1.
BMW
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Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, usually known under its abbreviation BMW, is a German luxury vehicle, motorcycle, and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It is one of the luxury automakers in the world. The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index, headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, BMW owns Mini cars and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW was established as a business entity following a restructuring of the Rapp Motorenwerke aircraft manufacturing firm in 1912 named Aerowerke Gustav Otto, after the end of World War I in 1918, BMW was forced to cease aircraft-engine production by the terms of the Versailles Armistice Treaty. The company consequently shifted to production as the restrictions of the treaty started to be lifted in 1923. BMWs first significant aircraft engine, and commercial product of any sort, was the BMW IIIa inline-six liquid-cooled engine of 1918, known for good fuel economy, with German rearmament in the 1930s, the company again began producing aircraft engines for the Luftwaffe. The factory in Munich made ample use of forced labour, foreign civilians, prisoners of war, the few Me 262 A-1b test examples built used the more developed version of the 003 jet, recording an official top speed of 800 km/h. The first-ever four-engine jet aircraft flown were the sixth and eighth prototypes of the Arado Ar 234 jet reconnaissance-bomber. Through 1944 the 003s reliability improved, making it a power plant for air frame designs competing for the Jägernotprogramms light fighter production contract. Which was won by the Heinkel He 162 Spatz design, the BMW003 aviation turbojet was also under consideration as the basic starting point for a pioneering turboshaft powerplant for German armored fighting vehicles in 1944–45, as the GT101. Towards the end of the Third Reich, BMW developed some military aircraft projects for the Luftwaffe, the BMW Strahlbomber, the BMW Schnellbomber and the BMW Strahljäger, but none of them were built. By the year 1958, the division of BMW was in financial difficulties. It was decided to carry on by trying to cash in on the current economy car boom exploited so successfully by German ex-aircraft manufacturers such as Messerschmitt, BMW bought the rights to manufacture the Italian Iso Isetta. BMWs version of the cars were to be powered by a modified form of BMWs motorcycle engine. This was moderately successful and helped the company get back on its feet, since 1959, the controlling majority shareholder of the BMW Aktiengesellschaft has been the Quandt family, which owns about 46% of the stock. The rest is in public float, BMW acquired the Hans Glas company based in Dingolfing, Germany, in 1966. Glas vehicles were badged as BMW until the company was fully absorbed. However, this factory was outmoded and BMWs biggest immediate gain was, according to themselves, the Glas factories continued to build a limited number of their existing models, while adding the manufacture of BMW front and rear axles until they could be closer incorporated into BMW
2.
Car classification
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Governments and private organizations have developed car classification schemes that are used for innumerable purposes including regulation, description and categorization, among others. This article details commonly used classification schemes in use worldwide, vehicles can be categorized in numerous ways. Regulatory agencies may also establish a vehicle classification system for determining a tax amount, in the United Kingdom, a vehicle is taxed according to the vehicles construction, engine, weight, type of fuel and emissions, as well as the purpose for which it is used. Other jurisdictions may determine vehicle tax based upon environmental principles, such as the user pays principle, another standard for road vehicles of all types that is used internationally, is ISO 3833-1977. In the United States, since 2010 the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety uses a scheme it has developed that takes into account a combination of both shadow and weight. The United States Federal Highway Administration has developed a scheme used for automatically calculating road use tolls. There are two categories depending on whether the vehicle carries passengers or commodities. Vehicles that carry commodities are further subdivided by number of axles and number of units, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has developed a classification scheme used to compare fuel economy among similar vehicles. Passenger vehicles are classified based on a total interior passenger. Trucks are classified based upon their gross vehicle weight rating, heavy duty vehicles are not included within the EPA scheme. A similar set of classes is used by the Canadian EPA, in Australia, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries publishes its own classifications. This is a table listing several different methods of vehicle classification. Straddling the boundary between car and motorbike, these vehicles have engines under 1.0 litre, typically only two passengers, and are sometimes unorthodox in construction. Some microcars are three-wheelers, while the majority have four wheels, microcars were popular in post-war Europe, where their appearance led them to be called Bubble cars. More recent microcars are often electric powered, the size of ultracompact cars will be less than minicars, but have engine greater than 50cc displacement and able to transport 1 or 2 persons. Ultracompact cars cannot use standard, because of strict safety standards for minicars. The regulation about running capacity and safety performance of cars will be published in early autumn. Today, there are smaller than ultracompact cars, called category-1 motorized vehicles which it has 50cc displacement or less
3.
Executive car
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Executive car is a British term for an automobile larger than a large family car. In official use, the term is adopted by Euro NCAP, the term was coined in the 1960s to describe cars targeted at successful professionals and middle-to-senior managers. It was often a car but retained enough performance and comfort to be desirable to private motorists. Early executive cars typically offered engines of between 2.0 and 3.5 litres in size, compared with 1.6 to 2.4 litres of a family car. One of the earliest modern executive cars was introduced by Jaguar Cars in 1955 and its retrospectively known as the Mark 1 but was sold as the 2.4 Litre and 3.4 Litre. The unitary construction Mark 1 evolved into the Mark 2 and was offered with a larger 3.8 litre engine, the Jaguar S-Type and Jaguar 420 were derived from this model. This was replaced by the avant-garde XF in 2007 which is currently in its second generation. Daimler created ultra-luxurious versions of both the Jaguar Mark 2, called the Daimler 2.5 V8 and later Daimler V8-250, the executive car market was further defined in the 1960s with sporty, upmarket mid-size saloons appearing from numerous brands. In 1962 Rover previewed the innovative 2000, later available as 2200 and 3500 models, in 1963 Triumph debuted their own 2000, later expanded to 2500, which competed head-on with the Rover even when both companies became subsidiaries of British Leyland in 1968. Both cars were successful and dominated executive car sales in Britain. These cars offered the sophistication expected of a car but in a smaller. Luxurious trim, an engine and automatic transmission were available to give the cars an upmarket positioning. They were replaced in 1981 by a car with a hatchback body. The Princess and Ambassador were closer in spirit to the FWD Renault 20/30 than their in-house rivals, in the 1970s Rover replaced the P6 with the larger SD1, marketed as either 2000,2300,2600,3500 or 2400 D, depending on engine size. It was this car that was converted to the Standard 2000 in India long after Rover replaced the SD1 with the front-wheel drive Rover 800. Rovers last executive car, the 75, appeared in 1998, ford identified some of the higher-equipped Cortina models as Executives. An example of Fords executive car of the 1970s and 1980s was the Granada, larger Vauxhall models from the VX4/90 and Ventora through to the Carlton firmly fitted into this category. In the twenty-first century it is German executive models like the BMW 5-Series which are the biggest sellers in the car market
4.
E-segment
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E-segment is defined by European Commission as the fifth segment in European market car classification. It approximately corresponds to Full-size car and Mid-size luxury car segment in North America and these cars are usually denoted for their length and luxury interior styling. Body types are diverse in this segment, this includes sedans, wagons. Being large, they are often used as taxis in certain countries. Several carmakers, especially mainstream manufacturers whose best selling models have traditionally been superminis, the decision to axe the Scorpio without a successor came due to falling sales as well as the rising popularity of MPVs, SUVs and well-equipped large family cars. The earlier Granada, on the hand, had been a strong seller for Ford, regularly featuring among the top 10 selling cars in Britain during the 1970s. General Motors axed its Omega in 2003 without replacing it, the original Omega had been European Car of the Year for 1987. Rover, when still under the ownership of BMW in the late 1990s, replaced its 800 Series and 600 Series saloons with the Rover 75, peugeot took a similar step in 2010 when replacing the 407 and long-running but unpopular 607 with a single model, the 508. The current E-segment offering in Europe is limited to only 15 models, the segment has a 2. 8% market share in Europe, with models like the BMW 5-series, Mercedes E-Class, and Audi A6 accounting for the bulk of sales in the segment. The Volvo S80 and Jaguar XF also sell appreciably, the Citroen C6 has not been a great seller for PSA Group, while Tesla successfully launched their Tesla Model S electric car. FCA Group has attempted to re-badge the Chrysler 300 as the Lancia Thema in Europe and this was different for the luxury brand Maserati, which re-entered the segment with the new Maserati Ghibli, best performer in 2014
5.
Station wagon
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The body style transforms a standard three-box design into a two-box design — to include an A, B, and C-pillar, as well as a D-pillar. Station wagons can flexibly reconfigure their interior volume via fold-down rear seats to prioritize passenger or cargo volume. Can be loaded through a tailgate, when a model range includes multiple body styles, such as sedan, hatchback and station wagon, the models typically share their platform, drivetrain and bodywork forward of the A-pillar. In 1969, Popular Mechanics said, Station wagon-style, follows that of the production sedan of which it is the counterpart. Most are on the wheelbase, offer the same transmission and engine options. Station wagons have evolved from their use as specialized vehicles to carry people and luggage to and from a train station. Station wagon and wagon are the names in American, Canadian, New Zealand, Australian and African English, while estate car. Both names harken to the role as a shuttle, with storage space for baggage. Having shared antecedents with the British shooting-brake, station wagons have been marketed as breaks, early U. S. models often had exposed wooden bodies and were therefore called woodies. Manufacturers may designate station wagons across various model lines with a proprietary nameplate. Examples include Estate, Avant, Touring, Tourer and Cross-Tourer, SW for Station Wagon or Sports Wagon, Estate, MCV, Tourer, Kombi or Variant and Sports Tourer, SW - Sportswagon or Caravan. Both station wagons and hatchbacks typically share a two-box design configuration, with one shared, flexible, interior volume for passengers and cargo — and a rear door for cargo access. Further distinctions are highly variable, Pillars, Both configurations typically feature A, B & C-pillars, station wagons feature a D-pillar, cargo Volume, Station wagons prioritize passenger and cargo volume — with windows aside the cargo volume. Cargo floor contour, Favoring cargo capacity, a station wagon may prioritize a fold-flat floor, seating, Station wagons may have two or three rows of seats while hatchbacks may only have one or two. Rear suspension, A station wagon may include reconfigured rear suspension for additional load capacity, Station wagons have also enjoyed numerous tailgate configurations. Hatchbacks may be called Liftbacks when the area is very sloped. You could have a 90-degree break in the back and have a station wagon, a model range may include multiple configurations, as with the 2005–2007 Ford Focus which offered sedan, wagon and three and five-door hatchback models. The first station wagons were a product of the age of train travel and they were originally called depot hacks because they worked around train depots as hacks
6.
BMW New Class
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The BMW New Class was a line of sedans and coupes produced by German automaker BMW between 1962 and 1977. These models ensured BMWs solvency after the financial crisis of the 1950s. The first New Class vehicle was the 1500, a 4-door compact executive car with the new M10 OHC 4-cylinder engine, in 1965, the 2000C and 2000CS luxury coupés were added to the range. Replacement of the New Class models began with the larger 2000C and 2000CS coupés, in 1972, the 4-door sedans were replaced by the larger E125 Series. The New Class coupes introduced the Hofmeister kink, which has used on most BMW cars since. Another legacy of the New Class is the iconic 02 Series, during the 1950s, the BMW line-up consisted of luxury cars with displacements of two litres or greater, economy cars powered by motorcycle engines, and motorcycles. Prototypes powered by a 1.6 L engine based on one bank of the BMW OHV V8 engine were built, in 1960, Herbert and Harald Quandt invested heavily in BMW, and gained a controlling interest in the company. That year, the Neue Klasse project was begun, the team was to produce a new car with a new engine, which BMW had not done since the 303 in 1933. The prototype was introduced in September 1961 at the Frankfurt Motor Show as the BMW1500 four-door saloon, alongside the BMW3200 CS, the term New Class referred to the 1. 5–2–liter class of automobiles from which BMW had been absent since World War II. The three-box four-door saloon was in many conventional, using a unitary structure. Less conventional was the independent rear suspension, which featured coil springs, while BMW was using MacPherson struts for their first time on the New Class, they had used unit body construction on the 700 and semi-trailing arm rear suspension on the 600 and the 700. All New Class cars had front disc brakes, the engine was canted over at 30 degrees to the right of vertical in order to allow for the low bonnet line, which also contributed to the styling of the car. In the years preceding the New Classs 1962 release, BMW had recorded many operating losses, in 1962, the company broke even, with a turnover of 294 million marks. In 1963, sales increased by 47% to 433 million marks, introduced in September 1961 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the BMW1500 entered regular production in October 1962 and was manufactured until December 1964. The M10 4-cylinder engine used oversquare dimensions of 82 mm bore and 71 mm stroke produced 60 kW in the BMW1500, the large 40 cm tall luggage compartment was also commended. The 1500 could accelerate to 100 km/h in approximately 15 seconds, the firm suspension and correspondingly harsh ride surprised those conditioned by the BMW501 to anticipate a more comfort-oriented suspension setup. Notable problems that developed with the 1500 included separation of the arm mounts from the body, rear axle failure. These were resolved in later versions of the New Class sedan, the 1500 was replaced in 1964 by the 1600, but it was still made available in markets where capacities greater than 1500 cc incurred higher tax rates
7.
Inline-four engine
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The inline-four engine or straight-four engine is a type of inline internal combustion four-cylinder engine with all four cylinders mounted in a straight line, or plane along the crankcase. The single bank of cylinders may be oriented in either a vertical or a plane with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft. Where it is inclined, it is called a slant-four. In a specification chart or when an abbreviation is used, an engine is listed either as I4 or L4. The inline-four layout is in primary balance and confers a degree of mechanical simplicity which makes it popular for economy cars. However, despite its simplicity, it suffers from an imbalance which causes minor vibrations in smaller engines. These vibrations become more powerful as engine size and power increase, the inline-four is the most common engine configuration in modern cars, while the V6 engine is the second most popular. This inline engine configuration is the most common in cars with a displacement up to 3.0 L, in practice, the displacement of inline-four petrol engines in cars rarely exceeds this figure. For example, the largest engine of this form on the U. S. market in model year 2015 is the Toyota 2TR-FE, however, there are some notable exceptions. Early vehicles also tended to have engines with larger displacements to develop horsepower, the Model A Ford was built with a 3.3 L inline-four engine. Inline-four diesel engines, which are lower revving than gasoline engines, Mitsubishi still employs a 3.0 L inline-four diesel. Generally, European and Asian manufacturers of trucks with a vehicle weight rating between 7.5 and 18 tonnes use inline four-cylinder diesel engines with displacements around 5 L. The MAN D0834 engine is a 4.6 L inline-4 with 220 hp and 627 lb·ft, the Isuzu Forward is a medium-duty truck which is available with a 5.2 L inline-four engine that delivers 210 hp and 470 lb·ft. The Hino Ranger is a medium-duty truck which is available with a 5.1 L inline-four engine that delivers 175 hp and 465 lb·ft, the earlier Hino Ranger even had a 5.3 L inline-four engine. The Kubota M135X is a tractor with a 6.1 L inline-four and this turbo-diesel engine has a bore of 118 mm and a relatively long stroke of 140 mm. One of the strongest Powerboat-4-cylinders is the Volvo Penta D4-300 turbodiesel and this is a 3.7 L-inline-4 with 300 hp and 516 lb·ft. Brunswick Marine built a 127 kW3.7 L 4-cylinder gasoline engine for their Mercruiser Inboard/outboard line, the block was formed from one half of a Ford 460 cubic inch V8 engine. This engine was produced in the 1970s and 1980s, One of the largest inline-four engines is the MAN B&W 4K90 marine engine
8.
Straight-six engine
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The straight-six engine or inline-six engine is an internal combustion engine with the cylinders mounted in a straight line along the crankcase with all the pistons driving a common crankshaft. The bank of cylinders may be oriented at any angle, and where the bank is inclined to the vertical, the straight-six layout is the simplest engine layout that possesses both primary and secondary mechanical engine balance, resulting in much less vibration than engines with fewer cylinders. In automobiles, the design is used for engine displacements ranging from approximately 2 to 5 litres. It is also used for smaller engines but these, although very smooth running. Since the length of an engine is proportional to the number of cylinders in one bank. Pre-World War II engines could be large by modern standards — such as the Rolls Royce Silver Ghosts 7.4 L engine and the 824 cu in of the 1910s Peerless, Pierce. They were used in a variety of including the de Havilland Dragon Rapide. The largest are used to ships, and use fuel oil. The straight-six can also be viewed as a modular component of larger motors which stack several straight-sixes together, e. g. flat- or V-12s, W-18s. Straight-six engines were introduced earlier than V6 engines. While the first straight-six was manufactured in 1903 by Spyker, it was not until 1950 that a production V6 was introduced, V6s had intrinsic vibration problems not present in the straight-six. The poor secondary harmonic balance of four-cylinder engines is largely addressed with the use of balance shafts although it can never match the in-line six, TVR used a straight-six configuration exclusively in their final cars before their demise. In a reversal of trends, Mercedes-Benz announced a return to inline-6 engines in October 2016. This was a part of a trend toward higher efficiency engines with fewer cylinders, manufacturers began to replace V8 engines with straight-6 engines and V6 engines with straight-4 engines, while V8 engines became smaller. Straight-sixes continue to be used in medium to large trucks, Ford is one notable exception using a V8 in medium duty trucks. GM pickup trucks abandoned the straight-six in 1984 for the 4.3 V6, in 2002, General Motors introduced the Vortec 4200 as part of the modular straight-four, straight-five and straight-six GM Atlas engine line. It was used in their sport utility vehicles. Jeep abandoned the straight-six in 2006 with the 2006 Jeep Wrangler being the last vehicle, Ram Trucks continues to offer straight-six engines in its heavy duty pickup truck and chassis cab models, although only V6 and V8 engines are available in the smaller versions
9.
V8 engine
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A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder V configuration engine with the cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two sets of four, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft. Most banks are set at an angle to each other, some at a narrower angle, with 45°, 60°. In its simplest form, the V8 is basically two parallel inline-four engines sharing a common crankshaft, since the 1920s, most V8s have used the somewhat more complex crossplane crankshaft with heavy counterweights to eliminate the vibrations. This results in an engine that is smoother than a V6, most racing V8s continue to use the single plane crankshaft because it allows faster acceleration and more efficient exhaust system designs. In 1902, Léon Levavasseur took out a patent on a light and he called it the Antoinette after the young daughter of his financial backer. From 1904 he installed this engine in a number of competition speedboats, the aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont saw one of these boats in Côte dAzur and decided to try it on his 14-bis aircraft. Its early 24 hp at 1400 rpm version with only 55 kg of weight was interesting, Santos-Dumont ordered a larger and more powerful version from Levavasseur. He changed its dimensions from the original 80 mm stroke and 80 mm bore to 105 mm stroke and 110 mm bore, obtaining 50 hp with 86 kg of weight and its power-to-weight ratio was not surpassed for 25 years. Levavasseur eventually produced its own line of V8 equipped aircraft, named Antoinette I to VIII, hubert Latham piloted the V8 powered Antoinette IV and Antoinette VII in July 1909 on two failed attempts to cross the English Channel. However, in 1910, Latham used the VII with the engine to become the first in the world to reach an altitude of 3600 feet. Voisin constructed pusher biplanes with Antoinette engines, also, notably the one first flown successfully by Henry Farman in 1908, the V8 engine configuration became popular in France from 1904 onward, and was used in a number of aircraft engines introduced by Renault, and Buchet among others. Some of these found their way into automobiles in small quantities. In 1905, Darracq built a car to beat the world speed record. They came up with two racing car built on a common crankcase and camshaft. The result was monstrous engine with a displacement of 1,551 cu in, victor Hemery fixed that record on 30 December 1905 with a speed of 109.65 mph. Rolls-Royce built a 3,535 cc V8 car from 1905 to 1906, in 1907 The Hewitt Motor Company built a large 5 passenger Touring Car. It was equipped with a hefty V8 engine that developed 50/60 horsepower and had a bore of 4 inches, the Hewitt was the first American Automobile to be equipped with a V8 engine. De Dion-Bouton introduced a 7,773 cc automobile V8 in 1910 and it was produced only in small quantities, but inspired a number of manufacturers to follow suit
10.
Turbocharger
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Turbochargers were originally known as turbosuperchargers when all forced induction devices were classified as superchargers. Nowadays the term supercharger is usually applied only to mechanically driven forced induction devices, compared to a mechanically driven supercharger, turbochargers tend to be more efficient, but less responsive. Twincharger refers to an engine with both a supercharger and a turbocharger, turbochargers are commonly used on truck, car, train, aircraft, and construction equipment engines. They are most often used with Otto cycle and Diesel cycle internal combustion engines and they have also been found useful in automotive fuel cells. Forced induction dates from the late 19th century, when Gottlieb Daimler patented the technique of using a pump to force air into an internal combustion engine in 1885. During World War I French engineer Auguste Rateau fitted turbochargers to Renault engines powering various French fighters with some success, in 1918, General Electric engineer Sanford Alexander Moss attached a turbocharger to a V12 Liberty aircraft engine. Turbochargers were first used in aircraft engines such as the Napier Lioness in the 1920s. Ships and locomotives equipped with turbocharged diesel engines began appearing in the 1920s, turbochargers were also used in aviation, most widely used by the United States. During World War II, notable examples of U. S. aircraft with turbochargers include the B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator, P-38 Lightning, and P-47 Thunderbolt. Turbochargers are widely used in car and commercial vehicles because they allow smaller-capacity engines to have improved fuel economy, reduced emissions, higher power, in contrast to turbochargers, superchargers are mechanically driven by the engine. Belts, chains, shafts, and gears are common methods of powering a supercharger, for example, on the single-stage single-speed supercharged Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, the supercharger uses about 150 horsepower. Yet the benefits outweigh the costs, for the 150 hp to drive the supercharger the engine generates an additional 400-horsepower, a net gain of 250 hp. This is where the principal disadvantage of a supercharger becomes apparent, another disadvantage of some superchargers is lower adiabatic efficiency as compared to turbochargers. Adiabatic efficiency is a measure of an ability to compress air without adding excess heat to that air. Even under ideal conditions, the compression process always results in elevated temperature, however. Roots superchargers impart significantly more heat to the air than turbochargers, thus, for a given volume and pressure of air, the turbocharged air is cooler, and as a result denser, containing more oxygen molecules, and therefore more potential power than the supercharged air. In practical application the disparity between the two can be dramatic, with turbochargers often producing 15% to 30% more power based solely on the differences in adiabatic efficiency. By comparison, a turbocharger does not place a direct mechanical load on the engine, although turbochargers place exhaust back pressure on engines, in contrast to supercharging, the primary disadvantage of turbocharging is what is referred to as lag or spool time
11.
BMW 3 Series
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The BMW3 Series is an entry-level luxury car manufactured by the German automaker BMW since May 1975. It is the successor to the 02 Series and has produced in six different generations. In 2013, the coupé and convertible models started to be badged as 4 Series, the 3 Series is BMWs best-selling model, accounting for around 30% of the BMW brands annual total sales. The BMW3 Series has won awards throughout its history. The M version of the 3 series, M3, debuted with the E30 M3 in 1988, e93, 2007–2013 Convertible F30, 2012–present Sedan. F34, 2013–present Gran Turismo The E21 was released as 316,318 and 320 models, most E21s were sold as 2-door compact saloons, however a Baur cabriolet was also available. Initially, the E21 was powered by a 4-cylinder engine, with a straight-6 engine added to the line-up in 1977, the E30 was initially produced in the 2-door sedan body style. In following years, the 4-door sedan, convertible and estate body styles were added, the E30 models were powered by a range of 4-cylinder and straight-6 engines, and for the first time a diesel engine was used in the 3 Series. The BMW M3 was first introduced on the E30 platform, the E30 M3 was fitted with the high-revving S14 4-cylinder engine, which produced 175 kW in its final iteration. The 325iX model was the first 3 Series to use all-wheel drive, the saloon version of the E30 was replaced in late 1990, but the estate and cabriolet models werent replaced until 1993. The E36 was produced in sedan, coupe, convertible, station wagon, the hatchback body style, known as the BMW Compact, was introduced in 1994 starting with the 318ti, being very popular in Europe but largely unsuccessful in North America. The Touring estate was sold in Europe from 1995, but was not available in the United States, even though the BMW factory was producing its own E36 convertibles, the Baur Top Cabriolet conversion was also available. BMWs first sequential manual transmission debuted in the E36 M3, the E36 was a successful model which laid strong foundations for the E46s success in subsequent years. For every year of its production, the E36 was named in Car, additionally, the E36 M3 was named Car and Drivers best handling car for over $30k in 1997. The E46 was produced in sedan, coupé, convertible, wagon, all-wheel drive was re-introduced in the 3 Series, after a break of 18 years. The AWD system of the E46 was split with a 38/62 percent front/rear bias and it was available for the six-cylinder 325xi and 330xi sedan/wagon models. The E46 was considered the benchmark of its class and experienced success in many markets. The record selling year for the E46 chassis was 2002, when 561,249 vehicles were sold worldwide, the main competitors during the E46s production run were the Alfa Romeo 156, Audi A4, Lexus IS/Toyota Altezza, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Saab 9-3 and the Volvo S60
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