Welly 1:24 2014 BMW 335i Sport Sedan

Welly continues to impress with well-detailed 1:24 scale new castings for the low-end of the price range.  Even if one comes from Rire-Aid store as one of the cars that didn't pass quality control and lost both its exterior mirrors!  No problem, and after a new set of mirrors and a two-tone red interior, this BMW really earns "The Ultimate Driving Machine" standard.

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The 3-series line started with the racing heritage of the 2002 that made the BMW automaker the sportiest German of the bunch (not counting Porsche which was in a different category at the time).  In 1975 the 3-series line was introduced to replace the 2002 as the new compact car line for BMW.  Now in it's current sixth-generation the 3-series has grown and lost some of its sporting characteristics that car enthusiats love yet it still retains most of that sporty nature, and if that's not enough for you then take a look at the M3 and M4 models.  Speaking of which this generation is not only returns the I-6 to the M-line but also separates the sedans from the coupe and convertible lines (now called 4-series).

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This Welly casting starts off with a bold red color and Sport trim (note the logo's on the front fenders) and 5-spoke split wheels on low-profile rubber tires nicely-done with floating brake calipers over rotors on all four wheels.  Looks good!  Color options are similar to Alfa Romeo's: choice of red or white in 1:24 or 1:18 scale.  The front has detailed headlights with the projector frames and angel-eye rings, which extend and connect to the twin kidney grilles with vertical fins and exposed outer corners that connect to the lenses and all combine to give it an aggressive, wider look with a similar lower grille with foglights and a smaller central grille to allow the BMW 335i place to rest.  The rear returns the dogleg taillights with light bar strips inside, BMW plate, logo's, lip spoiler in the shape of the trunk, and dual exhaust with black tips with silver inside.

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The side profile starts with all windows up for a clean look and door handles that stand out (note: when the car is unlocked by key fob LED puddle lamps glow under each handle.  Now this car came with mirrors but because of the way the doors open (spring-tight) and with no other place to hold onto to open the doors the mirrors were the obvious choice, and after a while someone managed to pull them off!  So what I did was take one of the extra Ford Crown Vic Taxi's from Welly that were lying around and removed both mirrors to work into the BMW when I got home.  They fit, and they are sandwiched between the door and door panel; however the dash and door panels were not made for this sandwich type so door panel fit was not perfect.  After hours of grinding, filing,  and trial-and-error fits of the doors I got the doors to close at 98% smooth fit (they still stick out a little).  At the expense of the way they mount the mirrors tilt up at a slight angle, and the stock BMW mirrors are square and are body-colored, though some 3-series do have blacked-out mirrors.  As a final touch I added signal lights to the mirrors.  Hey, it's not perfect but better than nothing!

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Next up was the interior: Gone is the awkward housing for the I-Drive screen and in comes a separate pop-up screen leaving the rest of the dash to be nice and smooth, with silver trim below the screen, detailed center controls, and gauges behind a 3-spoke steering wheel.  The console has a silver trim that also connects with the I-Drive knob and the 7-speed automatic shifter, but I wanted to go further and unique by making this a 6-speed manual.  The shifter was from a 1993 Dodge Viper RT/10 and looks like the perfect fit despite the handle being canted forward a bit.  Easy fit where the previous shifter once was and was color-matched to the actual 6-speed shift knob.  The clutch pedal was added and so that the pedals are more visible to see the change I added silver to the pedals and dead pedal.  But Wait!  That's not all!  To finish it off I added red to the seats, door panels, and console arm rest to give it the unique two-tone treatment (just like the 2005 Ford Mustang GT and 2014 M-B SL500 that I profiled last month) and to give visual pizzaz to the interior.  Combine that with the rest of the fantastic interior detailing and this is one fantastic interior setup!

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The 1:18 has an opening trunk; not missed here.  Open the hood to show off what most expect to be an engine cover, and you're mostly right.  While the engine block is covered, the rest of the engine bay is flooded with details.  The engine cover says "BMW TwinPower" to advertise the 3.5L DOHC Twin-Turbo I-6 that has two different turbo's for low and high range output to produce 302 hp. and 295 Ib-ft. of torque.  The shock towers are red, the oil filter next to the engine is silver, the coolant resovoir is white, the air box connects to a hose that is directed toward the turbochargers, the hood has a nice central black finish, and the windshield cowl piece has access ports for the brake fluid resovoir and electrical components.  The base underneath doesn't show much at the front where the engine components are covered, but does the rest of the way with the large exhaust pipe toward the rear suspension in 3-D effect, and then toward the silver muffler exiting out the dual black tips.  I added detail to the exhaust (minus the rear muffler which was already detailed), rear suspension, transmission support brace, and front suspension components.

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See what a few small tweaks and emergency repair can do to enhance one sharp-looking casting: make it look even better, as in this sharp-looking BMW 3-series sedan!

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