200 rpm, taking the BMW M6 Gran Coupe from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds on the way to an artificially governed top speed of 250 km/h (305 km/h if the optional M Driver’s Package is specified). Average fuel consumption in the EU test cycle stands at 9.9 litres per 100 kilometres and CO2 emissions are 232 grammes per kilometre.
Speed is not an issue then, and the engine is now more efficient than ever. Mission accomplished, boys, we now have a super saloon. Or is it? Congratulations aren’t in order just yet, as the M6 would also need to have a good all-round package, lest it be known as a one trick pony. Going fast is a trick that’s all too common nowadays.
When this car was developed, ride comfort was obviously high on the priority list. Higher than you’d first think is necessary, to be honest. The low-profile Michelin Pilot Super Sport rubber (265/35 R20 up front, 295/30 R20 in the back) offer hardly any compliance at all, which makes it a big surprise when the uprated chassis proves to be particularly spine-friendly.
Stiff springs, fat anti-roll bars, taut shock absorbers and lowered ride height are all hard at work here, primarily to help improve handling and roadholding. That they’re not at daggers drawn with potholes and transverse ridges (of which there were many through Germany’s country roads) crafts the M6 Gran Coupe’s best attributes, especially when you’d expect them to be the worst of its enemies.
Ride is remarkably not uncompromising; with the actively adjustable dampers completely and strategically dispensing mercy to the occupants. The low ride height, shortened springs and stiffer suspension mountings do, however, permit a significant amount of vertical movements, which is unavoidable really, no matter how well tuned everything else is.
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It hardly disappoints in the ride department, this car. There’s an impressive degree of compliancy through rough roads and it’s all very composed in the chassis department, where it is now at, or at least near the head of the super saloon pack. It’s hard to fathom a more convincing or pleasant long distance travel companion. Not one with this much performance potential.
Confirmation that the M6 Gran Coupe really is a sports car in thin disguise comes first of all from your eardrums, which are bound to register the sonorous exhaust note, the unbridled intake roar and barely muffled high-rev thunder. Everything is well exposed, especially when the M boys have done well to supress the suspension noise and filter out the tyre hum.
Initially the acoustic assault is a little overwhelming, though after a few hours at the wheel you barely even register it. The uber Gran Coupe hasn’t shed any of its surround filters, a move that sees it retain all of the donor car’s refinement and perhaps lose out on the intense, in-your-face sensation of sheer speed that others offer.
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It really is a velvet-glove super saloon. Relatively quiet unless you have your foot to the floor – very refined and somewhat detached from the road underneath – its prime ambition is to cover ground in a fast, fuss-free style. When the need arises, it is very possibly quicker from point to point than true blue sports cars, while also offering much in terms of entertainment.
Composure is its primary forte, with the standard ESP cutting in way too early (for a car with such tall sporting intention), taking away torque prematurely like a novice guardian angel. The system is an unquestionable bonus when it rains, and is occasionally a must on gradients, as the mountain of torque on offer makes mince meal of traction.
Without engaging the more unforgiving M modes (which is fully customisable and can be assigned to two M buttons on the steering wheel), the M6 rarely makes full use of its genetic talent. Without exploring its deeper limits, the M6 may appear underwhelming to some.
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Sure, it’s well-balanced, its directional stability faultless and traction and grip sensational. But to qualify as a top-ranking driver’s car, which an M car clearly needs to be, it needs a more clear-cut handling bias.
Press that unassuming M button though and the car transforms almost completely. M mode in tow, the M6 Gran Coupe scores highly in the entertainment sweepstakes. It has lovely steering: not overly quick or overly light, it provides sufficient feel, feedback and fluidity, though naturally it is more synthetic than those in earlier M cars.
In this mode the ESP is tuned right to its physical limit. It refrains from interfering with driver inputs until it’s absolutely imperative to do so. It even permits a touch of oversteer before showing the red card. If you want to see the whole world through the side windows, switch it completely off and brace yourself for a degree of lurid tail-happiness that is certainly not suited for open roads.
The suspension is supple enough, and can harden up to varying degrees upon your request. There’s a certain welcome elasticity to every move this car makes. It feels lighter than it actually is (it weighs on the wrong end of 1.8 tonnes), making use of its mechanical muscles well and is surprisingly nimbler through the twisties than it looks. At no point does it feel nervous or less than settled, its fancy suspension keeping it honest to the road as well as its ground-hugging stance would suggest.
Only a slight uncertainly at the limit of adhesion mars the package a little, as you sometimes wonder what comes next. Understeer? Oversteer? Four-wheel drift? ESP interference? It displays a little more nose-heaviness than is perfectly ideal, but is otherwise a near-perfect B-road stormer.
It’s not quite synonymous with conventional, old-fashioned fun, but its cornering attitude is still impressive measured by any standard, and its straight-line ability is impeccable (with the exception of some tramlining under braking on crater-pocked roads). Feedback relayed by the controls can be ambiguous at times, yet it complements the driver better than most of its kind.
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The engine is nothing short of a revelation. It depends on high-revolutions to deliver the goods. Nine out of 10 twin-turbo V8s are relaxed growlers that fetch the torque from the basement. This 4.4 litre TwinPower Turbo V8 from Munich’s skunkworks, however, unfolds in a more progressive and linear fashion: horsepower and revs rely on each other.
There’s a lot of grunt available even at low revs, which keeps on building up to the redline. Response to throttle orders is perhaps a touch vague, especially compared to BMW M’s own naturally aspirated motors. You can’t quite steer the car using your right foot as you could in older M5 or M3s, but truth be told, no modern car can.
It does exceptionally well in the brakes department too. The optional M carbon-ceramic brakes fitted to the test cars (denoted by the distinctive gold calipers; standard items are blue) call for a heavy pedal pressure, but its anchors have enormous stamina and its exotic compound is virtually immune to recurrent high-speed deceleration manoeuvres. It’s easy enough to modulate – rare among systems with the kind of stopping power that only thoroughbred supercars can rival.
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This clearly is a modern super saloon in with a real shout of class dominance. It looks terrific, especially with its signature Frozen Silver paintjob, and appears significantly more exclusive than its conventional rivals, stablemate M5 included.
From a quick glimpse the BMW M6 Gran Coupe does feel like a car made for those more interested in absolute speed than in how to master it. In a way it is exactly that, an extremely competent but strangely soulless vehicle – cool and distant. Dig deeper though, and it reveals a raw side that rewards you for every bit of effort put into exploring it that bit further.
It has its flaws, no doubt. But it’s a truly sporty car underneath that soft gleam; one that offers supercar speed, represents a big challenge to drivers while offering emotional rewards. If the key to driving pleasure is driver involvement, the M badge is still the one to go for.
The BMW M6 Gran Coupe has been launched in Malaysia, and is priced at RM999,800. Read the launch report here.

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

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.

BMW ActiveHybrid 3 test drive review – is it just a 335i with an electric motor, or more?

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A car company that builds incredibly good diesel cars that are both really fast and really fuel efficient goes ahead and builds a hybrid car with a big engine. This is the BMW ActiveHybrid 3, which features the second-generation BMW hybrid system, and we’ve driven it in Munich.
The BMW ActiveHybrid 3 is essentially built on the F30 335i. Like the 335i, you can have it in either Modern Line, Sport Line or Luxury Line trim, though for the Malaysian-spec – when it is eventually launched – we’ll have to see what Cyberjaya has decided what we’ll be getting.
In terms of exterior differences, other than the unique blue colour you see here (which you don’t have to take, btw), various ActiveHybrid 3 badges around the car as well as funky looking aerodynamic ‘Streamline” wheels (which you also don’t have to take in Europe, but probably have to in Malaysia), there’s not much else to differentiate it from a regular 335i.
Some car manufacturers like Nissan and Toyota use a blue-tinged variation of their marque logo, but that’s probably against the holy grail of BMW CI guidelines, or perhaps there’s already enough blue on the propeller badge to begin with.
Two exhaust pipes on both sides of the rear bumper proudly exhibit the car’s sporty intentions – BMW has made no attempt to hide the fact that this car does produce emissions! And the exhaust tone is pretty bassy as well – in fact, I heard more of the exhaust tone than the engine while driving this car, something that I’m undecided as to whether I like or not.
As for the interior, it’s pretty much stock standard F30, except for a few badges here and there and additional customised displays to show the status of the hybrid system on both the Black Panel instrument cluster and the iDrive display.
Other than that, there’s really not much to tell you that you’re sitting in a hybrid. And for those who like to be reminded everyday that they’re driving something that can run on EV mode, it might be a negative point. For those who like their cars to make a statement, there might not be enough hybrid-ness about the way this car looks and drives to satisfy.
If you think about it from a positive note, it’s a good problem to have, really, that the switch between pure electric and combustion engine drive is so smooth that if you don’t pay attention to the hybrid displays and the RPM meter, you won’t really know what’s going on. The motor is integrated seamlessly into the car.
Yes, the motor. BMW’s second generation ActiveHybrid technology is standardised across all hybrid models, to simplify things and reduce cost as well. This is why the new 7-Series facelift has its engine downgraded from a V8 to an inline-6. The same engine, motor and gearbox package you get in the ActiveHybrid 3, you’ll also get in the 5 and the 7.
You start with a BMW TwinPower Turbo 6 cylinder single twin-scroll turbo engine from the 335i, the N55B30 producing 306 hp at 5,800 rpm and 400 Nm between 1,200 and 5,000 rpm. Then you add an electric motor that outputs 55 hp and its full torque of 210 Nm from standstill. It’s not as simple as 306 + 55 however – total system output is rated at 340 hp.
The new 55 hp electric motor can propel the car on its own at speeds up to 75 km/h, and as far as four kilometres if you keep an average speed of about 35 km/h. It’s installed in the housing of the eight-speed automatic transmission, sandwiched between the engine and the transmission.
The electric motor is powered by a 317V high-voltage circuit that’s supplied by a lithium-ion battery installed in a special high strength housing, positioned between the wheel arches in the boot. This battery consists of a total of 96 cells of the A123 iron phosphate type, which is said to be safer, with a downside of not being the most powerful on the market.
The battery, which BMW engineered themselves, has an effective energy capacity of 675 Wh. BMW engineered the hybrid system to use only 50% of battery capacity, so the lifespan of the battery can be extended, which is claimed to last “the life of the vehicle.” The car also has a conventional 14V circuit to power everything else.
This high-voltage circuit also powers a special electrical air-conditioning system that’s necessary for it to function with the combustion engine turned off, as a regular air- conditioning system depends on the engine crankshaft for power. The air-conditioning can be activated remotely via the diamond button on the BMW key fob, which normally turns on the headlamps on a regular F30.
Switching to electric air-conditioning allows the start-stop system to shut the engine down in far more situations than a normal BMW with a start-stop system. For example, the system can completely shut off and decouple the engine from the gearbox while coasting at speeds of up to 160 km/h in ECO PRO mode.
The battery has affected the weight balance of the car by a wee bit – it’s now a 49.8:50.2 front to rear weight balance. Despite the higher 340 hp total system output, BMW says one would probably feel the same performance as a 335i because of an additional 135 kg of weight. In terms of dynamics, you’ll probably feel the extra weight in situations like braking into a corner, but at the same time this will be compensated by a slightly stronger acceleration, thanks to the electric motor providing some torque boost.
Boot space is reduced because of the battery, but only by a small margin. It now measures about 390 litres, which is a reduction of 90 litres compared to a regular F30. In fact, you’ll hardly notice that it’s there, as all that’s changed is that the ActiveHybrid 3′s boot floor is now completely level, compared to the normal F30 which has a boot floor that slopes downwards from the seat back towards the rear. The total difference in height at the rear of the boot is about 50 mm.
In terms of safety, BMW says it is safe – crash tests did not reveal any issues and the company has even tried crashing the battery separately from the car, and there weren’t any problems. It’s obvious that the F30 was engineered from the very beginning to be able to carry a hybrid power train, given its seamless integration into the car.
So, what’s the point of all this, really? BMW claims a double digit percentage improvement in fuel economy over a 335i. The car is rated to consume just 5.9 litres per 100 km and output 139g of CO2/km in the EU test cycle. We set out to see if we could achieve those numbers.
In our real world test drive in the outskirts of Munich, we observed average fuel consumption of between 7.8 litres per 100 km to 12.1 litres per 100 km. The hybrid power train performed best during moderate traffic, where there was plenty of stop and go and with most of the go only hitting speeds of 60 km/h tops.
In this driving pattern, which reminded me a lot of my commute to work from Bukit Jelutong to Petaling Jaya, I observed that from the various displays that the car would run on EV mode most of the time, as long as you feathered the throttle and drove reasonably fuel efficient. The stop and go sections allowed the battery to recharge, so more EV travel would be possible.
The hybrid power train curiously did not perform very well in heavy stop and go traffic, which reminded me of Friday afternoon jams back home, nor did it do very good in open roads. These situations caused the average fuel consumption swelled to well over 10 litres per 100 km, and it was hard to get the car to run on EV mode.
For the latter, it’s generally known that hybrids don’t do very well on highways because of the lack of opportunity for brake energy regeneration. It’s also probably something to do with the high speeds required to be maintained, to avoid annoying people on the highways in Germany.
As mentioned earlier, transition between the various modes was completely seamless. You can hear the six-cylinder engine restart, but you sure can’t feel it. No jerks, no vibration, no excessive crank time, nothing. It just comes alive, does its job, and when it isn’t needed, goes back to sleep. And the only way you could tell other than the iDrive and instrument cluster displays is the exhaust note that comes in when the engine is running.
Smoothness aside, coming from someone who used to drive an F10 520d for nearly two years and whose company fleet now includes a wicked red F30 320d, the fuel consumption figures I managed to get weren’t exactly impressive. The 520d averaged about 7.5 litres per 100 km with mixed driving (including hard driving), and only had to be refueled twice a month. And this was the model without the ECO PRO mode!
Harvinder’s F30 320d now does nearly 900 km from RM100 of fuel. And it’s violently fast in Sports mode, a real joy to drive at night when the roads are clear. So, unlike hybrids from a different segment like the Toyota Prius, which can easily do south of 5 litres per 100 km on average, what was the big deal about the BMW ActiveHybrid 3?
I suppose the formula used is completely different here than cars like the Prius. Efforts to make a Prius fuel efficient goes all the way, down to using an Atkinson cycle engine. The ActiveHybrid 3 was obviously designed first as a performance BMW with a powerful turbocharged engine, and a hybrid as a secondary consideration. It was built to take advantage of certain incentives that governments around the world give to hybrid cars. And it’s for people who completely insist on avoiding diesel engines.
Everything that you’ll love about a normal 3-Series can be found in the ActiveHybrid 3. It drives pretty much like a 335i on public roads. The efforts of trying to squeeze out better fuel efficiency via the integration of the hybrid system probably won’t be felt except by the most sensitive of drivers, and the limit of the dynamic capabilities of the car will probably remain out of reach by most average drivers. Not everyone who buys a 3-Series has the skill to push it to the limits of traction and handling, but what they are looking for is the sporty driving experience that they will get regardless.
We stopped by BMW’s four-cylinder headquarters in Munich to meet up with the project leader for the ActiveHybrid 3 before embarking on our test drive journey. I asked him what were the criteria that BMW looked at before deciding to build an ActiveHybrid model out of an existing car, and he explained that there were various reasons.
Firstly, an ActiveHybrid model has to be one that can be accepted worldwide. This means you’re not likely to see a wagon-bodied ActiveHybrid, as those only work in Europe. You also probably won’t see a diesel ActiveHybrid, for the same reasons.
Why not an ActiveHybrid system built around the N20 family 2.0 litre four cylinder petrol TwinPower Turbo engine then, as Audi and Volkswagen did with their 2.0 litre TFSI? The reasoning given was that there wasn’t enough of an incentive to slap on an electric motor on a small engine, as the benefits are amplified the larger of a displacement you go. A small engine is already more efficient, and the minimal improvements by going the hybrid path wouldn’t justify the additional costs involved.
It’s clear that BMW and Audi engineers come from two completely different engineering schools – they had a disagreement in the press over cylinder deactivation technology recently as well.
There’s also the case of getting the engine to restart smoothly – apparently, it’s easier to do this on the six-cylinder, as we observed from the fantastic results, but it couldn’t be done on a four-cylinder. I concur on this – I tried out the X3 xDrive20i recently and wasn’t really impressed with auto start-stop system.
And the most important reason why ActiveHybrid 3 cars exist is to adapt to the changing regulations in most developed countries. In some countries, the tax system is making cars like the 335i very expensive to buy and own, so an ActiveHybrid 3′s ability to deliver better results on driving cycle tests can make the car more affordable to own, hence displacing the 335i as the top-of-the-line performance F30.
Unfortunately, there’s no major incentive here in Malaysia to get an ActiveHybrid 3 over a 335i, unless you like the idea of owning a hybrid and enjoying the occasional EV mode drive as a lifestyle choice. But there’s no financial incentive to be had here – if you want to spend less on fuel, get a diesel.
It would make some financial sense to buy one if the ActiveHybrid 3 enjoyed some import and excise tax relief in Malaysia. Then, it can be priced at a more reasonable price tag than the current stratospheric price tag of the 335i, which puts a giant gap between it and the 328i.
The Malaysian government’s hybrid tax breaks, however, only apply to hybrid cars with engines smaller than 2.0 litres in displacement, so without these incentives the ActiveHybrid 3 with its 3.0 litre engine won’t end up being more affordable than a 335i – it’s likely to cost more!
From what we have been informed, BMW Malaysia is appealing for incentives, but there is nothing positive to announce so far. If no tax breaks are successfully negotiated, we are told that BMW Malaysia will go ahead and launch both the F30 ActiveHybrid 3 and the F10 ActiveHybrid 5 anyway, at whatever price they will have to price it at. It will probably serve as a showcase of BMW technology at the showrooms, like a halo model.
Now, if there are some tax breaks given and the ActiveHybrid 3 ends up being priced within the first half of the huge RM200k gap between the 328i and the 335i, then that’s a completely different story! If that happens, we’ll be looking at six-cylinder power being reasonably affordable in the F30 range again. Which is really the whole point of the ActiveHybrid 3 existing in other countries as well. That would be a nice thing to happen, wouldn’t it?
Look after the jump for a big gallery of the ActiveHybrid 3.

DRIVEN: BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo in Sicily

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Innovation. Otherwise known as a clever term for a clever idea. It’s also another word for the inability to stand still and be content with things. Which isn’t as bad as it sounds. This drive for invention – almost always meant to increase the size of the pie, if you’re a marketer – has seen many a smart or useful thing spring to life.
It’s when the pace of progress goes awry, perhaps through wanting to achieve growth too quickly – or persisting in opening more cards even though a whole slew has already been opened – that the tone gets a bit fuzzy. Sometimes it pays off, this inventiveness, other times questionably so.
Take the BMW 3 Series, for example. Sedan, coupe, convertible and estate, as well as the distant cousin called the X3. You’d think that it would be enough, that amidst all those variations – and sub-divisions within – that there’d be something in the 3er family mix to suit one’s taste. Apparently, that’s not the case.
For example, you could be looking at the F30 sedan but think it too small, and the estate a bit dowdy, and still too small. An X3 or F10 5er estate would be too big, because what you really want is a 3er-sized offering with more rear seating space or a larger cargo area to carry those pet panthers.
Well, here’s the car for you then, just the spot as envisioned by Munich. It’s called the BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo, an in-between sedan and estate sort that’s just what you’re looking for. So, okay, it doesn’t quite look like a Gran Turismo in the vein of old, but the type has got to be called something, and “estan” or “sedate” doesn’t sound quite as sexy as Gran Turismo, no?

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You’d expect that attempting to come up with a mix that improves on interior space of the estate, retain as much of the performance balance of the sedan and look good enough to win hearts and minds while at that would be a tricky affair, and it is.
The precursor to this one, the larger 5 Series Gran Turismo, didn’t really cut it, in terms of sales at least. Not quite as spacious as expected, and not as keenly balanced as the F10 in disposition and poise, something about the vehicle stopped it from being wholeheartedly embraced by buyers. Might have been the rather laborious shape.
That hasn’t stopped BMW from trying once more, probably working on the adage that if you reinforce something long enough it’ll eventually become acceptable. For round two, it has tried to keep the looks from overpowering the rest of what it’s trying to achieve with the type. To be fair, the 3 GT, as we’ll call it to make things easier, does hang together more organically than the 5 GT, better integrated on the whole and less cumbersome looking as the latter.
Still, it does take some getting used to, the design penned by Page Beerman, especially when parked alongside its 3 Series sedan and touring siblings, which was the case during the presentation of the car at the international drive for it in Palermo, Sicily last month. The F30 sedan looks sharp, and the touring, despite the extended back, has a good flow-through feel about it.
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The 3 GT’s increased length, ride height and raised rear haunches makes it gangly at points, especially from the side profile. It definitely needs some getting used to, even with time. In terms of size, the car – sitting on an extended wheelbase 3 Series sedan platform as seen on Chinese examples – is the biggest in the 3er family. As numbers go, it has a 110 mm longer wheelbase at 2,920 mm, is 200 mm longer than the Touring 3er and stands 81 mm taller.
Ah, but the loopy-looking kin of the family has more substance than its sleeker sisters, substance in this case being interior space – it feels spacious, the rear, with the perceptibly improved headroom aided by the increased height and 70 mm of additional rear legroom over its sedan and touring stable mates.
In this regard, the sedan feels decidedly tight in comparison, and the 520 litres of boot space gives it more 25 litres more cargo room than the touring, on top of the improvement in rear seat spaciousness. Folding down the rear seats gets you 1,600 litres of feline-carrying capability.
It’s also easier to get in and out of, courtesy of an increased crossover-level hip point height, which for both front and rear seating position is raised by 59 mm, almost identical to that of the X1 (which is eminently practical, but not exactly a looker either). The rest of the interior is familiar contemporary BMW territory, with only the perception of increased height – as per seating – the only thing reminding that you’re not in the sedan.
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The tailgate configuration on this one isn’t like the hatch/boot lid of the 5 GT’s, the smaller car making do with a more conventional approach, but the two-piece parcel shelf, high-opening tail lid and large load aperture offers a very practical approach to cargo.
The larger segment of the two-piece parcel shelf opens with the tailgate, facilitating access to the load area, while the second segment remains on its railing, allowing smaller items to be left in place with the tailgate opened. Both shelves can be stored away under the load compartment floor for transporting bulkier cargo.
Elsewhere, there are four lash points as well as a variable attachment system with two rails integrated into the load compartment floor to secure items, and the rear seats – with backrests that can be adjusted through 15 stages and 19 degrees and brought into a vertical position if required to offer more cargo area volume – are 40:20:40 split/folding, with individual rear release levers.
During the drive, stowing a very large piece of luggage gave an idea of how much the car can stash away in the hold, an estimation being two such sized pieces and two medium sized bags comfortably. Volume-wise, it’s very close to the 5 GT, but the perception of working space feels better.
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Elsewhere, an active rear spoiler makes its debut on the car, its job to provide both visual lightness and reduce lift at higher speeds. It can be manually deployed from the go, engaged through a button switch on the door. Pretty neat, but you’re not likely to notice for the most part.
Also new to the BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo are Air Breathers – located just rearwards of the front wheels, they’re meant to reduce drag around the wheel arches, and work in conjunction with the familiar Air Curtains.
Like the F30 sedan, the 3 GT features three equipment lines, these being Modern, Luxury and Sport, as well as an entry-level – or baseline – version. An optional M Sport package becomes available for the vehicle from July, but the pack dressed up the 335i Gran Turismo examples on call at the drive, along with a 320d GT in Modern line trim.
Aside from the 184 PS and 380 Nm 2.0 litre oil burner and the 335i’s 3.0 litre six-cylinder TwinPower Turbo unit (306 PS at 5,800 rpm and 400 Nm at 1,200 to 5,000 rpm), three other mills are available from point of launch, these coming in as the 328i GT and 320i GT petrol and 318d GT diesel variants. A six-speed manual is the standard transmission fitment for Europe, with an eight-speed auto the two-pedal alternative, both linked to Auto Start-Stop.
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Wheel sizes start from 17-inches – and 225/45 tyres – as ex-factory fitment for the baseline specification, up an inch from that for the sedan and touring. The optional M Sport pack, besides lowering the car by 10 mm and adding dress up bits, a firmer spring/damper set-up and stiffer anti-roll bars, also upsizes the wheels to either 18- or 19-inch M alloys.
In Sicily, the Mineral Grey diesels were dressed up with star-spoke style 396 18-inch wheels, but still looked as if it needed more. The larger double-spoke 598 19-incher as seen on the Glacier Silver 335i with M Sport package, with 225/45 front and 255/40 rears, makes for far greater visual appeal, offering the 3 GT necessary muscle to tighten the otherwise lumpish profile.
As for being behind the wheel, there’s no escaping the fact that this isn’t a F30 sedan, no matter how you try to look at it. The 335i GT M Sport has pace, of that there’s no doubt, but in a straight line there’s none of the tracking composure of something like the 328i sedan, and while you can achieve a serious turn of speed with this one, there’ll be less inclination to do so.
Part of it is due to the nature of the steering, which has a very light, detached feel about it. Out on the Sicilian motorways, the lightness of the variable sport steering – fitted as standard on the 335i M Sport mules – at speed was noticeable, both in terms of on- and off-centre response and tactility.
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Allied to a surprisingly quick reaction to input when in comfort mode, this meant that the keeping things straight and true required a bit of concentration and work at 200 km/h. Switching to Sport mode improved the overall behaviour of the steering, tightening the response, but then introduced a bumpier ride through the Adaptive M Sport suspension.
Out on slower B-road terrain, the car becomes much more agreeable, and can even be a barrel of fun if you like throwing things around. The extra mass and height means that it’s not as clean into the corners as the sedan, and provoking it to do the slip-sliding act is a much easier affair, lift-offs being particularly giggle-inducing.
Keeping it neat and tidy requires a slower approach to things, with the need to trim speed off more going into corners. Nonetheless, while decent when you attempt it clean, the dynamics are still very much blunted in light of the car’s disposition. Turn-in feels a bit jagged, and you’ll definitely sense the bulk of the 3 GT on follow-through.
On the whole, the 3 GT is inherently lazier attempting gymnastics, but that’s to be expected – it’s not that there’s a lack of mechanical grip, just that things are less responsive. In the end, the point is that you can’t have everything, and the tradeoff for cabin comfort and space is less focus and sharpness in behaviour.
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A passing word on the diesel. My co-driver and I didn’t manage to try out the oil burner, having being given the keys to a 335i on both days, but a fellow Asean journalist who did so commented that its characteristics were – expectedly – less sharper in scope than the 335i.
In urban use, this may not be such a bad thing, especially for those not looking to do the dirty on a regular basis with the car. Even with the 335i, the indications are there – set the car in comfort and putter around town and it becomes evident that this is very much the terrain it’s happiest with, GT moniker not withstanding.
For the last part of the drive, I decided to try out the back seat to see how the view from the back would be, and it’s here that the 3 GT starts racking up the points. Not quite limousine territory, but the extra headroom and legroom ensures rear occupants will have little to complain about, especially if used to something like the 3er sedan, which feels pinched in comparison.
So, what this one is all about is providing space not found in the sedan and an alternative form of versatility to that issued by the touring. Approached as such, as a pseudo coupe-shaped people-mover, you’ll begin to see the logic behind the 3 Series Gran Turismo.
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The issue, however, is not about the practicality offered by the car – there’s plenty of that. Aside from a higher entry price point (it’s more expensive than a similarly-spec’d touring equivalent), the contention most will have is in the way the package is presented, or shaped.
Those wanting the sleekness of a F30 sedan will likely never contemplate this one, and the touring aficionado, a rarity in our market, is going to look at this one as a bit of a Quasimodo, practicality aside. ‘Sedate’ is probably the wrong descriptor as a coined term here, because opinion will be sharply divided with the form – it’s either going to be ‘it’s funky and I like it’ or ‘gah, it’s ghastly’ territory, no two ways about it.
Still, something like the 3 GT may find great favour for those who consider space as a priority. In markets like China, the land of chauffeur-driven LWBs, this one might well hit the mark big – you get all the accomplishment of being seen in a BMW 3 Series, but with the added allure of being able to treat it as an entry-level limo of sorts, something that the sedan and touring forms can never accomplish. As for North America, the attempt at conquest through a smaller, more refined package continues.
Closer to home, BMW Malaysia is looking at the 3 Series Gran Turismo doing well, nowhere near the same numbers as the sedan, naturally, but in a workable count, taken as an alternative to those who want and can’t get their hands on a touring, find the sedan too small, or simply as a new frontier to be seen as different in. Will it work? Time will reveal if such innovation will prevail, or hit an insurmountable ceiling.