With recent sluggish auto sales and the death sentence dealt to GM yesterday it comes to no surprise that many auto makers are beginning to rethink their efforts to produce cost effective and affordable cars. Just this morning luxury German car maker BMW issued a press release describing their new sales strategy which involves the re-manufacturing of their older model cars in order to save money. For the first time since 1991 brand new e30 models will roll off the assembly lines. Production has already begun for the first quarter of 2011 as the company never got rid of any of the design models or equipment.
The all new 2012 BMW 325ie:
The new line of e30’s will contain an all aluminum-alloy “e” variant of the m50 model engine. This not only saves money but also less weight on the car will improve the gas mileage to upwards of around 45mpg. With such a large engine in a small car you will not lose the power to torque one comes to expect from a BMW with its stock 240hp. Take that Prius.
Safety being a major issue in today’s market, the new e30 has a full roll cage built into the frame, limiting obstruction from passengers. Side impact air bags as well as ceiling and floor impact airbags are now standard on all new models. To remain faithful to the original e30 the new models will only be available in RWD and with standard transmissions (to save on gas of course).
In order to compete with the other luxury vehicles in its class BMW has gone to great lengths to make the new e30’s outer appearance simply more than “classic”. The new body panels will be composed entirely of high-impact-mythril-laced-carbon fiber, available fully painted or with an acceptable gloss. To counteract the high cost of the body panels BMW has teamed up with Volvo to buy out their entire supply of unused lip spoilers. The single act of re-ordering all the basket-weave alloys from BBS has brought the wheel company out of the red for the first time since early 2008. All models will be available with a choice of plastic or chrome bumpers. Other options include vintage stlye “cracked” leather seats, “broken” A/C, and of course console lights that flicker on and off for no apparent reason other than nostalgia.
With a pricetag in the range of $7k USD, who can say no to the all new BMW e30?
