BMW 335i Performance Edition. Image: BMW AG

If you’re just about to order a new BMW 335i, let us help you out. When you’re checking the boxes next to the options you need, don’t forget to check the one marked “ZMZ Performance Edition.” It’ll only set you back $550, but it gives you 20 more horsepower and up to 32 more foot-pounds of torque, depending on your choice of gearbox. You also get a black grille and a BMW Performance Edition badge to let your friends and neighbors know you’re not driving “just another” 335i.

The package is available for both the 335i and the 335i xDrive, and it gives the previously referenced 32 ft-lb jump in torque when added to cars with a six-speed automatic transmission (sadly, the DCT gearbox isn’t available on the 335i or ix). Manual transmission cars must make do with 17 more ft-lbs of torque, but horsepower is unaffected. That gives the 335i Performance Edition the same horsepower output as a 335is, which stickers for $7,000 more than the base 335i.

BMW says the package will take two-tenths of a second off the car’s 0 to 60 time, and it shaves half a second from the 50 to 75 time. Fuel consumption and emissions output remain unchanged, so more power doesn’t translate into more money at the pump or more greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.

There’s more good news, too: the package can be retrofit to existing 335i and 135i cars, with pricing to be announced in August. The bad news? The package is only available for the remainder of 2011, which doesn’t give you much time to save your lunch money.

Source: BMW