Man Furious with BMW M6's Faults and Bad Customer Service Smashes it at Frankfurt Show

Using a sledgehammer and an axe, the disgruntled owner of a previous-generation BMW M6 together with one of his friends, started smashing the performance car. Iranian-born businessman Pourmohseni Hadi bought the M6 new for €120,000 ($160,600) from a BMW dealer in Italy, but soon after that, he says the car experienced “serious technical problems.”

By Unknown with No comments

New BMW 4-Series Coupe with Dab of M Performance Parts

Most of the buzz around BMW's booth at the Frankfurt Messe is concentrated on the production iterations of the all-electric i3 hatchback and the plug-in hybrid i8 sports coupe, but there's plenty more to see as the Bavarian firm brought along a number of new cars for their world premiere, including the 4-Series Coupe. Read more »

By Unknown with No comments

BMW Details Production i8 Plug-in Hybrid Coupe Ahead of Frankfurt Debut, Aims at Porsche 911

Next month's Frankfurt Motor Show will see BMW's new "i" sub-brand debuting not one, but its two first series production cars , the i3 electric hatchback that goes on sale this fall and which we've already seen, and the more hotly-anticipated i8 plug-in hybrid sports coupe that will arrive in dealerships worldwide during 2014.

BMW isn't quite ready yet to uncover the interior and exterior styling of the i8 2+2 seater coupe, simply releasing photos of a camouflaged pre-production tester, but it is ready to share initial information and specifications.

By Unknown with No comments

2014 BMW 2-Series Coupe and Convertible

It's a little late to sing the jingle bells, but oh, what fun is it to slide in a rear wheel drive coupe…eh? We're singing to the tune of a group of BMW engineers who seemed to be enjoying themselves in 2-Series Coupe and Convertible prototypes in Sweden, despite the freezing weather.

The cloth- and hard-top iterations of the new 2-Series will sit right below the recently announced 4-Series models as the most affordable way to get into a two-door sports car from BMW when they arrive in the market in about a year or so from now.

By Unknown with No comments

New BMW 3-Series Gran Turismo: 130 Photos and Videos

Chris Bangle has long resigned from his role as chief designer of BMW, but the Munich-based brand with the blue-and-white propeller badge continues to cause controversy with the styling of its models.

We'd hardly call the 5 Series Gran Turismo (GT) a commercial success, yet BMW still has faith in the 'tall liftback' recipe, so it applied the same treatment on the smaller 3-Series range as it races to cover every single niche possible in the premium segments.

By Unknown with No comments

BMW M4 Coupe and M3 Sedan Concepts Realistically Imagined

The word on the street is that BMW is making plans to unwrap a thinly disguised concept version of the M3 sedan at the Frankfurt motor show in September, with the final production model to appear in dealerships around the world in 2014.

Like many other publications, Britain's Car Magazine has come up with an illustration to give us an idea of what to expect about the M3 sedan's looks in its latest issue.

By Unknown with No comments

BMW and Toyota Deepen Collaboration, will Co-Develop a Mid-Size Sports Car

After last June’s MoU (Memorandum of Understanding), the Toyota Motor Corporation and the BMW Group announced today the signing of binding agreements for the joint development of new technologies and a new sports car.

BMW Chairman Norbert Reithofer and Toyota President Akio Toyoda both expressed their satisfaction in signing the binding agreements and their shared belief that this partnership will be beneficial for their groups and help them to produce better vehicles.

By Unknown with 1 comment

U Design: New BMW M2 Convertible Rendered

As BMW begins to circulate craftily camouflaged prototypes of its second generation 1-Series Coupe and Convertible models, which will form the new 2-Series range, out in the open, the question arises if the Bavarian carmaker has plans for an M2 high-performance version.

From what we have heard, BMW M seems open to creating an M2 model, possibly powered by a four-cylinder turbocharged engine instead of the M135i hatchback's 3.0-liter force-fed straight-six, which would mark a first for the brand since the demise of the original M3 E30 back in the early 1990s.

By Unknown with No comments

BMW Exec Confirms Two-Cylinder Motorcycle Engine for i3 REx

A BMW official has confirmed that the range-extender engine to be offered as an option on the battery-powered i3 supermini will be a two-cylinder gasoline unit sourced from the brand's motorcycle division and not the upcoming, larger displacement 1.5-liter three-cylinder petrol engine developed for the Bavarian group's automobiles.

Speaking to Autonews during last week's Detroit Motor Show, Herbert Diess, BMW's head of Research and Development, said that the range-extender engine option will be offered when the new i3 goes on sale in the fourth quarter of 2013, but he avoided to say how much it will cost.

By Unknown with No comments

Premium Brands Move into Mass-Market Territory with US$30k Offerings

There are 75 million 30- to 40-year old consumers in the U.S. right now and, according to Mercedes-Benz USA head of marketing Bernie Glaser, “they have big expectations for products and brands”.

The problem for automakers like Mercedes, Audi and BMW is that these buyers are not able and/or willing to pay the US$40,000 sticker price attached to premium vehicles. Yet they want to have their cake and eat it, too – or, as Glaser puts it, demand “attractive styled cars and the right technology”.

By Unknown with No comments

BMW Debuts New Two-Man Carbon-Fiber Bobsled Prototype for Team USA

After more than a yearlong development process, BMW of North America presented a new prototype of its two-man bobsled for the official U.S. team.

Designed in collaboration with the USA Bobsled & Skeleton Federation (USBSF), the high-tech bobsled will be used for the first time today at the FIBT World Cup in Igls, Austria.

By Unknown with No comments

New BMW 4-Series Coupe Concept in the Flesh from the Detroit Auto Show

Beginning from next year, BMW fans will have to get used to calling the new coupe version of the 3-Series the 4-Series, with the Bavarian carmaker previewing the production model through a very thinly disguised concept at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

The concept features a slightly longer wheelbase, wider stance and considerably lower roofline than the current 3-Series Coupe.

By Unknown with No comments

BMW 1-Series Nürburgring Racer Crashes, Goes up in the Air

In recent years, the widespread availability of affordable, on-board cameras, have offered us a first person view of many accidents that take place at the Nürburgring racetrack each year during public sessions.

One such mishap on the 'Ring involving a BMW 1-Series hatch (we can't make out the model from the clip) was recorded on film by the camera of a car that was following from behind.

By Unknown with No comments

2 or 4 Doors? C&D Pits the BMW M6 Against the M5 to Find Out

BMWs bearing the tricolor M badge have been for quite some time the darlings of sports car fans. M3s, apart from the E36, have been worshiped; M5s likewise – even the 1-Series M Coupe-based received raving reviews.

By Unknown with No comments

BMW Shows the New i3 Concept Coupe on the Move

Displayed for the first time in public at the LA Auto Show last November, the i3 Coupe is a conceptual spin-off from BMW's five-door i3 series that will soon be released in final production trim and go on sale worldwide in the end of 2013.

By Unknown with No comments

Beware of Fast Driving BMWs

Driving on a city road as if Frank Martin (from The Transporter film series) is chasing you is never a good idea and it can get you and other people in trouble or even worse, as was the case with this BMW owner.

By Unknown with No comments

Polish BMW Drifters Return with New Hoon Video

Just in time for the holiday season, the Polish crew from JBB, an acronym for Jazda Bardziej Bokiem that translates to "More Driving Sideways", has released a new video dedicated to the newly born daughter of one of their drift team's members.

By Unknown with No comments

BMW Returns to DTM After 20-Year Absence – Video

BMW will return to Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) after an almost 20-year absence. To celebrate the occasion, which will occur this weekend, the automaker release a video showing its awesome car running around a track with dramatic music in the background.

Based out of Germany, the series will pit BMW against its main competitors: Audi and Mercedes-Benz. Six M3 DTMs will compete in the series in an effort to further bolster the automaker’s record, which includes 49 wins, 30 pole positions and three drivers’ titles.

The car seen in the video below uses a 4.0-liter V8 that makes 473 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque through a six-speed sequential transmission to sprint from 0-60 mph in about three seconds.

VIDEO

By Unknown with No comments

2013 BMW X3 xDrive28i Rated at 24 MPG Combined

The 2013 BMW X3 xDrive28i is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder powerplant which we have fuel figures for thanks to the EPA, which published information ahead of the automaker.

The EPA posted that owners of the 2013 X3 xDrive28i can expect as much as 21/28 mpg city/highway, and 24 mpg combined. Given the X3 xDrive28i’s 241-hp, those aren’t bad numbers. It’s even better when you remember the outgoing six-cylinder X3 which got 19-mpg city, 25-mpg highway, and a combined 21-mpg rating.

The turbocharged six-cylinder xDrive35i will see similar figures however, with 19-mpg city, 26-mpg highway, 21-mpg combined.

For now, those numbers net the X3 xDrive28i the most efficient, all-wheel drive luxury crossover – that isn’t a hybrid. That might change when Mercedes-Benz announced fuel consumption figures for the 2013 GLK, which we saw last week at the New York Auto Show.

By Unknown with No comments

BMW 3 Series LWB in Beijing

While all eyes are on the New York Auto Show, BMW today announced a first model that will make its world premiere at the "Beijing Auto Show" at the end of April. This is a 3 LWB* Series declination. This extended wheelbase version will join a range of already composed 5 LWB Series and 7 LWB Series. Chinese customers seem to have a soft spot for extended versions and increased legroom.

This 3 Series displays a wheelbase of 2.92 meters, 11 cm more than the classic version, also available in the Middle Kingdom. This "LWB" is particularly recognizable by its long rear door.

The Munich manufacturer will offer three engines to the catalog, the 320 block of Li-equipped 2.0-liter turbo with 184 horsepower, the 328 Li with the same engine pushed to 245 horsepower and 335 Li with the six cylinder 3.0 liter turbocharged 306-horsepower strong.

All versions come standard automatic transmission and eight-speed transmission to the rear wheels.

Reserved for the Chinese market, the BMW 3 Series LWB will be manufactured at the BMW brand in Shenyang.

* LWB: Long Wheelbase

By Unknown with No comments