PressClub United Kingdom · Article.
New Entry Level BMW 3 Series - 316i Saloon and Touring enter the market now
Wed Mar 27 12:00:00 CET 2002 Press Release
From April 2002 the BMW 3 Series range will be enhanced by the addition of a new 316i Saloon, traditionally BMW?s second bestseller (after the 318i Saloon). Powered by the acclaimed N42 1.8 litre VALVETRONIC engine, built at Hams Hall, Warwickshire, the new 316i offers more power and torque, better acceleration and a higher top speed.
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Barbara Brailey
BMW Group
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Author.
Barbara Brailey
BMW Group
From April 2002 the BMW 3 Series range will be enhanced by the addition of a
new 316i Saloon, traditionally BMW's second bestseller (after the 318i
Saloon). Powered by the acclaimed N42 1.8 litre VALVETRONIC engine, built at
Hams Hall, Warwickshire, the new 316i offers more power and torque, better
acceleration and a higher top speed. Despite these performance improvements,
fuel consumption for the new car is lower by 11 per cent with the attendant
benefit of lower CO2 emissions of 172 grams/km.
The facts:
New 316i VALVETRONIC compared to former 316i. Please see attached download
document for data.
The former 316i ceased production in Summer 2001 and, due to production
scheduling, did not receive the more efficient VALVETRONIC engine until now.
It is, however, a timely introduction since the new company car benefit in kind
taxation comes into force in April and with lower CO2 emissions rating the 316i
slots into the second lowest (i.e. 16 percent BIK category).
The efficiency of the new BMW 316i makes it 15 gms/km and three percentage
classes better than the Audi A4 1.6 and a huge 53 gms/km and 11 percentage
classes better than the entry level Mercedes C180.
This difference will be seen in the salary slips of every company car driver
from the end of April.
Standard specification remains the same as its predecessor and the insurance
rating of 12E will ensure the BMW 316i is inexpensive to run. High residual
values will make sure it stays that way throughout its life.
On the road prices are :
BMW 316i manual £18,450
BMW 316i automatic £19,685
BMW 316i SE manual £19,470
BMW 316i SE automatic £20,705
Touring too:
For the first time in the new shape there will also be a 316i SE Touring as the
entry model. Powered by the same 1.8 litre VALVETRONIC engine as the Saloon,
the new model is only available in SE form due to the pattern of customer
demand exhibited with other Touring models.
The 316i SE Touring accelerates from 0-62 mph in 11.2 seconds and reaches a top
speed of 125 mph. Its combined fuel consumption of 38.7 mpg and CO2 emissions
level of 177 gms/km confer a similar advantage over its petrol-engined
competitors in the market place to that of its Saloon counterpart.
The prices of the new 316i SE Touring are :
316i SE Touring manual £20,440
316i SE Touring automatic £21,675
Like the 316i Saloon, the new Touring has an ABI approved insurance rating of
12E and is available from April 2002.