Auto and Cars

SPIED: BMW iNEXT caught testing in the snow yet again Arguably the most important car to come from BMW in the coming years will be the iNEXT all-electric SUV. While that might not be the sexiest of enthusiast’s cars coming from Bavaria, it’s one that will make a massive difference to the future of the brand. In fact, it has the potential to make or break the brand. Despite that, we know very little about the BMW iNEXT, as the Bavarians have kept the lid on it quite tightly. So when we see new spy photos crop up, we take notice. (We don’t own the spy photos but they can be seen here) When the BMW iNEXT debuts, it’s supposed to be the most advanced electric and autonomous car BMW has ever made. According to BMW, the iNEXT is going to represent the very best of what...

OPINION: iNEXT, M Next supercar and X8 are the pillars of BMW’s overhaul With the future iNEXT, X8 and M Next supercar scheduled to premiere in the coming years, interesting and bright times are settling in for the Bavarians. BMW throttles in for a major makeover as automotive brand in the following years, with some sensational models planned for unveiling. The intention is to launch a series of flagship, hallmark new vehicles that define themselves as design and technology trendsetters. BMW seems to be in need to recapture the attention of the industry with something really daring. BMW has always seen themselves as leaders in the automotive space, but recently, pundits are claiming the opposite. While not a tragic situation, many have expressed their opinion that, lately, BMW has been...

The new BMW ALPINA B3 available to order from EUR 81,250 ALPINA has officially announced that its mid-class family of models is now available to order. The starting price tags from the Buchloe-based tuner are EUR 81,250 for the ALPINA B3 Saloon AWD and EUR 83,050 for the ALPINA B3 Touring AWD. Based on the G20/G21 3 Series generation, the new ALPINA B3 all-wheel-drive models are the most powerful of their kind in the history of ALPINA. The Saloon and Touring models are powered by the BMW S58 inline-six-cylinder petrol engine, sourced from BMW M GmbH.   The powerplant in the ALPINA B3 has been specifically enhanced and tuned to deliver a peak output of 340 kW/462 PS (455 hp). Power is exclusively sent to all four wheels via the specially modified 8HP 75 ZF-sourced automatic gearbox...

This Lego BMW M1 project could become reality with your help Some of you might’ve heard of the brilliant projects Lego created recently as part of their Lego Technic projects. They have done a real, life-size Bugatti Chiron replica out of legos and it is a massively impressive machine. Now the people from Lego are teasing us with a Lambo, but it looks like other projects are in the works as well. The Danish company has a special section on its website where you can propose ideas for future models to be built. One of them right now is the BMW M1. One avid fan of the only BMW supercar ever made took some time to create a project based on the car. The Tomoell project focuses on two different versions of the BMW M1. One is a race-car livery model made up of 1,059 pieces of lego while ...

New BMW Individual, leathers and trims added to X5, X6 and X7 configurators As previously reported, BMW is enriching the X5, X6 and X7 lineups with new BMW Individual, leather upholstery and trim choices. Beginning with Spring 2020, the BMW X5, X6 and X7 are receiving new means of personal customer individualization as part of the quarterly update measures. The high-ranging BMW X flagships now offer the possibility to choose your favorite from a comprehensive list of optional leather upholsteries, dashboard ornaments and BMW Individual.   At the start of production for the G05 and G07 generations, some of the choices were initially available, such as bi-color Vernasca Beige/Mocha or the BMW Individual Merino Tartufo leather choices. For some reasons related to supplier availabili...

PHOTOS: Media launch of the new BMW X6 M50i in Czech Republic The new BMW X6 has recently celebrated the introduction on the Czech Republic market. Already in its third generation, the new X6 has already been introduced on mostly all the relevant markets across the globe. The G06 series comes with a completely refreshed styling philosophy and a load of technology. Its angular design evokes the trails of the first E71 generation. The most striking hallmark design features are the inverted kidney grille, which can optionally be fitted with an illumination device, the revised front bumper and the elongated L-shaped tail lights. The new X6 of the G06 generation is a complete brute force. The executive-class Sports Activity Coupe exudes power and and prowess through all its pores. Even thou...

VIDEO: A story of the BMW M2 CS and BMW X5 M development In a new video, BMW M GmbH presents the road to mastering the ultimate driving dynamics in the development phase for its new BMW M2 CS racing-honed coupe and the new BMW X5 M high-performance SAV. The M Division has always been about sheer automotive passion and state-of-the-art chassis and driving technology to help achieve the ultimate dynamics. In the latest video, the Garching-based BMW performance division explains the main steps of the development process, through which the brand new models achieve perfection in driving dynamics. The video starts with the introduction into the cold weather testing program, which happens near the Arctic Circle. Here, in Lapland, town of Arjeplog, in Sweden, BMW M GmbH owns a complex testing ...

BMW M2 CS Racing celebrates debut in North America The new BMW M2 CS Racing has celebrated its North American debut at last week’s 24-hour Daytona. The testing and development phase for the BMW Motorsport racing contender is thus continuing in full swing. The new M2 CS Racing is aiming to continue on the success of the preceding M235i Racing and M240i Racing models. The racing-honed version of the recently M2 CS was officially featured at the BMW Motorsport stand at Daytona, so the public and interested sports customers were able to get a first glimpse and taste of the new model. It is not a surprise that BMW Motorsport chose US soil to flash its new high-performance racing compact coupe, as the North American market is tagged as the most important market for the BMW M GmbH brand...

Did Jaguar just take a shot at BMW’s new grille design? It’s no secret that BMW, along with a lot of other luxury (see: German) brands, is moving toward massive new grilles. The BMW X7 and 7 Series LCI were the cars to get the ball rolling and then the Concept 4 started the controversy. Now, it seems that every car enthusiast wants to mock BMW’s new grille design. While we don’t think it’s going to be as bad as many enthusiasts fear, it’s hard to blame anyone for poking fun. The latest critique of this new trend of massive grilles actually comes from another brand — Jaguar. During a recent interview with Car Throttle, Jaguar head of design Julian Thompson said that the famed British brand isn’t going to follow the big grille trend. It’s a ...

PHOTO GALLERY: The new BMW X1 LCI from Bulgarian Market Launch The new BMW X1 LCI has recently celebrated its official launch on the Bulgarian market and new photos of the compact SAV has recently surfaced online. At the beginning of this year, BMW Group Bulgaria organized the official launch of the new BMW X1 LCI generation on the Bulgarian market with a photoshoot. The compact-sized Sports Activity Vehicle was shot in the capital city of Sofia, at the foot of the stunning Balkan Mountains. The chosen model featured in the press photos is the BMW X1 xDrive25d equipped with the M Sport pack. The car is finished in the BMW Individual Storm Bay metallic grey exterior color. Given the winter season, the “shoes” of the F48 LCI were winter tires, wrapped around special 19-inch B...

TEST DRIVE: 2020 BMW 840d Gran Coupe – Unencumbered Two years ago, we saw a magical comeback happen. 20 years after BMW retired the 8 Series nameplate, they finally decided to bring it back and they did so with a vengeance. Whereas the original was available solely in 2-door Coupe format, the new 8 Series is available in no less than three different body styles. The 8 Series Reborn The first one to come out was, sort of naturally, the Coupe. That’s the original shape of the 8 Series and it was only normal to expect the revival of the model to bear the same style. However, unlike nearly 30 years ago, we live in a quite different world. It’s a world where a wider assortment of possibilities is welcome and manufacturers struggle to fit into every niche. That’s how we als...

Even the Toyota Supra’s Gauge Cluster is Actually BMWs Back when the Zupra (BMW Z4 combined with the Toyota Supra) project was first announced, it was sort of understood that both BMW and Toyota would develop a joint architecture and built two different sports cars off of it. Now that both the new Z4 and Supra are here, it’s becoming clearer and clearer that both cars were almost entirely designed by BMW. One of the few Toyota-only aspects of the new Supra seemed to be its instrument panel, which was actually something a lot of enthusiasts appreciated. Considering the fact that a car’s gauges are in front of the driver’s face at all times, most enthusiasts enjoy a good looking set. And the fact that the Toyota Supra seemed to have significantly different gauges than th...

Video: Two BMW Cars run in the World’s Greatest Drag Race The folks at Motor Trend have put together yet another one of their annual Best Driver’s Car competitions. For 2019, the BMW brand was well represented. As a matter of fact, the Munich-based manufacturer was the only one in the program with two cars. Those two cars are also part of the, by now traditional, World’s Greatest Drag race event. The best part of it all is that you can check it out in the video below. In all fairness, we would’ve liked to see the BMW M8 Competition lining up at the starting line here but, according to Motor Trend, at the time of filming, that car was not available for testing. The reason why we would’ve liked the M8 here is to see how BMW’s fastest car, in a straight line, ...

SPIED: Facelifted BMW M5 caught testing again wearing camo Of all the BMWs currently on sale, the M5 is probably the best overall car. It’s nearly faultless, with incredible performance, great handling, long-distance comfort and top-notch tech. However, stagnation is death, so the Bavarians aren’t going to just sit on their hands and wait for their competitors to leapfrog them. Hence why the BMW M5 is going to received its mid-cycle facelift (LCI) shortly and that very facelifted car has just been caught testing. (W e don’t own the spy photos but they can be seen here) In these photos, we see the upcoming BMW M5 LCI wearing some camouflage on its face and its butt. The differences seem to be minor but they should make it seem like a newer, fresher car when it finally a...

Reuters: Next generation MINI delayed due to Brexit uncertainty The Brexit saga is far from over and a new report from Reuters comes to emphasize that. According to them, the next generation MINI is delayed due to the Brexit uncertainty. The current MINI hatch model has been on the market since 2014 and is built on the UKL1 platform. But the new generation might not be around the corner as many have assumed. “The lifespan of this platform has been extended,” BMW spokesman Maximilian Schoeberl told Reuters. “For cost reasons and because of Brexit.” Most of MINI’s cars are currently built in Oxford and in Born, the Netherlands, and any next generation car would require investments into the production lines of both factories. Therefore, BMW is taking a cautio...

Corona virus: BMW extends factory vacation in China Just like other car manufacturers, BMW is reacting to the outbreak of the new corona virus in China. The current plant vacation to celebrate the New Year will be extended by one week until February 9 in all three BMW Group plants in China. Whether the vacation will be further extended it depends on the developments over the next few days. A total of around 18,000 people are employed in the three BMW plants around Shenyang. It goes without saying that the BMW Group takes all measures to prevent the spread of the corona virus – even if a week of production downtime is associated with considerable costs, after all, a high four-digit number of new cars will be built less than planned. Furthermore, all employees with office workstatio...

BMWBLOG Podcast: Ep. 16 — Jackie Jouret on Elvis’ BMW 507 and the 2002 We have a special podcast episode for you this week. We’re a bit late, so we apologize for that but it will be worth the wait. This week, we have Jackie Jouret on the podcast, the journalist/author/BMW enthusiast that found Elvis Presley’s BMW 507 and wrote a book on the BMW 2002. To say she has a wealth of knowledge about the BMW brand would be a gross understatement. She joined both Horatiu and I to talk about her experience with the BMW brand, what sparked her love for the brand, how she found the BMW 507 and about the iconic 2002. Jackie has written two books about those very subjects, both of which can be found on Amazon. There’s “Finding Elvis’ 507”, which is about, you guess...

Video: BMW M850i marginally faster than M2 Competition on Laguna Seca With all the diversification BMW has been planning and working on for its model range, when it comes to 2-door Coupe models you don’t have a lot of choices. There’s the 2 Series and there’s the 8 Series and that’s about it. I intentionally left the 4 Series out of discussion because it’s bound to get a new version this year and sales have been slumping. Therefore, if you want a stylish and powerful 2-door coupe, you might be looking at the M2 Competition or the M850i xDrive. Both cars have been included in last year’s Best Driver’s Car competition held by the guys from MotorTrend. As a matter of fact, BMW was the only manufacturer with two cars on the roster, three if you coun...

Rumor: BMW iNext could get Intelligent Glass Control technology The BMW iNext is supposed to become BMW’s new technology flagship when unveiled, next year. The new car is supposed to bring autonomous driving to the table and a lot of new tech that will eventually trickle down to other models in the range. One of those bits of technology could be Continental’s Intelligent Glass Control, a function that has been available on other cars since 2017, but not nearly in the same price range as the iNext. Now, the iNext is supposed to get it too and it will be done quite differently than before. Whereas other cars had the choice of turning the windows opaque or not, on the iNext, the goal of this technology will apparently be to keep the temperature inside as comfortable as possible...

Buyer’s Guide: BMW E36 3 Series – What To Look For As many of you may already know, my first car was an E36 BMW 3 Series, a 328i sedan to be more exact, and I loved it. In fact, every time I see an E36 3 Series of any kind on the road, I stare at it in jealousy and fondness. I miss my car. Well, I miss most of it, as I don’t miss the headache of maintaining my very high-mileage car. Considering that the E36 3 Series has become shockingly cheap on the second-hand market, a lot of enthusiasts are buying it as a first-time BMW or even a project car. They’re also becoming quite popular thanks to their simple looks, driver-focused interiors and naturally-aspirated straight-six engines. So we thought we’d give you a buyer’s guide on the E36; a bit of history, which mod...

Toyota Supra and M2 Competition featured in Motor Trend’s Grand Prix We recently saw a couple of head-to-head races from Motor Trend’s recent Best Driver’s Car competition. One featured the BMW M2 Competition and the Toyota Supra, while the other featured a BMW M850i and a Bentley Continental GT. Now, MT decided to do something a bit more interesting and have their own Grans Prix with the cars from BDC, at Laguna Seca. In this video, we get to see both the BMW M2 Comp and the Toyota Supra. To start off the Grand Prix, MT has a drift-off to see what order each of their six drivers get to choose their cars in. For the drift competition, they use the BMW M2 Competition, as it’s naturally a superb drift car. After the drift competition, which is surprisingly funny, they ge...

2020 BMW 840i Gran Coupe styled with AC Schnitzer parts Known for their exotic builds, BMW Abu Dhabi Motors lives up to its name. Their latest project is based on the 2020 BMW 840i Gran Coupe which has been styled with a series of accessories from AC Schnitzer. The German tuning company give the Sunset Orange 8 Series Gran Coupe a front aerodynamic spoiler of carbon fiber, side canards as well as side skirts in carbon fiber. But it’s the lip part of the front bumper which stands out, thanks to the same Sunset Orange color. In the back, the BMW 840i Gran Coupe retains its factory-installed bumper and diffusor. Yet, a carbon fiber solution from AC Schnitzer would have made more sense. The M Performance Catalog is also put to good use, so this 8 Series Gran Coupe is adorned with&nbs...

Will the BMW i4 electric models be named i430 and i440? BMW has a naming problem with their upcoming electric cars. A decade ago, a strategy was put in place stating that all electric BMWs will be built under the BMW i sub-division. Initially, the product plans called for fully dedicated electric platforms which were first introduced with the i3 and the i8. The carbon fiber construction of those models has won many awards and is regarded as a true engineering masterpiece. Albeit an expensive one. So years later, a new plan came to life. This time, BMW decided to bet on a flexible architecture which will allow them to build gasoline, diesel, electric and plug-in hybrid cars on the same platform. But that flexibility also brought a rigidity in the naming convention of their future cars. T...

BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe in Sapphire Black looks pretty good The BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe is presented in a completely black configuration at the 2020 Montreal Auto Show. In Canada, those responsible for the BMW lineup have decided not only to display the current top model M235i with a black paint finish, but also with the extended Shadow Line. The latter is currently only available as part of the M Performance package for the M235i Gran Coupe. The result is actually a quite stunning BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe which hasn’t been often loved by the pundits. The kidneys, exterior mirrors, air intakes, tailpipes and rear spoiler are black, and the details in Cerium Gray that are common to the M Performance models are omitted. The look of the BMW M235i Gran Coupe, which is painted in ...

BMW-Supplier Harman to implement over-the-air audio tuning You probably heard of Harman/Kardon at least once in your lifetime. If not related to the audio system in a living room, if you’ve ever driven a BMW you might’ve heard the stereo playing through their speakers. The company that owns Harman/Kardon is called Harman and they are one of the largest companies in the industry. They also happen to own other brands such as JBL, Mark Levinson and Bang & Olufsen. Harman recently announced that it has been working on a system that would allow you to upgrade your in-car sound system with over-the-air updates. Basically, what Harman is proposing, is that car makers fit their cars with the Harman/Kardon high-end sound systems from the get go even though the price paid for the ...

MINI Cooper SE Gets a Special Reveal Ceremony in Lisbon The MINI Cooper SE is now arriving in various countries around the world. Certain places hold special ceremonies for the unveiling of new models and it looks like the electric MINI got just that in Lisbon. The car was unveiled in a special way, using powerful searchlights connected to public chargers to mark the occasion. This way, the night sky was lit up by the searchlights, highlighting how many chargers can be found around the city. The goal was to let potential MINI Cooper SE customers know that there’s no shortage of electric charging points, probably in the hopes of getting more customers to switch from ICE to electric powertrains. The location for this light show wasn’t picked at random though. Lisbon had recent...

BMW M8 Gran Coupe in Twilight Purple – Go Big or Go Home! At $143,000, the new BMW M8 Gran Coupe Competition is the second most expensive BMW sold in the United States. The stylish and highly luxurious four-door coupe sits just below the BMW M760Li and it’s arguably the best looking BMW today. The M8 Gran Coupe takes the already elegant design cues of the 8 Series Gran Coupe and marries them with the M styling and engineering from Garching. But if you a BMW Individual color into the mix, things get even more exciting. And BMW Canada has done just that. At the 2020 Montreal Motor Show, the folks in the north have unveiled a BMW M8 Gran Coupe in Twilight Purple. The color definitely rings a bell since we’ve seen in on other BMWs, like the i8, M3, 7 and 8 Series. But for some ...

VIDEO: BMW M850i Coupe takes on Bentley Continental GT This is a match-up that I’ve personally been waiting for since both cars debuted. Ever since I first drove the BMW M850i, I’ve felt that its most natural competitors are the Aston Martin DB11 and this — the Bentley Continental GT. Because the Conti GT was a W12 at the time of its launch, I felt the M850i was more of an Aston Competitor. Now that Bentley offers a lighter V8 version, the two cars are very much realistic competitors. As part of Motor Trend’s Best Driver’s Car competition, they decided to pit the BMW M850i up against the Bentley Continental GT V8 to see which is fastest around Laguna Seca. While they also tested it on the road, the video here is all about track duty. So which is faster, the...

The Story Behind The BMW Z3 M “Clown shoe” Awhile back, I personally wished for BMW to go back to making silly cars, cars that made no sense on paper but all the sense in the world on the road. I said I wanted BMW to stop being so sensible and just make something fun for the sake of making something fun. The reason for that is the brand’s recent affinity for sensibility. But BMW wasn’t always so sensible. In fact, BMW used to make hilarious, ridiculous cars simple because they were fun. The BMW Z3 M is a good example. Take one look at the BMW Z3 M (nicknamed the “Clown Shoe” and you’ll soon realize that it was not car BMW felt would make any money. It may very well be one of the ugliest cars to see production in the past few decades. It also makes no real s...

SPIED: The facelifted 2021 MINI Countryman (F60 LCI) spotted near the Arctic Circle It’s once again that time of the year, as the redesigned 2021 MINI Countryman (F60 LCI) arrives at Arjeplog for the cold weather testing program. The current generation of the Countryman has been around since 2017. The LCI treatment comes to refresh the crossover’s looks and tech, as well as boost customer appeal. Recently, the camouflaged prototypes were deployed in Northern Scandinavia, near the Arctic Circle, where they will endure the harsh weather conditions (you can see the spy shots here). However, don’t expect dramatic changes, just some minor styling tweaks to bring the car in line with the latest design trend. To begin with, the front fascia will sport a new signature, togeth...