[jayo]

BMW Ireland have announced a 316i variant of the E90 that apparently is only available in Ireland. They specifically mention that it wont be available in the UK - see www.bmw.ie

It is a 1.6 litre engine with 115bhp.

Must be because of the extremely high levels of tax on new cars here - almost 57% of the cost of a 2 litre car is tax of one form or another

[E90Fleet]

I saw they released the engine quite a while ago

I thought more European countries wouuld get it

[ksfrogman]

115 bhp? Guess that's still better than the Ford Pinto.

[rebelfocus]

Thanks for posting that. It's will certainly allow a lot more people to go for a 3 series...

From the press release...

"The 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine in the 316i features VALVETRONIC and VANOS technology, ensuring best-in-class performance, emissions and fuel consumption. Delivering 115bhp and 85Nm torque the 316i personifies exemplary performance with excellent fuel efficiency.

This four-cylinder engine was first introduced in the 1 Series in the Autumn of 2004. "

and

"BMW are using their flexible production technology to make this engine variant available specifically for the Irish market. The decision to launch this car is based on the significant savings a customer can avail of due to the smaller engine capacity. The BMW 316i is priced at €36,300, which represents a saving of €2,350 compared to the BMW 318i. All of the saving is passed on to the customer."

I wonder if this engine will be available in any other European country with similar crazy tax levels on cars? Our tax bands are based solely on engine size as opposed to CO2 emissions or power.

[rebelfocus]

Originally Posted by ksfrogman

115 bhp? Guess that's still better than the Ford Pinto.

Well, a lot of European cars in general have smaller engines. Fuel is expensive in this part of the world. A well-tuned smaller engine can still be quite pleasant to drive. And the roads here are crap so you don't get the enjoy the power much anyway.

The majority of people in Ireland drive 1.4 or 1.2 litre cars. For example a VW Golf here would typically be 1.4, 75 bhp. Anything above that would typically have to be ordered especially.

[findtom]

€36,300!!!! Man that is so brutal, the 330i starts lower than that here.

[rebelfocus]

Originally Posted by ksfrogman

115 bhp? Guess that's still better than the Ford Pinto.

Well, a lot of European cars in general have smaller engines. Fuel is expensive in this part of the world. A well-tuned smaller engine can still be quite pleasant to drive. And the roads here are crap so you don't get the enjoy the power much anyway.

The majority of people in Ireland drive 1.4 or 1.2 litre cars. For example a VW Golf here would typically be 1.4, 75 bhp. Anything above that would typically have to be ordered especially.

[selm]

Not to sound too American, but what is the point in having a BMW that only puts out 115 bhp? I just don't see the cost/benefit for the consumer as the car is just so darn heavy, slow, and expensive for what you get.

Is BMW able to reduce the weight of the car (outside of the obvious engine weight)? Is the car still fun to drive?

[jhbodle]

Originally Posted by selm

Not to sound too American, but what is the point in having a BMW that only puts out 115 bhp? I just don't see the cost/benefit for the consumer as the car is just so darn heavy, slow, and expensive for what you get.

Is BMW able to reduce the weight of the car (outside of the obvious engine weight)? Is the car still fun to drive?

Well, the 316i won't come with most of the goodies that the higher models get, which will make it lighter. The engine is a fair bit lighter too. The 4 cylinder 320i weighs 100kg less than the 6 cylinder cars and the 316i will weigh even less than that. Handling wise, I imagine a 316i M Sport would be hard to beat by any other E90, and that's coming from a 325i owner...

[jayo]

Originally Posted by jhbodle

Well, the 316i won't come with most of the goodies that the higher models get, which will make it lighter. The engine is a fair bit lighter too. The 4 cylinder 320i weighs 100kg less than the 6 cylinder cars and the 316i will weigh even less than that. Handling wise, I imagine a 316i M Sport would be hard to beat by any other E90, and that's coming from a 325i owner...

The 316 M Sport is just a plain old 316i with some fancy bumpers!!!

[3s-a-charm]

I counted 26 versions of the E90 listed on the Irish BMW site! It looks like they list the sports package as an "SE" model instead of an "option".

[climkt]

i really wonder why bmw sells 1600cc bmw 3series. it is just so underpowered, worse a 316i in steptronic. does it sell in masses to justify its existence? don't think it does the model any favours, especially when it gets thrashed by all the small hatches on the road in sprints.

[manilae90]

In the Philippines, the e90 316i was available since last December. The price, a whopping 35,000 USDollars

[gos]

Originally Posted by manilae90

In the Philippines, the e90 316i was available since last December. The price, a whopping 35,000 USDollars

Could be worse, you could be in Singapore... there you see the 720i and 518i driving around.

According to:

http://www.contactsingapore.org.sg/m...yingacar.shtml

for importing a car, there is an import duty of 31% of the value of the car, plus 110% of the value of the car as a registration fee.

You also pay a road tax of a few thousand every 6 months, based on displacement.

Oh, and diesels engines have a 600% surcharge on the road tax.

Oh, and you have to bid on your "Certificate of Entitlement" basically the form that lets you buy a car in the first place. Somewhere around S$10,000

[climkt]

The smallest engine size for e60 was 520i , now 523i in singapore. the 730i is the smallest engine size for the current 7 series. thank god, we don't have the 518i or 720i in singapore.

[London320d]

Originally Posted by 3s-a-charm

I counted 26 versions of the E90 listed on the Irish BMW site! It looks like they list the sports package as an "SE" model instead of an "option".

It looks like Ireland do the same as the UK.

For the smaller engines, we have a "Basic", "ES", "SE", and "M Sport" editions. 325/330 come as SE or M Sport. Basic, ES and SE have increasing levels of equipment (SE giving the best value for money if you are not on a budget). M Sport adds the "Sport" features on top of essentially an SE package.

We then add whatever other options we fancy from a menu...

[jayo]

As Far as I understand BMW Ireland is just an offshoot of BMW UK.

Unlike most other car manufacturers , the Irish spec BMW's are exactly the same as the UK ones.

All the other manufacturers just take a UK spec and strip out some of the extras - like alarms etc.

[Paul330d]

Originally Posted by selm

Not to sound too American, but what is the point in having a BMW that only puts out 115 bhp?

As a European, I have to say I agree with you on this point. If I could only afford a 115hp family-sized car, I would go for a mass-market model (Ford Mondeo, Peugeot 407, Toyota Avensis...). BMWs are designed for power - 115hp is just a waste of rear-wheel drive, IMHO.

[jhbodle]

Originally Posted by jayo

The 316 M Sport is just a plain old 316i with some fancy bumpers!!!

Err...and sports suspension in a car that's ~120kg lighter than a 325...

[davinet78]

i think that engine is designed for older people who dont have the urge to go fast or use the power of the engine but they still want a solid feel and good quality car which they can rely and depend on.

[aarnt]

Also this engine is for countries that overprice cars and gas, especially luxury sport sedans and premium gas . And, if I had a kid and some money to pend on his/her driving safety, I would buy him/her a 316! Safe, with some power and RWD to teach were the fun comes from

I too disslike the fact that some rivals of BMW laugh at that choice, and overtake a 3 series with ease... but BMW laughs when the sales reports come in

[larryn]

Originally Posted by jhbodle

Err...and sports suspension in a car that's ~120kg lighter than a 325...

I wonder what does happen to the handling characteristics of a near 50-50 front to rear biased car, when you take 100+kg off of one end of it?

The 316 will certainly be a momentum car, because there would be hardly any powering out of the corners like one of the I6 engines can do. You are talking about a car with double the horsepower and torque (and 2.5x the hp and torque on the 330). Those ~120kg are a help, but cannot make up for the lack of power. It's still a pretty heavy car.

However, I think it's great the are offering a more affordable (I know it's relative) option to put people in e90's. They would never "tarnish" the marque in the US by offering that car here, though some would buy it. BMWNA would view it as cheapening the brand image, and they would have to sell it for about $23k US.