No less than 70 years have passed since BMW’s first entry into the luxury market. It was back then in 1938 that BMW presented a prototype of the BMW 335 at the London Motor Show, production of this trendsetting car starting just one year later.
Right from the start, the BMW 335 received maximum recognition for its outstanding qualities as a fast and comfortable grand tourer. At the time BMW, still a young company, already had an outstanding reputation for the construction of six-cylinder power units, hitting the headlines with the BMW 328 sports racer and once and for all gaining the status of a large-scale manufacturer through the successful BMW 326.
The BMW 326 was also the car that set the design and constructional foundation for BMW’s first Luxury Saloon. Still, the BMW 335 came with a longer suspension and chassis, a brand-new 3.5-litre straight-six developing maximum output of 90 hp, a torsion bar-sprung rear axle, powerful oil pressure brakes and wider tyres. And an exclusive innovation also introduced at the time was the all-synchromesh transmission. On account of the war, production of the BMW 335 ended in 1943 after completion of only 415 units. But even this small number of cars was sufficient to set the foundation for subsequent success in the luxury performance segment which came in 1951 when BMW presented the BMW 501 for the first time at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
| BODYWORK | ||
| BODY TYPE | 4/5 seater sedan/saloon | |
| NUMBER OF DOORS | 4 | |
| DESIGNER | ||
| DIMENSIONS & WEIGHTS | ||
| WHEELBASE | 2984 mm | 117.5 inches |
| TRACK/TREAD (FRONT) | 1306 mm | 51.4 inches |
| TRACK/TREAD (REAR) | 1400 mm | 55.1 inches |
| LENGTH | 4815 mm | 189.6 inches |
| WIDTH | 1700 mm | 66.9 inches |
| HEIGHT | 1665 mm | 65.6 inches |
| GROUND CLEARANCE | ||
| LENGTH:WHEELBASE RATIO | 1.61 | |
| KERB WEIGHT | 1300 kg | 2866 lb |
| WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION | ||
| FUEL TANK CAPACITY | 65 litres | 14.3 [17.2] UK [US] gal. |
| AERODYNAMICS | ||
| DRAG COEFFICIENT | ||
| FRONTAL AREA | ||
| CDA | ||
| POWERTRAIN | ||
| ENGINE TYPE | naturally aspirated petrol | |
| ENGINE MANUFACTURER | BMW | |
| ENGINE CODE | ||
| CYLINDERS | Straight 6 | |
| CAPACITY | 3.5 litre 3485 cc (212.668 cu in) | |
| BORE × STROKE | 82 × 110 mm 3.23 × 4.33 in | |
| BORE/STROKE RATIO | 0.75 | |
| VALVE GEAR | overhead valve (OHV) 2 valves per cylinder 12 valves in total | |
| MAXIMUM POWER OUTPUT | 90 PS (89 bhp) (66 kW) at 3500 rpm | |
| MAXIMUM TORQUE | ||
| SPECIFIC OUTPUT | 19 kW/litre 25.9 ps/litre 25.5 bhp/litre 0.42 bhp/cu in | |
| ENGINE CONSTRUCTION | ||
| SUMP | wet sumped | |
| COMPRESSION RATIO | 5.8:1 | |
| FUEL SYSTEM | 1 Solex 35 MMOVS carburettor | |
| BMEP (BRAKE MEAN EFFECTIVE PRESSURE) | ||
| MAXIMUM RPM | ||
| CRANKSHAFT BEARINGS | ||
| ENGINE COOLANT | Water | |
| UNITARY CAPACITY | 580.83 cc | |
| ASPIRATION | Normal | |
| COMPRESSOR | N/A | |
| INTERCOOLER | None | |
| CATALYTIC CONVERTER | N | |
| PERFORMANCE | ||
| ACCELERATION 0-80KM/H (50MPH) | ||
| ACCELERATION 0-60MPH | ||
| ACCELERATION 0-100KM/H | ||
| ACCELERATION 0-160KM/H (100MPH) | ||
| STANDING QUARTER-MILE | ||
| STANDING KILOMETRE | ||
| MAXIMUM SPEED | 145 km/h (90 mph) | |
| POWER-TO-WEIGHT RATIO | Higher is better 69.41 PS/tonne (1000 kg) 0.07 PS/kg 51.05 kW/tonne (1000 kg) 0.05 kW/kg 68.46 bhp/tonne (1000 kg) 0.07 bhp/kg 0.03 bhp/lb | |
| WEIGHT-TO-POWER RATIO | Lower is better 19.59 kg/kW 32.72 lb/bhp | |
| FUEL CONSUMPTION | ||
| FUEL CONSUMPTION | ||
| UNIVERSAL FUEL CONSUMPTION (CALCULATED FROM THE ABOVE) | ||
| LITRES/100KM | ||
| KM/LITRE | ||
| UK MPG | ||
| US MPG | ||
| CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS | ||
| CARFOLIO CALCULATED CO2? | ||
| VED BAND (UK) | ||
| CO2 EFFIZIENZ (DE) | ||
| CHASSIS | ||
| ENGINE POSITION | front | |
| ENGINE LAYOUT | longitudinal | |
| DRIVE WHEELS | rear wheel drive | |
| TORQUE SPLIT | N/A | |
| STEERING | ||
| TURNS LOCK-TO-LOCK | ||
| TURNING CIRCLE | ||
| FRONT SUSPENSION | ||
| REAR SUSPENSION | ||
| WHEEL SIZE FRONT | 4.00E x 16 | |
| WHEEL SIZE REAR | 4.00E x 16 | |
| TYRES FRONT | 6.00 x 16 | |
| TYRES REAR | 6.00 x 16 | |
| BRAKES F/R | Dr/Dr | |
| FRONT BRAKE DIAMETER | 280 mm | |
| REAR BRAKE DIAMETER | 280 mm | |
| BRAKED AREA | ||
| GEARBOX | 4 speed manual | |
| TOP GEAR RATIO | 1 | |
| FINAL DRIVE RATIO | 2.90 | |
