The North American International Auto Show 2007
By: Matt Wellumson
Photos By: The Author

With the absence of BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer due to the flu, Michael Ganal, member of BMW's board of management, headed up the 2007 BMW press event. As always BMW began the press event with sales figures for 2006 and gave updates on other companies within the BMW group. Overall sales figures came out to 1.37 million automobiles sold worldwide between BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce. Adding to the automobile sales figures, over 100,000 motorcycles also sold worldwide.

Prior to the introduction of the highly anticipated 3-Series hardtop convertible, BMW introduced the 760i based Hydrogen 7 sedan, the recently released X5, and information on plans to introduce diesel models to the US in 2008. With the X5 having been available in the US for a couple months already, the biggest news came from the hydrogen and diesel information released at this event.

I first became excited about the hydrogen dual fuel concept idea after talking to BMW engineers in 2005 regarding the H2R test car. Walking into the show, I was extremely happy to see the 7 Series, hydrogen / gasoline concept car come to the US for the 2007 NAIAS event. I also got the chance to actually hear it run, which was quite interesting. While the US market is not overly big on alternative energy vehicles, sales figures have grown considerably within the diesel and hybrid segments of the auto industry. Having BMW join these segments with diesel in 2008, hybrids at a later point in time, and the possibility of hydrogen later, these will all be important parts of BMW's future.

Rounding out the BMW press event, was the introduction of the 3 Series hardtop convertible. This was the world debut of this new model, which is an extremely important piece of the US BMW 3 Series lineup. Sales of previous convertibles have always been historically strong, and a highly valued member of the brand's offering. This new revision should prove to be more climate versatile than the previous model and will hopefully see higher sales in regions with cold winters.

Unlike the VW Eos, and Volvo C70 convertible, the BMW owner can both open and close the top by using the keyless remote from outside. However this only works when the car is equipped with BMW's comfort access feature. The 3 Series is also the most powerful hard top convertible in it's segment, especially when you consider that it can be equipped with the 3.0L twin turbo inline six-cylinder engine. Like the 3 Series Coupe this car is based on, the new convertible has near 50/50 weight distribution, which should ensure impressive handling for those after high performance driving.

BMW also released information that the starting price for the new hardtop convertible will come in over $40,000 (US). The 3 Series Convertible will be available early March in Europe, and late March in the US according to BMW's media information.

Thoughts and impressions on the 3 Series Convertible

Having a chance to take a look at the 3 Series convertible, I can honestly say that the quality and craftsmanship is absolutely BMW. With the top and windows up, the car is both quiet and fully secure feeling. Opening and closing doors on both the 330 and 328 convertibles at the show could be done without any extra drama, as the doors and roof have a solid sound and feel. I never had to worry about damaging the car when I used the roof as a support while climbing out of the back seat after checking rear headroom (which was actually quite good!). While I have yet to drive one of these new convertibles, I strongly believe that the interior sound levels would rival that of the normal coupe or sedan.

BMW claims much higher visibility on this car than it's outgoing predecessor, and I have to agree with that myself. In the E92 based convertible, I found that I was able to see rearward almost as well as I can in the normal coupe. Back in the E46 camp, I remember a notable difference in rearward and blind-spot visibility between the ci coupe and ci convertible models.

Overall, I have to say that I would recommend this car to anyone looking at a comparably priced convertible, even for those just looking into the regular coupe. The car is quite solid feeling and offers a great list of features which is quite customary for BMW. The only thing that is questionable is the overall longevity and repair cost of this top system for those who would use it often. If you lease or buy cars to only drive them for 3 years, the top longevity may not be an issue for you at all. Only time will tell how long the top system will last, however one good thing is if it goes bad, one would hope you could just keep it in "coupe mode" until you can get the system repaired!