BMW announces centenary specials

BMW Australia will join the celebrations for its German parent company’s centenary with the introduction of 100 Year Editions of the 330i sedan and 430i Gran Coupe in the coming months.

The first two of what will be a number of 100 Year Editions are the 330i sedan and 430i Gran Coupe, with M Sport and Luxury versions of both body styles, painted in the blue and white hues of the brand’s logo and delivered with a ‘100 Year Edition’ certificate to ensure authenticity.

BMW Group Australia 3 and 4 Series product and pricing manager Howard Lam said the 100 Year 330i and 430i Gran Coupe editions were Australia-only models and were not limited to a specific volume.

“It’s limited in production run rather than volume,” he said. “We’re getting dealer feedback and it depends on the order rate,” he said.

“It’s limited by production month and the end of production at this point is September, you’d have to order by early August.” BMW Group Australia general manager of corporate communications Lenore Fletcher suggested that the company might find more ways to celebrate the centenary throughout the year.

“There are still other programs under discussion as well, we could conceivably see a couple more special editions throughout the year, our involvement in Targa Tasmania was part of our centenary celebrations already,” she said.

“We will see more activity during the rest of the year and some of that may involve more special edition vehicles but at this point it’s only these that we have confirmed.” The 100 Year editions are powered by the 3.0-litre direct-injection turbo four-cylinder petrol engines that produce 185kW and 350Nm via an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Both variants have a 5.8-second 0-100km/h sprint time and an official fuel consumption figure of 5.8 litres per 100km.

BMW said the sedan buyers get and extra $13,000 of additional value, with the special edition 330i models’ price starting from $75,900 plus on-road costs, representing a $6000 increase on the price of the regular 330i sedan.

The Gran Coupe starts from $85,900 – up from the standard 430i’s price of $79,900 – and BMW says it includes as much as $11,500 in extra gear.

Luxury Line buyers gain metallic paint – the sedan in Mediterranean Blue and Tanzanite Blue for the four-door coupe – as well as beige Merino leather trim, fine-wood Ash grain interior trim with metal and pearl gloss chrome trim highlights, the leather-trimmed instrument panel, a leather steering wheel and roofline all from the BMW Individual tailoring range.

There’s also a 16-speaker harman/kardon surround sound system, front sports seats with powered lumbar support adjustment, upgraded smartphone integration, LED foglights and 19-inch BMW Individual light-alloy wheels with low-profile run-flat tyres.

The 100 Year Edition M Sport versions are both offered in white – Alpine White for the sedan and Mineral White for the Gran Coupe – and are upgraded with an M leather steering wheel, M Sport brakes, 19-inch BMW M light-alloy wheel/run-flat tyre package and extended smartphone connectivity.

Meanwhile, BMW has managed to source an additional 15 examples of its strictly limited hardcore $295,000 (plus costs) M4 GTS for cashed-up Australian buyers after the original allocation of 25 units sold out sight unseen.

Ms Fletcher said the company was “very happy” to have the extra cars and highlighted the high take-up of high-performance models in Australia.

“Australia is becoming known as such an enthusiast country. We’re starting to get allocated a little more. We are a nation of petrol-heads, there’s no doubt.” 2016 BMW 100 Year Edition pricing*

330i Sedan (a)	$75,900
430i Gran Coupe (a)	$85,900

*Excludes on-road costs