Going for Global Domination

April 16,2000

The luxury car market has never been this good. Sure, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have battled using their compact sedans in the 1980s with the 3-series and the 190E, but things have changed. In the 1990s, the compact sports sedan market has become the one of the most fiercely competitive range for any luxury carmaker. In fact, BMW and Merc have introduced every conceivable engine type to fill in any niche market ranging from a 1.8-liter hatchback (BMW 318Ci) to a full-blown 4.3-liter road rocket (Merc C43 AMG).

In the past few years, the playing field has widen considerably, wiping out any near form of market domination from either BMW or Mercedes. These two German firms have been subjected to the reemergence of Alfa Romeo, Audi and Peugeot plus the entrance of new players such as Acura, Infinity and Lexus.

In basic marketing strategy, they always say that more competition is better..for the consumer. In fact, in order to survive in this market, carmakers had one of two options: create a wonderfully refreshing and different vehicle from the rest of the market or introduce a cheaper model. However, being luxury car markers, they have opted the first strategy and since the early 1990s, each of these makers tried to distinguish themselves from one another through exterior design, engine superiority, excellent build or superb customer service. In any case, the market has turned into the shape-up or ship-out mode. Some carmakers have already suffered the lack of interest and / or sales such as Infinity’s G20, which has generated less enthusiasm than watching Pat Robertson. Alfa’s 155 has been despised as ‘designed for monkeys’ and ‘built by monkeys’ denoting its poor ergonomics and build quality.

In this large fray of cars, every motoring enthusiast and car nut in the world would agree that the BMW 3-series is the benchmark sedan for all the rest. Having driven a 1994 BMW 328 convertible, I would agree that the 3-series has great handling, turn-in, response and best of all, driver enjoyment. However, the competition is fast catching up with the new 2000 3-series, with the introduction of two new models from BMW’s biggest competition: Mercedes-Benz’s all-new C-class and Lexus’ all-new IS300. Both of these cars promise close to / equal / or above performance levels when compared to the BMW. Will the promise of long-time rival Merc and Lexus prove true? A closer look beckons.

BMW 3-Series
Evolution, not a revolution. Those words echo the benchmark sedan of this category; namely, the BMW 328i. The exterior design alone is evident of BMW’s strategy not to stray away from the family look. The facia of the new 3-series echoes the lines of the ‘curvy-edged’ design of its bigger brother, the 5-series. Being evolutionary doesn’t mean being a dinosaur that could fly compared to a dinosaur that couldn’t. BMW’s 3-series is a huge step in the right direction (for BMW at least) to making the ‘ultimate driving machine’. Although those words may seem a bit clichéd, BMW has already introduced dozens of nifty features as standard for the 3-series to cement its claim versus rivals like the Audi A4 and Alfa Romeo 156.

The centerpiece of all these changes is the engine. Still employing the use of the old inline-6 engine, which has already won the acclaim and respect of not just the automotive enthusiasts, but engine specialists such as WARDS Auto World, heavy revisions have been done to improve power and torque delivery. So how did BMW do such a feat? Through the use of VANOS technology. Without having to explain the acronym, the VANOS technology is essentially a process wherein airflow is optimized inside the engine through different airflow channels to improve horsepower and torque ratings. BMW has two kinds of VANOS systems already operating within their line-ups. The new 3-series uses the more civilized single VANOS system, meaning only the engine airflow is controlled, for the more power hungry like the BMW M5, it uses the double VANOS system, where the exhaust airflow is controlled as well. In the end, the 2.8-liter inline-6 engine produces 193-bhp and 286 Nm of torque.

The sweet and smooth BMW inline-6 engine is matted to a choice of a 5-speed manual transmission or a 5-speed automatic gearbox. The 5-speed manual is already known for its diamond-cut precision as a driving tool. On the other hand, the 5-speed automatic features something usually found on the higher level BMWs: steptronic transmission. The steptronic works much like Mitsubishi’s INVECS-II. It’s essentially an automatic gearbox with a manual selector. For those interested in automotive facts: the BMW steptronic feature was the first such feature to be brought into the Philippine market by an official car distributor.

The dimensions of the car have also changed dramatically when compared to the older car. The new 3-series has a much beefier appearance, this of course appeals to those who want cars that drive and look as good. Sadly, however, the 3-series still lacks the interior space for five people. In fact, the 3-series barely has enough room to squeeze in four adults! Is this evolution at work? Hopefully it doesn’t take BMW ten years to realize this problem (Lexus took care upon the release of the IS200).

BMW says that majority of the improvements in the interior were to lessen the squeaks and jingles whenever the car goes over bumps (a 2,000 kilometer driven 1995 3-series already has these problems). They made use of a single-piece plastic dashboard with fittings of either wood or aluminum. Switches are still confusing and in fact, new buttons have been added to the steering wheel as well (evolution, not revolution). Personally, the best improvement that BMW has done to the 3-series is not its new look or the interior fittings but the standard features. In fact, for the top trim 328 it includes everything but the kitchen sink. Leather, head-protection airbags, 8-speaker system, electronically adjusted seats and air conditioning all come as standard

Although more on the mature side, the handling of the 3-series is still above those of the ordinary sedans. To plant the BMW name into the handling books, new driver aids have been added to enable the car to give the driver excellent feedback and control. These aids come in all possible acronyms such as ASC (Automatic Stability Control plus Traction), CBC (Corner Brake Control) and DSC (Dynamic Stability Control). Though they may sound a bit Chinese, let me assure you that the things they do are common to most of us. ASC and DSC are much like Mercedes’ ESP, wherein the computer senses loss of traction in any of the four wheels and tries to compensate it by regulating the throttle control. On the other hand, CBC works by shifting the brake pressure to optimize turn-in as well as reduce the wear and tear in the brake pads.

The 3-series is a wonderful sports sedan. It has matured and grown well from its original racing bred DTM past to its current yuppie status. Although the BMW could still exhibit better control and feedback when compared to the other so-called sports sedans, some enthusiasts feel that they want something that feels like the old 3-series: razor-sharp and on the edge. Toyota thinks so too, and thus went to the drawing board.

Lexus IS300
BMW must have shaken its knees in fright and probably called a board meeting when Lexus introduced the IS200 in 1999. Known as the Crown Altezza in Japan, the Lexus IS200 is the complete foil for the BMW. Whereas the BMW has matured and grown-up in the past few years, the IS200 is THE new definitive sports sedan. Already out in Japan with a high performance VVTi inline-4 (205 bhp!) and a more sedate 155-bhp inline-6, it has already won car of the year. For the American market however, Toyota / Lexus has decided to offer something much more different from the Japanese or European markets: a 3.0-liter inline-6 engine. The engine of the IS300 is basically a borrowed power plant from its bigger brother, the GS300.

The engine’s history isn’t as sweet as you think. Originally coming from the awful Crown, the 3.0-liter inline-6 then didn’t have much horsepower and torque to call itself a sports sedan’s engine. However, by changing some of the engine parts such as lighter cams and the introduction of the VVTi technology, thinks started to look bright, so bright that it makes the Sahara noon look like nightfall. VVTi is much like Honda’s VTEC technology. However, instead of changing both lift and timing, VVTi concentrates on varying the valve timing continuously without the need of a transition point. This is done through a set of gears that work throughout the rev range giving the car good low and middle-end torque without sacrificing the high-end grunt. The result? 218 bhp, a figure much higher than that of the BMW’s. A torque rating of 304 Nm is more than enough to propel this car.

The ‘over-the-edge’ image of the Lexus is not just evident from the engine alone. Lexus has specified the use of double wishbone suspension, rear-wheel drive and a 6-speed manual transmission all to provide the best driving combination, short of a V12, on the planet. The Japanese high-tech design is very evident on the IS300. The sports suspension, the clear-cut rear lamp clusters and the mesh-grille all say: “I am damn sportier than the Germans!” Many people have agreed with the Toyota designers and in fact, only a year into its production, the Lexus already has a huge following in Japan with a complete catalogue of aerodynamic and performance tuning parts. However, even without the performance parts, the IS300 is the only car manufacturer to offer a 6-speed manual transmission, an inline-6 engine and 17-inch (!) alloy wheels as standard.

The interior of the IS300 continues the Japanese techno-feel. Borrowing the looks from a Swiss chronograph, the interior is laden with aluminum and of course, the wonderful instrumentation cluster. The speedo is hued in silver with three smaller clusters underneath plus a tachometer on the left and a fuel gauge on the right. The aluminum filled interior is much bigger than the A4’s or the 3-series’. Besides the size, the IS300 comes with the assurance of Japanese tick-tock reliability and unmatched build quality as well.
Europeans felt betrayed when they knew only the 2.0-liter engine with a choice of 6-speed manual or 4-speed automatic would get to them (BMW and Merc must have breathed a little easier). They practically begged Toyota to give them more power to play with. However, the most powerful power plant will go to another continent altogether. In the US, the where the gasoline is still relatively cheap, the 3.0-liter inline-6 is the only engine of choice with either the same 6-speed manual transmission as found in Europe or a 5-speed automatic with button actuated shifters much like the GS400’s. Those lucky Americans!

By Ulysses Ang | Photos courtesy of BMW, Lexus and Mercedes

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