As it’s been one of the industry’s worst-kept secrets, queues formed long ago at dealerships world-wide for the spring 2007 launch of BMW’s new ‘folding roof’ convertible.
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Finally, the automaker has released some pictures and details and the innovations include – this is not a joke – the world’s first ‘SunReflective’ seat cooling leather trim as an option.
This is what the blurb says: “Owners of BMW’s latest four-seat sun-trap can enjoy the warm weather and leave the roof down for prolonged periods without singeing themselves on the seats or armrests.
“Special pigments embedded into the leather help reflect infra-red radiation ensuring treated areas that are exposed to sunlight for a prolonged period can remain up to 20 degrees cooler compared to untreated leather.”
We can’t wait to test that claim. Somewhere like Perth (the western Australian version, not Scotland) say, where summer temperatures routinely lurk around the 39C mark…
The convertible forsakes its fabric roof for a three-piece electronically-operated retractable hard-top – a first for BMW. This genre of car began in Europe in 2002 with two-piece roofs but Volvo’s C70 and Volkswagen’s Eos more recently raised the bar to three, mostly because the panels stack more neatly.
BMW said the new lid, stowed or raised in approximately 22 seconds, was introduced for added security, better visibility and a greater feeling of space and light for occupants – the larger rear glass windscreen and side windows improve visibility by 38% compared to the outgoing 3 series convertible.
Roof-down boot space is always a problem with this type of convertible but BMW claims the unique way in which the roof folds also maximises available boot space. With the roof up there is 350 litres of storage and, roof down, the boot can still accommodate up to 210 litres of luggage.
In another claimed world first, the rear seat backrests can also be folded flat to provide additional storage space. As an option, a through loading system with transport bag can also be optioned in to allow for longer or bulkier items to be accommodated and this can still be used when the folding metal roof is lowered. For added practicality, a stowed roof can be electronically raised out of the boot area to allow for longer items such as golf clubs to be secured before being folded away again.
The new drop-top will come initially in petrol 325i and 335i guises, with new direct injection technology, and twin turbos for the 335, but more engines will quickly follow – 325i and 330i petrol and 330d diesel.
Six-speed manual gearboxes are standard and a new six-speed automatic transmission with steering wheel-mounted gearshift paddles first shown on the 3 series coupé (unlike rivals, BMW is offering both coupe and coupe/cabrio variants) is an option.
The new convertible make its global debut at the Detroit motor show on 7 January and goes on sale in Europe soon after. RHD models reach the UK and other markets in March.
UK prices will range from GBP33,030 to GBP37,895.
