One of the biggest announcements that BMW has recently made was the introduction of their 335 to the market. The new E92 coupe in the 335 form may resemble much of BMW's recent designs on the outside, but what's underneath the hood has caused a lot of excitement in every European enthusiast. A 3.5L twin turbo motor now powers the top of the line 3-series and we couldn't wait to get our hands to test drive one and get some first impressions out of it.
Carrozzeria Design is known in Southern California for their high end European automobile tuning. For this project E92, they teamed up with Active Autowerke, famed BMW tuner, to see how they can further improve on BMW's foundation. Eric Szeto of Carrozzeria Design informed us of the initial upgrades made to their E92 project: "We started off with a few of Active Autowerke's performance modifications. The header, exhaust were replaced and an ECU upgrade was installed. Lastly, Active Autowerke has produced a top quality blow off valve upgrade for the 335." We kept that in mind as we stepped into the cabin of the vehicle for the first time.
Pushing down on the brake and gently placing our finger on the Engine Start button, the 335 came to life and the Active Autowerke exhaust let out a menacing growl. Though it might be a little too aggressive for our personal tastes on the street, the Active Autowerke's exhaust tone was definitely noticeable and could easily make everyone on the street aware that this 335 is far from its base 300hp. We pulled the car out on the street and let it warm up gently pursuing the throttle and taking in The Ultimate Driving Experience.
The E92 is currently lowered with TEIN springs and rides on a set of 19-inch HRE's. But Szeto told us that those were just preliminary modifications so that the car could be shown at the recent Bimmerfest: "We borrowed the wheels for the show, but it'll be receiving a custom set of 20-inch wheels soon. We have already taken some measurements and are working closely with one of our wheel manufacturers to make a perfect sized set of staggered 20-inch wheels for our E92."
Enough with the all of that, we dropped the gas pedal to the floor and was instantly overwhelmed with the performance of the E92 coupe. Unlike traditional turbocharged vehicles we have experienced, the acceleration of the E92 coupe was very smooth and its power output was extremely evident. The automatic transmission in this E92 coupe was smoother than any we have ever experienced, and the blow off valve was a great accessory to the package. The Active Autowerke goodies had definitely jumped horsepower output on this E92 by a generous amount and we'd argue that this amount of modifications would make the E92 the perfect daily driver.
Carrozzeria Design isn't done with this project however, and we will be following the buildup in future feature articles. Stay tuned as they concentrate on the aesthetics and we'll be the first ones to have photographs of their new wheel and tire setup.