Competition in the convertible market has reached new heights. No longer is it enough for carmakers to have just a convertible. Now, to be truly a contender in this niche market, they must offer a hardtop convertible, one that replaces the traditional folding fabric top with a retractable hardtop. Witness the Volkswagen Eos, the Volvo C70, and the Chrysler Sebring.
Always one to avoid being left behind in any competition, BMW stepped up with a new 3 Series Convertible for 2007 that comes with a three-piece, fully automatic, one-button up-and-down hardtop. Each way takes less than a half-minute. When the top's up, the car is as close to a two-door hardtop in ride, handling and interior comfort as is possible with a removable roof. With the top down, it's everything a convertible should be but with almost none of the penalties, like overly blustery, hairdo-destroying wind and vision-blurring cowl shake, commonly associated with open-top cars.
BMW compensated for the 200-plus pounds added by the top and its supporting mechanicals by raising the energy levels under the hood. The base engine, if there is such a thing in a BMW, is the same displacement, 3.0 liters, as the top engine in the '06 convertible, but with 230 horsepower, five more than that engine. The up-level engine also displaces 3.0-liters but, boosted by dual turbochargers, pumps out 300 horsepower, up 75 from the '06's top engine. At the same time, both of the '07's engines earn higher fuel economy ratings from the EPA than their predecessors, the dual-turbocharged by four miles per gallon on the highway.
The 2007 BMW 3 Series Convertible comes in two trim designations, both two-door, four-passenger models with the marque's first-ever, retractable hard top supplanting the soft-tops of previous editions. Neither model name relates any longer to engine family. The 328i comes with the normally aspirated engine, while the 335i comes with the turbocharged engine. Standard is a six-speed manual transmission; optional is a six-speed automatic transmission allowing manual gear selection with the Steptronic feature.
Much of what has allowed BMW to claim to be the ultimate driving machine survives on the new 3 Series Convertible, and, for that matter, on its coupe and sedan siblings. It's a superbly balanced car, and in unadulterated form, sinfully fun to drive. Steering is light when it should be, that is, at low speeds, and with proper resistance and feedback at the elevated speeds the car constantly tempts drivers to explore. Nearly equal front/rear weight distribution leaves the driver in full command of where the car goes and when, with a high-threshold stability control system reassuringly keeping watch should a driver somehow manage to venture beyond the car's almost limitless capabilities. For those extreme times, the brakes, too, stand ever ready to add vital safety margins.
Sadly, at least for long-time, BMW purists, another field in which BMW feels compelled to stay competitive, if not lead the field, is in using electronics to manage its cars' functions. And the 3 Series Convertible has not been immune to this creeping plague of numbing isolation. For example, some of the electronic assists to the car's brakes are welcome, like systems that keep the discs dry in wet weather, compensate for overheating-related fade and prime the system when a panic stop seems imminent. On the other hand, the system can't seem to leave things well enough alone in normal driving, abruptly adding pressure, for instance, as the car slows to a stop quite independent of how the driver is attempting to feather the pedal to achieve a stable, non-rocking stop.
There are other features that BMW insists on improving that didn't need improvement, like Active Steering, and a few that have lost some of their excellence, like the manual transmission. But the point is that the 3 Series may well be an endangered species, the spotted owl of the BMW line, if you will: the last in a long line of one-time driver's cars that are becoming more computers than cars.
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