The BMW 335i Sedan 2011 has a smooth and elegant design. BMW 335i Sedan 2011 has a sunroof, leatherette interior, walnut trim, power fron...
The BMW 335i Sedan 2011 has a smooth and elegant design. BMW 335i Sedan 2011 has a sunroof, leatherette interior, walnut trim, power front seats, xenon headlights, and automatic climate control on the standard-equipment list
The 2011 BMW 335i is a premium car, and you'll pay a premium price for it. That hurts its Family Friendliness, as does its small trunk and compact dimensions.
The BMW 3 Series is a legend among driving enthusiasts, and justifiably so. The NHTSA crash test results are a bit of a surprise, with the BMW 335i scoring four out of five stars in front driver, front passenger and rollover crash tests. Just remember that Family Friendliness isn't this BMW's forte.
If ever there was a car that defined a market segment, it's the BMW 3 Series. The term "sports sedan" is constantly being bandied about by automakers, but what exactly is a sports sedan and what makes the 3 Series such a great example? Put simply, a sports sedan should have the dynamic properties of a sports car blended with the practicality of a four door sedan.
The 2011 BMW 335i sedan that we recently tested fits all of these criteria about as well as any car we've ever driven. The current generation 3 Series that debuted in 2005 was the first BMW to bring the latest cleaner version of the automaker's design language.
In typical BMW fashion the hood is long and the cabin is set well back on the body giving its profile a sporting and aggressive stance. That long hood also helps to accommodate the traditional BMW inline-six cylinder engine which we'll come back to in a bit.
Inside our tester was equipped with the Premium, Cold Weather and Sport packages as well as the navigation system. The front sport seats are supremely supportive when cornering and feature extendable thigh supports. The leather covered steering wheel has a perfect combination of thick rim and small overall diameter making it the ideal tiller for a sporting machine.
BMW currently offers three different 3.0-liter inline-six engines in the U.S.-market 3 Series (not including the V8 powered M3). The 335d uses BMW marvelous twin turbocharged diesel six which blends performance with excellent fuel economy. The BMW 328i has a normally aspirated gasoline engine while the BMW 335i has turbocharged version of that engine.
The N55 adopts BMW's fully variable valve timing and lift system called Valvetronic along with direct fuel injection. The new turbocharger is a dual-scroll unit with two inlets to the turbine housing that let the engineers better control when and where the exhaust gas pulses hit the turbine wheel. Our tester was paired up with a slick shifting six-speed manual gearbox that features short throws and a progressive easily actuated clutch pedal. The size of the wheel blends brilliantly with the amount of effort required to turn the wheel at just about any speed. The rear-wheel-drive layout of the standard 3 Series splits the workload between the front and rear tires allowing the fronts to handle directional control and the rears to propel the car.
Unlike that previous BMW 335i that we drove which had all-wheel-drive and felt distinctly heavier and less responsive, this car felt light on its feet and willing to be tossed into corners.
The optional sport package brings bigger wheels and tires and a firmer suspension setup. Despite the 3 Series compact footprint on the road, it is very densely packed, weighing in at nearly 3,600 pounds! The BMW 335i sedan starts at $40,600 and our test car came in at $51,325 very well equipped.
