BMW 335i Convertible spied in Santa Barbara today (4.21.06)...

This car has been spotted how many times now, 4 or 5? This is the first time I have seen high quality pictures, that arn't taken with a camera phone.

Great find Jon!

Kudos!

P.S.- Is that a hardtop convertible top I spy?

The shark fin is on the trunk, looks like the 335 convertible.

Funny. I saw a MB S class today with DST plates. The only which stuck out was the Bangle Butt.

Are you sure that's not a Pontiac??



--J.

I find it hard to believe thats real. What the heck is that car doing in the states? as if we're the center of R&D. thats a hoax!
pls proof me wrong

Originally Posted by Flyingfart

I find it hard to believe thats real. What the heck is that car doing in the states? as if we're the center of R&D. thats a hoax!
pls proof me wrong

Jon is the owner of this site and lives in Santa Barbara.

Originally Posted by Flyingfart

I find it hard to believe thats real. What the heck is that car doing in the states? as if we're the center of R&D. thats a hoax!
pls proof me wrong

Uh, yes, newbie is excused for the faux pas... Jon doesn't lie.

--J.

Originally Posted by Flyingfart

I find it hard to believe thats real. What the heck is that car doing in the states? as if we're the center of R&D. thats a hoax!
pls proof me wrong

Santa Barbara is a short drive up the coast from BMWNA's
Regional Engineering & Testing Facility; a favorite destination
for the drivers of the test mule, as evidenced also by the
visit to our Bimmerfest event 2 weeks ago by the M6:

Sorry for hi-jacking but I believe there is a diffuser under the car to keep it stable above 200 mph.

I used to Live and work in MDR (Marina Del Rey) and I would see many test mules wandering around just about every day.
There are always MB, AUDI,BMW and even some of the Nippon Mules there just about all year!
Never phased me to see a car there that had not been produced yet.
Wildest was the Vector W2 Twim Turbo!
What a beast!

Autospies now has the scoop!



http://autospies.com/article/index.a...&categoryId=12

Originally Posted by Jon

Autospies now has the scoop!



http://autospies.com/article/index.a...&categoryId=12

Kewl, score one for Bimmerfest!!

--J.

Confirmed: this car is a 335i Convertible with Sport package wheels...

Looks like a hardtop convertible. Note how the B pillar is solid and thick, not thin and "invisible" as on the current BMW 'verts.

Or it could just be another piece to the disguise(which i am now thinking it is).

Thats a big piece of solid glass to be in a retractable cloth top, and also take note of how there might be "hinges" under the plastic pieces on the roof.

Interesting point brought up over at autospies- this might be the new "coupe" (assuming if this really is a hard top convert) because I have never seen a hardtop vert in the same model line as a cloth top vert.

I suppose it's a necessary evil but that sharkfin on the trunk looks like crap.


I hope those are not turn signal indicators on the mirrors. yack!

The 335 is wearing the same plate as the M6 at bimmerfest!
Or maybe manf plates are all the same...

Actually --- if you go to the bmw website, you can see real photos of the new coupe. I believe you can bet more than a hamburger and a coke that the convertible (top up) will look very similar!

Doug

Originally Posted by Jon

Confirmed: this car is a 335i Convertible with Sport package wheels...

Put the TOP DOWN already!!

I need to see it!!

--J.

Originally Posted by Jon

Autospies now has the scoop!



http://autospies.com/article/index.a...&categoryId=12

as does leftlanenews

http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/04/...i-convertible/

My photochop version of the E93...

Oops... it was too big the first time. Here we go:

Originally Posted by 3s-a-charm

Oops... it was too big the first time. Here we go:

Nice job!

I only hope the actual car looks this good!

--J.

Originally Posted by mullman

The 335 is wearing the same plate as the M6 at bimmerfest!
Or maybe manf plates are all the same...

Yes, and no... the number on the plates is the same (15776), but they have different numbers on the side (54C and 6C). Likely 15776 is a sequence of plates that belong to BMW.

Just like most of the BMW company cars on the East Coast have NJ Manufacturer Plates that start "DTM-35" followed by specific identifying numbers for each unique plate.

Great Pictures, can't wait to see what it looks like without the "makeup". I'll be in Santa Barbara for a few months starting within the next two weeks so I hope to see this in person.
Unfortunatly, the way I read this is that there is not a Turbodiesel coming to the US this year.