dascrow
11-24-2007, 03:53 PM
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/graphics/2007/11/24/mfbmw1.jpg
It's the engine in the new BMW 135i Coupé that gets your attention first. Maybe I should have been weighing up how this new car will sit in the market place. But I wasn't. I was in awe of the twin-turbo three-litre straight six that pulls like a steam engine from tickover, goes on to produce more than 300bhp and revs like a thoroughbred racer. And the noise: it's not loud but no other car sounds like this. Do BMW engineers deliberately create music for the driver's ears? I think so.
In today's market, it's a bold move on BMW's part to produce a traditional three-box design, albeit packed with all the latest technology. The top-of-the-range model we tested comes with the M Sport suspension as standard, specially developed with its own set-up. That said, the 135i wasn't what I had expected. At the technical presentation, there was much harking back to those long-gone days of the BMW 2002, once the definitive high-performance saloon. That outstanding classic was the car which put down BMW's marker some 40 years ago and no other manufacturer got close. Would some of that magic rub off on the new 1-series Coupé?
More information at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml=/motoring/2007/11/24/nosplit/mfbmw24.xml
It's the engine in the new BMW 135i Coupé that gets your attention first. Maybe I should have been weighing up how this new car will sit in the market place. But I wasn't. I was in awe of the twin-turbo three-litre straight six that pulls like a steam engine from tickover, goes on to produce more than 300bhp and revs like a thoroughbred racer. And the noise: it's not loud but no other car sounds like this. Do BMW engineers deliberately create music for the driver's ears? I think so.
In today's market, it's a bold move on BMW's part to produce a traditional three-box design, albeit packed with all the latest technology. The top-of-the-range model we tested comes with the M Sport suspension as standard, specially developed with its own set-up. That said, the 135i wasn't what I had expected. At the technical presentation, there was much harking back to those long-gone days of the BMW 2002, once the definitive high-performance saloon. That outstanding classic was the car which put down BMW's marker some 40 years ago and no other manufacturer got close. Would some of that magic rub off on the new 1-series Coupé?
More information at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml=/motoring/2007/11/24/nosplit/mfbmw24.xml