There seems a lot of confusion principally on the US based forums where many consipracy theories abound. Here in Europe the thinking is much simpler. I haven't time to go back and search through BMW press statements but the 335i engine was developed to fit between the 330i and M3, they said that over a year ago. The 330i has only just been re-released with it's magnesium crankcase and improved induction so BMW have no plans to throw that R&D investment away. I presume the 325i will remain, So we have 325i, 330i and 335i, then M3 and above that a more powerful M3 CSL (but only in Coupe form).

The 335i engine will be fitted to all variants (saloon, coupe and touring) and whilst they may phase it in starting with the Coupe this will only be to allow for production to ramp-up, not for exclusivity. The E92 Coupe will sell for enough reasons without needing a unique engine. (although there was talk of the 335i engine in the Coupe being 20-30bhp more than in the saloon).

As for reliability, I forget that turbocharged BMWs are new to you guys in the States, for us they are not and it's a well proven technology that BMW have built considerable experience in over the past 10 years. The 335i adopts many of the technologies BMW have been using in their diesel engines so I would have no concerns about owning the first batch. We have a 3.0d engine in our family and it runs faultlessley.

So if you're thinking about leasing a 330i I would say go ahead. The 335i will be more expensive than the current 330i (about on a par with Audi's S4 - perhaps five thousand short of an E46 M3 price), and therefore the 330i will still be a very desirable mid-range model in the 3-series range.

BMW could of course do something completely different to what they've already told us, but they're Germans and that would be very unlikely.

We'll know more in 2 weeks time when the press embargo is over and details emerge.

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