Category: BMW

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BMW

BMW M2 watch: It’s coming soon, real soon!

BMW M2 prototype at the Nurburgring

The new BMW M2 has been getting out and about lately putting in some good miles at the Nürburgring. And the latest word is that it won’t be too long until we get to see the car without its fancy swirly graphics.

Frank van Meel, BMW M boss, spoke to Dutch publication Autovisie recently and shared a few of his company’s upcoming plans.

First, there was Bad Frank. Boo, we don’t like Bad Frank, because he told us there are no current plans to make an M3 Touring. Bad Frank says there wouldn’t be enough demand for such a car.

“Is this clown f@%king kidding himself!” was the loud exclamation heard at AUSmotive HQ when we first read that news.

But it’s okay, because once Bad Frank mentioned that about an M3 Touring and something else about an M7 being a waste of time, he quickly transformed into Good Frank. Now, Good Frank only deals in the good shit.

Good Frank said the new M2 will be on show at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September. And, even gooder, Good Frank reckons the M2 details and photographs will be revealed in full before the car makes it show debut.

So there you have it, indisputable proof that Good Frank is way better than Bad Frank.

For your added viewing pleasure there’s a couple of M2 videos after the break showing a couple of F87 M2 prototypes in action.

[Source: WCF & BimmerPost | Thanks to John for the tip]

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BMW Green Machines WEC

BMW to bring hydrogen-power to Le Mans?

BMW V12 LMR

BMW is reportedly considering a return to Le Mans. And it won’t be conventional if they do, with word that BMW plans to power its car with hydrogen fuel cells.

It’s believed the project has moved someway down the internal approval chain inside BMW, with an entry into the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans the most likely.

If BMW does sign-off on a return to Le Mans they may consider applying for a Garage 56 entry, which is non-competitive and affords marketing and research opportunities. The recent Nissan DeltaWing and ZEOD racecars were Garage 56 entries.

A full LMP1 program appears unlikely at this stage after Jens Marquardt, BMW Motorsport boss, told Autosport, “LMP1 is, at the moment, the big hybrid thing, and in there we wouldn’t be the leader.

“We wouldn’t even be the fast follower, we would be a slow follower now, as the fifth [after Audi, Toyota, Porsche and Nissan] manufacturer joining in.”

BMW has a single Le Mans victory when the V12 LMR, built in partnership with Williams F1, won the 1999 race. We’ve added a few extra pics of the V12 LMR for you after the break.

[Source: Autocar]

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BMW Dodge Ford Lamborghini Video

The disappointment of Europe v America

BMW i8 v Lamborghini Huracan v Ford Mustang v Dodge SRT Hellcat

Take the sophisticated power of a BMW i8 and a Lamborghini Huracan and see how they go against the brawn of a Ford Mustang and a Dodge SRT Hellcat. Imagine you’re doing this and imagine that you’ve got four days and 1300 miles to work out what’s what.

Then imagine you’ve got to publish a video to YouTube that brings your experience to the world, brings us along for the ride.

Imagine how disappointed your friends and family would be if all you came up with was this 3 minute 40 second clip.

We like Car, we think it’s a good publication and while acknowledging they’ve got real magazines to sell we also think they should watch a few Chris Harris videos.

Otherwise they may as well not waste their production resources if this is all they’re going to give us with a tasty set of ingredients like this.

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BMW Porsche Video

VIDEO: Porsche 911 Carrera GTS v BMW i8

Porsche 911 GTS v BMW i8

Dan Prosser from Evo magazine presents a very intriguing challenge here by pitting a Porsche 911 Carrera GTS against a BMW i8 on the track.

We’ll let the cat out of the bag early, the i8 couldn’t match the 911 for outright lap times. In fact, it’s not even close. But can the i8 match the 911 for laughs and entertainment? Beyond that, is the i8 a serious dynamic competitor for the 911?

You’ll have to watch the video to find out.

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Audi BMW Mercedes-Benz Porsche Volkswagen

Germany, here I come!

Porsche Museum

AUSmotive is about to go into a hiatus of some sort while I head on an overseas holiday for the next five weeks or so. I’ll be flying to Germany later this week and the items on my magical museum tour, in itinerary order, include:

If I get a chance I may post some updates while I’m away, but I can’t be sure if the time or urge will come my way. I return to Australia in early May and I’m going to have an awesome time experiencing some very cool automotive content.

With regards to updates you may best to keep an eye out on Facebook and Twitter.

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BMW Green Machines Video

VIDEO: BMW 1602e

1972 BMW 1602e

Today it’s the i Series range that is forging the way with electric power for BMW. The i3 and i8 look futuristic and modern. Even better they’re pretty good cars to drive as well, by all accounts.

However, it’s this beautiful 1602e that was BMW’s first attempt at an all-electric powered vehicle. Only two were made and they saw active service during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. This short video is a great intro to the car. And that ’02 body shape is just so gorgeous to look at.

Wouldn’t it be seriously cool if you could drive the streets in this 197os beauty with an i3 drivetrain!

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BMW

BMW M135i LCI photo gallery

F20 BMW M135i LCI

LCI—the three most important letters to the F20 1 Series range—they stand for Life Cycle Impulse which is BMW speak for get the fugly out of here!

Finally, the 1 Series has been give a front-end makeover and here is the new M135i. True, it’s still not the world’s prettiest car, but at least its dorky eyes have been lost in favour of a treatment more inline with the much more visually pleasing 2 Series.

For Australian readers enjoy these pictures, because they’re as close as you’ll ever get to a three-door M135i. Not only that, the car in these pics is fitted with a 6-speed manual gearbox. Remember them?

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Bathurst 12 Hour BMW Video

VIDEO: Bathurst 12hr kangaroo strike

BMW M3 hits kangaroo, 2015 Bathurst 12 hour

The 2015 Bathurst 12 hour race saw a record 20 Safety Car periods. The first of those came after this incident during the early stages of the race when Anthony Gilbertson driving the #42 BMW M3 GTR hit a kangaroo on Conrod Straight.

Video of the strike has been uploaded to YouTube by Gilbertson and can be seen below. If you’re not up to seeing a skippy get hit at high speed or some colourful language it’s best if you don’t watch the clip.

Kangaroos have long been a a problem at Mount Panorama and a cull was proposed by Bathurst Councillor Warren Aubin last year in the wake of Roger Lago’s kangaroo strike which ended his Bathurst 12 hour race.

[Thanks to Aaron for the tip]

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VIDEO: Three days of fun

Chris Harris on Cars, COTY 2014

Chris Harris and mates at Portimao with his favourite cars from 2014. There’s no agenda, no forced result to pick a winning car. It’s simply a recipe for fun. Enjoy!

[Thanks to Richard for the tip]

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BMW Green Machines

BMW i3 wins 2014 Wheels COTY

BMW i3

The BMW i3 has been named the 2014 Wheels Car of the Year. This, we think, is a pretty cool thing.

Yes, it’s expensive for a city runabout. Yes, that makes it out of reach of most people. But, the i3 represents a step forward. It’s not just that it’s not a Prius, but that electric powered cars are still maturing and the technology developed for products like the i3 will benefit all of us as the years go by.

Glenn Butler, Wheels Editor, called the i3 “courageous and convincing,” before adding: “Other brands surely possess the know-how to have created something equally visionary. BMW had the bravery.

“This innovative and compact electric car combines expressive design, impressive engineering, exceptional efficiency and persuasive practicality with a good deal of driver appeal.”

The BMW i3 is the first electric car to win the Wheels COTY and the first BMW to claim the honour.

Also in the top five finalists were the Mazda 2, the Mercedes-Benz C Class, the Peugeot 308 and fellow electric car the Tesla Model S.

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BMW

Punter shows BMW how to design a car

BMW M135i with M235i front

The front end of the F20 1 Series is awful. The M135i makes a small improvement, but it’s still no match for the much easier on the eye treatment on the M235i.

Which begs the question, why didn’t BMW just get it right the first time? And why have they left it so long to fix up the problem?

Clearly there’s one guy who couldn’t wait any longer and he went and put an M235i front end on his M135i. Regardless of the cost we can’t imagine he would ever regret taking that step. It just looks so much better!

There’s a few more pics after the break, including an ugly duckling before pic.

[Source: BimmerPost]

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BMW Video

Say hello to the BMW M4 GTS

BMW M4 GTS prototype

Hey, remember that wicked orange BMW M3 GTS? Well, good news, the new M4 is getting the GTS treatment too and here’s the video to prove it.

As you can see the M4 GTS will get a reworked and more aggressive front end, with a pretty big splitter by the looks. At the back there’ll be the obligatory and stupidly sized rear wing. Expect a fair portion of the interior to get chucked out, too, in a bid to shed weight.

It remains to be seen if the 3.0 inline six will get a serious makeover or if the BMW M GmbH boffins will simply turn up the wick on the turbos to create the extra 30kW or so it’s likely to have over the standard car’s 317kW.

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