2012 BMW 328i To Cost $35,775, 335i $43,275; M Sport Arriving in July

The 2012 BMW 3-series has broken cover. We know most of its technical details and we’ve already driven the turbocharged, four-cylinder 328i sedan. The only lingering question is: What’s it going to cost? We managed to wrangle some insider pricing information, and there’s going to be hardly any change at all. The entry-level 328i sedan will start at $35,775 and the more-powerful 335i at $43,275. Those prices represent increases of $300 and $350, respectively, over equivalent 2011 models. Just like the 2011s, opting for an automatic transmission will be a no-cost decision.

When BMW revealed the new 3-series, it laid out a new trim-level scheme that starts with the base car and progresses to Luxury, Modern, and Sport Line iterations. We have it on good authority that the Luxury and Modern 328is will cost approximately $37,900 and the Sport Line will ring in at about $38,400. Even more sportiness can be had with a fifth trim level, M Sport, which is very similar to the same package offered for the current 3-series and will arrive in July 2012. An M Sport 328i should start around $40,000, while a 335i so fitted will demand roughly $47,500.

Why the long wait for the sportiest non-M 3-series? As we noted after our first spin in the new 328i, BMW is aggressively courting tech-savvy buyers. The automaker feels its sporty image is enough to compel enthusiasts into showrooms, so it’s going after non-enthusiasts with technology- and efficiency-focused 3s first  (in addition to the four-cylinder–powered 328i, a hybrid is on its way, and we’ll even get a diesel model). The new car can be had with a self-parking system and head-up display, while an iDriven dash-top monitor is standard. In addition to generating lamentations from the enthusiast crowd, you can bet all the available bells, whistles, and gizmos will garner a pile of cash for BMW. We expect a fully loaded 328i to surpass $54,000, and a similarly optioned 335i to command nearly $59,000. Ouch.

On the bright side, BMW will continue to ship 3-series wagons to our shores; it’ll begin arriving as a 2013 model. (BMW will continue to sell the current-gen wagon until then.) The 3-series coupe and convertible, too, will wait another year. As with the wagon, though, the impatient will be able to buy the current versions until the F30-based cars show up. And don’t forget about the 3-series GT, which likely will arrive still another year later, as a 2014. The two-door cars, though, are the ones we’re most anxiously awaiting. When they arrive, we’ll finally learn the answer to perhaps the most burning of all our 3-series questions: Will they be badged 4-series?

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Jaguar Releases Sport and Speed Performance Packages for Supercharged XJs

Jaguar’s 470-hp XJ Supercharged and 510-hp, range-topping XJ Supersport are both impressively quick for their size, but both are electronically limited to an indicated 155 mph. Jaguar decided that that was just silly, and so it has released two slightly different performance packages for the pair that increase maximum velocity to a heady 174 mph and add a few functional and cosmetic touches.

XJ / XJL Supersport Speed Pack

The XJ and XJL Supersport’s “Speed Pack” is a pretty simple bit of kit. It bundles the relaxed speed governor along with a new front splitter and rear spoiler that improve the XJ’s stability at high velocities. There are also gloss black front grille and intakes, an exclusive Jet Black interior with contrasting red stitching, and red brake calipers that peek out from behind 20-inch wheels (two styles are available). Topping it all off, Jaguar stuffed the fender vents with gloss black mesh and slapped “Supersport” badges on them. The cost for the Speed Pack’s goodies: a cool $4900.

XJ / XJL Supercharged Sport and Speed Pack

The XJ and XJL Supercharged’s “Sport and Speed Pack” consists of all the Supersport’s Speed fare plus a few additional interior upgrades. The Supercharged’s interior gets a suede headliner in either black or ivory, heated and cooled 18-way power-adjustable sport seats, black or ivory leather with contrasting stitching, bright metal pedals, and either piano black or optional carbon-fiber trim. The gloss black exterior trim is the same, although the fender vents wear “Supercharged” badges instead of “Supersport” and only a single 20-inch wheel design is available.

Because the Supercharged model already costs some $22,500 less than the Supersport, ordering one with the Sport and Speed bundle will still cost less than its ritzier sibling. However, because the Sport and Speed Pack is more comprehensive than that car’s Speed kit, it costs $7800.  That difference seems steep for what amounts to a pair of fancy seats and some leather, but it’s a whole lot more cost-effective than stepping up to a Speed Pack-equipped Supersport. The fancy seats that come with the package aren’t otherwise available on the XJ Supercharged, and while it may not be as quick off of the line as a Supersport, it will look just as good rocketing to that 174-mph top speed.

Tags: Jaguar, Jaguar XJ, Jaguar XJ Supercharged, Jaguar XJ Supersport |

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Suzuki Totes Swift Sport and Three Concepts to Tokyo (Guess Which One We Want)

Suzuki may be struggling to maintain much of a presence in the U.S., but the brand remains a successful purveyor of small vehicles elsewhere in the world. Indeed, we could see the cars it’s showing at the 2011 Tokyo auto show being received well in global markets—and there’s one in particular that we wouldn’t mind seeing here. A rundown of the quartet follows.

Regina

While Suzuki sees its Regina (above) as a next-generation global compact car, it’s hard not to see the car as a sort of micro-fied update of an old French car, the Citroën DS. The homage is strongest in the droopy rear quarter with its partial fender spats, although the front end seems to evoke another “icon”: the NSU Prinz 4. We’re not sure any male would want to be seen in a car like the Regina, especially if it was named Regina—although keeping the name might guarantee Saskatchewan sales success. But anyone can appreciate the fuel-economy and weight claims: 75 mpg on gasoline (according to the Japanese JC08 test cycle) and a feathery 1609 pounds.

Q Concept

It seems like each Japanese carmaker brings at least one “fishbowl” to every Tokyo auto show, and the Q Concept is Suzuki’s 2011 effort. Just 8.2 feet in length, the two-seat Q Concept is evocative of portable CD players from the 1990s and can be configured as a passenger pod or a delivery pod (we refuse to call it a car). It can also be parked pretty much anywhere (although preferably not in direct sunlight, lest anything left inside fry like an ant under a magnifying glass. Will the Japanese succeed someday in making pods like this the norm in urban settings? Hopefully not any time soon, but you can bet your last can of fish food that they’ll keep thinking about it.

Swift EV Hybrid

Re-entering the earth’s atmosphere after admiring the pie-in-the-sky concepts above brings us to the Swift EV Hybrid, which wraps Swift clothing around range-extending tech like that used in the Chevrolet Volt. Suzuki claims that compact cars like the Swift are driven between 12 and 19 miles per day in Japan, a task the Swift EV Hybrid can handle on battery power alone. Longer distances are made possible by a range-extending engine-driven generator. Watch for it at an auto show near you, possibly renamed the Swift Range Extender.

Swift Sport

Of the four debutants that Suzuki is rolling out in Tokyo, the one we want most (and the one we would be most likely to get) is the “performance flagship of the Swift series,” the Swift Sport. Suzuki didn’t provide much in the way of details but did send along this solitary photo. The yellow Swift Sport basically appears to be a production-ready version of the Swift Sport S that Suzuki showed at the Geneva auto show last March, complete with darkened headlamp surrounds, large wheels, an aggressive front fascia, sill extensions, and a smoked single-framed grille like that found on the Kizashi. The only thing missing from the Swift S is the wide-body kit. We expect this model offer more power than the 123 horses of the last Swift Sport, while the transmission choices will be a six-speed manual or continuously variable automatic. You know which of the gearboxes we would choose.

For its part, Suzuki is still not talking about any plans to bring any Swift models here, where Suzuki dealers—the handful of them that remain, that is—are starved for product. We’d love it if the Swift Sport made it to our shores, but admit that a micro-bomber like it isn’t likely to contribute much in to the brand’s sales numbers.

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