NAIAS: BMW ActiveHybrid 3, 335i "Lines"

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

The new 3! All new! And it looks like it finally has some decent brakes. About three and a half inches longer, it’s also now finally available in Audi “Atmospheres” the Sportline / Luxuryline / Modernline trim levels that BMW has used, in one fashion or another, in Europe for Averylongtime.

Engine choices are what we expected, more or less: the two-liter four-cylinder turbo for the Increasingly Inaccurately Named Three Twenty eight Eye, a 306-horsepower revised turbo six for the 335i, and the ActiveHybrid. 335 horsepower was the number I heard during the press preview, along with 37mpg. It’s a tempting combo, for sure, and it underlines the previous BMW strategy undertaken with the X6 of making the hybrid a big power ride.

The new 3 is aggressive-looking and I’m pretty sure I saw (and photographed) some non-sliding-caliper brakes on the 335i. That’s a good sign for those of us who want to track these cars. Transmission choices are six-speed manual and eight-speed automatic for the non-hybrids, but the press conference was vague about the hybrid transmission.

Also at the show: the i8 from Mission:Impossible. As a concept car, it is certainly shiny.


















Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

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  • W.Minter W.Minter on Jan 10, 2012

    Correct my if I'm wrong: the F30 hybrid powertrain is similar to the F10's, audi a6, q5 & vw - ZF 8 speed auto, Li-ion, starter generator (= motor) instead of torque converter. Fits in FWD, RWD and AWD layouts.

  • Bandagraph Bandagraph on Jan 10, 2012

    Bring us the 1 series hatch. I was just in London and I'm in love with it. 1 series M Hatchback could be the return of the S54 M coupe....which about 5 people would buy.

  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
  • Carson D The UAW has succeeded in organizing a US VW plant before. There's a reason they don't teach history in the schools any longer. People wouldn't make the same mistakes.
  • B-BodyBuick84 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport of course, a 7 seater, 2.4 turbo-diesel I4 BOF SUV with Super-Select 4WD, centre and rear locking diffs standard of course.
  • Corey Lewis Think how dated this 80s design was by 1995!
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