The BMW F30 3 Series has been awarded the Autocar Asian Car of the Year 2013. It was given to both the standard BMW 3-series and the long wheelbase version, was presented to Ian Robertson, BMW chief of sales and marketing, and chief designer Adrian van Hooydonk, at the Shanghai motor show.
We had a chance this week to drive a group of F30 335i equipped with the full complement of BMW M Performance Parts. On the performance side, these cars featured M Performance Power Kit (PPK), suspension kit, brakes and exhaust. Cosmetic enhancements include the M Performance front lip spoiler/splitters, sport stripes, carbon fiber mirror caps, black kidney grilles, side-sill decals, 20″ wheels (Style 405M), carbon fiber/alcantara interior and carbon fiber shift lever.
Performance
How did the cars perform? With the M Performance Suspension Kit, the 335i handling felt several increments more immediate and responsive, with less roll, squat or dive than a standard 335i. The cars looked great too with the reduced wheel gap. The upgraded brakes held up well lap after lap and session after session … CONTINUED
The highlight of the BMW display at the 2013 Auto Shanghai show is the BMW Concept X4 [full gallery], but there are other highlights and (Asian) debuts at the show.
Here is a gallery showing some of these other models.
F30 with M Performance Parts
Concept Active Tourer
i8 Concept
i3 Concept
3 Series GT M Sport
M6 Gran Coupe
Some E9x and F3x 3 Series BMW Individual cars currently on display at BMW owned Munich dealership (BMW Niederlassung).
Seen here are BMW Individual colors: Phoenix Yellow, Neon Blue, Urban Green and Damask Red.
A side by side look at how the BMW 3 Series and its sportiest front end designs have evolved in two generations - from the E46 M Tech to the F30 M Sport.
Photos courtesy of E46toF30.
The BMW 328i has been selected as the winner of the Cars.Com Sports Sedan Challenge. The 3 Series emerged as the winner in a series of evaluations including race track testing, instrumented measurements, street driving and a long distance trip on different types of roads.
The BMW 3 Series and five competitor cars were judged by a panel of experts from Cars.com, MotorWeek, and USA Today. The cars were also judged by actual car shoppers who were in the market for a sport sedan and were invited to participate.
The final results were:
1st Place: 2013 BMW 328i M Sport sedan (859 points)
2nd Place: 2013 Volvo S60 T5 AWD Premier (793 points)
3rd Place: 2013 Acura TL 3.7 SH-AWD Tech (775 points)
4th Place: 2013 Cadillac ATS … CONTINUED
The Team Afrox/ADF Motorsport F30 3 Series race team is off to a great start in the 2013 Bridgestone Super Production Car race series.
The two F30 finished in the order in which they qualified for the race - first and second.
Congrats to the team!
Czech artist Andy Reiben was commissioned by DyCom Group, a BMW Dealership in the Czech Republic to create this F30 3 Series Art Car, which is expected to join the previous 17 official BMW Art Cars.
“Fluidum” is the name of his creation and it features a candy/psychedelic paint scheme with portions which glow in the dark. This is what Reiben has to say about the philosophy behind his design:
“I wanted to abstractly express passion and dynamism and therefore each part of the body is different and tells a story. On the front hood there is the birth and taming of the power, right and left sides express the balance of power, day and night; the rear part symbolizes resistance and the roof sinuosity and barriers … CONTINUED
An F30POST member gives us his real life review of the just announced/released BMW M Performance Power Kit for the F30 335i sedan.
