The nice people at BMW Thailand asked if I would
like to test their X-5, and when asked by any manufacturer, I always
end up agreeing, but when it is BMW there are no second thoughts - the
cars are always presented properly, sparkling clean and there are
always the drivers manuals in the glove box. I may be a car tester,
but I would much rather learn from the book than by trial and error,
with some of the switch-gear in modern vehicles.
However, a couple of days before delivery, I was
told that the X-5 was no longer available (that, gentle reader, is
usually car industry talk for “the last motoring journo did it an
injury”) but would I like the BMW 330iA instead? Would I? Yes I
would, as there are few other BeeEmms I would like to drive more,
other than the M3 or the Z9.
First impressions always count, they say. When I got the bronze
330iA back to the office I parked outside and the car drew comment
immediately. It has a crouching stance, and on the massive 17 inch
alloys mounted with low profile 225’s on the front and 245’s on
the back, it looks as if it means business. My local taxi motorcycle
riders all gave it the thumbs up too and made even more space for it.
This is an honour, believe me!
The engine on the 330iA (the BMW numbering shows
the vehicle to be a 3 series of 3.0 litres engine capacity) is an
inline 6 that develops 161 kW or 219 bhp in the old money. It is a
willing and very responsive unit, and totally “unfussy” hot or
cold. It appeared to have smooth power delivery right the way through
the range and is certainly no slouch, with reported 0-100 kph times of
6.5 seconds.
The transmission is a dual unit - fully automatic,
or swing the lever to the left and you have a sequential 5 speed
clutchless Steptronic. With the flexibility of the engine, and the
fact that the kick-down in auto mode was almost instantaneous, the
Steptronic seemed a little unnecessary. Add to that the fact that the
electronic brain will hold the transmission in the lower automatic
mode ratios, right the way through to red-line if you keep the welly
in. During the track test, I did use the Steptronic, just because I
wanted to keep it in the right gear through and out of the corners,
but I came away thinking that there was damn all in it, just leaving
it in D for Drive.
Steering this BMW was a delight. Good ‘feel’ at
all speeds and pin-point accuracy. You can place the car at the exact
right position in the corners, time and time again. Another reason why
the 330iA became a vehicle you felt you could do anything in. An
example of this was on a quick blast along some of our twisty dual
carriageways. My passenger was not someone used to fast travel and
when we swept around lesser mortals who were hanging on to their
respective steering wheels with grim death, white knuckles and hope,
she burst out laughing. In the BeeEmm it was just so effortless.
Again, hearkening back to the track (a venue where
you can explore the dizzy outer limits in safety), the lack of body
roll in this 330iA was impressive. The car felt just so stable, at any
speed. It was a true “sports” sedan, and the road holding was
exceptional. The chassis dynamics are also impressive. The damping
being firm, controlling the car under any variations of road surface,
including those annoying “humps” on Motorway 7.
Believe me when I say that this 330iA is a very
fast machine. Totally illegal speeds come up very quickly, but BMW
have supplied the driver with very large disc brakes, with ABS
naturally, that will wash the speed off just as quickly. Combined with
the steering response, this makes the vehicle exceptionally nimble.
With all the electronic “smarts” that are built into this car -
for example it will hold the car in gear further up the rev range when
it sees the driver is pressing on a bit - the impression you get is
the electronic brain saying, “So you’re up to it! So am I!”
As far as “driving” this car was concerned, I
could find very little to fault it. It is a driver’s car, one in
which you can enjoy the art of driving a ‘real’ car. But, yes,
there was something I did not like. While going round the car, let me
get my one big beef off my chest - the boot lid. The book shows dinky
little finger slots in the boot lid lining to be able to draw the boot
lid down. I’m damned if I could use them, so you revert to the hand
on the top of the boot lid technique, which invariably required two to
three goes at getting it closed (the counterbalance was too strong)
and so invariably left grubby hand prints on the offending item.
Sounds petty, I know, but we are talking about a motor vehicle that
had been exemplary up to that point.
For a rapid touring car, the 63 litre fuel tank
seemed to have enough capacity, but don’t ask me what my fuel
consumption figures were. I have always contended that petrol is the
cheapest item you put into any car, and when the vehicle in question
costs 3.55 million baht, are you going to quibble at fuel consumption
figures? For the record, an American auto mag claimed it returned 24
miles per gallon with the 330. Me? I don’t care!
So how do you sum up a car that costs around the
same price as a two bedroom house? For my money, it is worth it if you
are a real driver, because this is a real driver’s car. For my
money, I would get more enjoyment from this financial investment in
the BMW than I would ever do from a house in the suburbs, but then, I
never was all that practical about such things.
BMW can leave a 330iA in my garage any day - unfortunately they
didn’t! The test vehicle was supplied by BMW Thailand.
