NewRay 1:43 2007 BMW 3-Series Coupe

BMW: The Ultimate Driving Machine, once the motto in BMW advertisements.  Today it's more like the Ultimate Pork Machine's as they go further from the streamline performance they were once know for to vehicles that are fast but lack the thrilling driving experience.  So, yea you'll see me appreciate the new BMW more or so less than the ones in the past, especially the BMW's from the 1990's to which i'm fond of.  Then again a few of those Ultimate Driving Machines still creep through:  The BMW 1M, the M3, to this simple 3-Series coupe that I found one day at a Dollar General.

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3-series continues its evolution

By the time the 2007 BMW 3-series coupe made its appearance the 3-series model has already made a name for itself as the icon to the BMW line; a car that ultimately defines the Ultimate Driving Experience.  A year after the sedan was released, the coupe and convertible was released, followed by the M3 coupe, M3 convertible, and the return of the M3 sedan.  The coupe has smoother styling with rounded headlight lenses housing quad lamps with halo rings, the BMW kidney grille that flows with the rounded hood shape.  The sides are contemporary coupe with a hoffinser (sic) kink at the d-pillar, a common trait for BMW.  The rear goes from the L-shaped taillights of the previous-generation to the square-shape units.  The interior, sadly, gets the ill-looking iDrive screen on the dashboard covering a typical BMW dash layout of other models, supportive front seats, and rear seats that are a bit snug but provide a center console for cupholders and storage.  Powertrains are diverse, including the first twin-turbo I-6 and on the M-models the V8.  This BMW shown from NewRay would be a 328i powered by a 3.0L I-6 that produces 254 hp and 221 Ib-ft. of torque through a six-speed manual.  The suspension is the same strut front and multilink rear as previous 3-series generations.

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Sharp New Ray 3-series coupe

I was surprised to find this casting among the pegwarming second-generation Euro Ford Focus 5-door hatchback and other not-so-great castings that NewRay provided to Dollar General, but this one is one nice-looking 3-series coupe.  The all-black finish looks sporty, and comes with the 18 inch 5-spoke wheels offered on the actual car to give it a look as if it had the M-package.  The front-end has the slim headlights, the twin-kidney grilles that are separate components from the body, lower scoop, and the foglights was something that I added to the casting to enhance the front-end.  The sides offer the same typical shape of the 3-series coupe with all the correct lines and side marker lights, plus the shark fin antenna on the roof.  The rear has the detailed square taillights with BMW logo and dual exhaust tips, together on the side (hence this is a 328i; 330i would have the dual exhaust tips separate) that seem to stick out a bit.  The base showcases the exhaust and rear suspension components but is actually quiet at the front of the base.  The interior looks great with the sharply-detailed dashboard with some detail highlights: iDrive center hump with detailed controls below, shifter that is large and signals the 6-speed manual, start-stop button to the right of the turn signal stalk, detailed seats, detailed center console, and the 3-spoke wheel.  Misses are the lack of detailed door panels, opening doors, and the steering column tends to sag a bit.

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Overall with the right amount of detail, enhanced with a little more detail, and this 3-series coupe looks to be one great casting, considering the fact that this is an entry-level model and not the typical top-of-the-line model.  Simply a simple BMW that can call itself the Ultimate Driving Machine.

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