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BMW Blog, Performance, Tuning, Motorsport, and Modification News
Published on 05-02-2011 04:52 AM
Recently, Jim O'Donnel was quoted in an article about the ActiveE by The Detroit News. In the article, the head of BMWNA responded candidly with his thoughts on electric vehicles. One quote was that he felt diesels were far more likely to be adopted than electrics stating he was "far more optimistic" about their chances. He went on to say, "(EVs) won't work for most people. For at least 90 percent and maybe more of the population, (an EV) won't work (at the current battery range)." ...What 35 identical all white E92 M3's housed in BMW's Nurburgring Driver Experience garage looks like
Published on 05-01-2011 12:09 PM
What you see in the video below is BMW's garage housing 35 identical white E92 M3's. All of them are the same color and all have the same Nurburgring Driver Experience decals. The program is pretty cool with BMW letting you take an M3 out on the ring to get the full feel of a lap with an M car. You can even use your own M vehicle if you would like to (we sure would). Pricing is 900 Euros if you use your own vehicle or 1200 if you use one of the white M3's. For the price you get 4 hours on the ring and a BMW instructor. Courses for drivers with racing ambitions are also available. ...Published on 05-01-2011 02:43 AM
Seem like everyone is creating body pieces for the M-sport 5 series. Understandable, the M-sport package is gorgeous and improving on it is difficult. What most owners would like to do is accentuate their M-spot body pieces with some aggressive add on's. 3D Design does exactly that with their front lip/splitter, roof spoiler, trunk spoiler, and diffuser for either quad or single tip exhausts. Check out the pictures below. ...Published on 04-29-2011 09:00 PM
BMW announced earlier in the year that they were switching advertising agencies. You all remember the "JOY" ads. They were supposed to add a sense of humanity and humility to the BMW brand but instead in our opinion weakened the sharp and aggressive Ultimate Driving Machine image that only a company like BMW can pull off. Well, after a year of BMW's most expensive ad campaign in history "JOY" is gone and the Ultimate Driving Machine is back. A new ad agency has taken over, the agency responsible for JOY was let go. About freaking time, check out the first of the new Ultimate Driving Machine ads below. ...Published on 04-29-2011 07:54 AM
We all know there has been tremendous political unrest in the Middle East as of late. Sometimes this unrest takes a toll on the local businesses and BMW certainly is not immune. In the video below, you can see how an Egyptian BMW dealer was basically ransacked and the cars were destroyed/stripped down. Not much is left of this dealer or the cars in its inventory. It isn't pretty, but it is reality. ...Published on 04-28-2011 05:22 AM
AutoBild reports an entry level Z2 is coming in 2014. Let's be honest, BMW's have gotten pretty fat as of late, even the Z4. This car is designed to be a return to the lightweight, balanced, fun to drive roots. Power would likely be from an N20 turbo 4 cylinder which is fine by us. Additionally, no folding hardtop but a cloth roof to keep weight and cost down. Again, fine by us and let's hope BMW gets back to their roots with cars like this. ...Published on 04-27-2011 10:25 PM
Seems like these swaps are becoming more and more prevalent, eh? The difference now is in the quality of the swaps and this one would certainly qualify as quality. The S85 fits in the engine bay with no issues but the main thing is that the factory ECU is used. This means when a GT1 tool (BMW Group Tester One diagnostic and programming tool) is connected it reads the car as an E60 M5. No dyno numbers or further details from Kinetechnik who is located in Dubai in case you were wondering why you never heard of them. ...Published on 04-27-2011 05:15 AM
Being a performance oriented site, we will focus a bit on the performance numbers Car and Driver achieved. That said, we are a little bit surprised with this result. The Audi finishes in first place and the BMW 750 winds up in last. Even with its twin turbo V8 the BMW gets beat by all three competitors to 60 and barely edges out the Audi through the 1/4 for second. Being the heaviest obviously didn't help the 750 and it also put up the weakest showing around the skidpad. ...Published on 04-26-2011 07:03 PM
This was awesome to see. MotorTrend pitted a performance sedan, SUV, and wagon all against each other. Now, we don't want to spoil the race for you but AWD clearly plays a role. For a RWD car like the CTS-V to really show what it can do on the strip vs. AWD cars it needs drag radials and a burnout. So, it is at a disadvantage but the same disadvantage it would have on the street. Also, MotorTrend deserves commendation for actually posting ET's and traps. They aren't actual slips, but we will take it. ...Published on 04-25-2011 10:11 PM
As many of you know, we attempted to get an M3 tuner shootout going. This is now the second time we have tried and it won't be taking place. Why? Tuners aren't interested in putting their products up against one another in a third party environment. Too large of a risk for them and most tuners prefer to battle it out through marketing on forums, not with real results. ...Published on 04-25-2011 05:33 PM
Mfest has come and gone. We have compiled some of our favorite pictures from the event to give those who could not attend an idea of what they missed and what to expect. There also seemed to be an accident at the event and just a word of warning, when traveling in a caravan give the car in front plenty of room. ...Published on 04-25-2011 02:13 AM
So, we have some differing results. A couple days ago we reported the DCT and manual M3 was found to be quicker around the Contidrom circuit by Auto Bild. Auto Motor Und Sport now reports that around Hockenheim they achieved a quicker time in the 1M Coupe vs. the M3. Interesting? Yes, but they were not tested on the same day which can easily sway results that are as close as differing by 1/10. Longer courses should favor the M3, tighter the 1M. Interesting indeed, laptimes by Auto Motor Und Sport around Hockenheim for several cars listed below. ...Published on 04-22-2011 07:05 PM
AutoBild has done a comparison between the 1M Coupe and the Porsche Cayman R. AutoBild picks the 1M coupe over the Cayman R mostly do to its daily livability. That's fine, but we are performance enthusiasts here and the Cayman R thoroughly outperformed it. They take these cars on the Contidrom course which is a fairly tight/technical and the 1M was over a second slower. What is interesting is the AutoBild times for the M3 and DCT M3 are both faster than the 1M. The DCT M3 also is 3/10's faster than the 6-speed showing how the DCT shift times add up to make a substantial difference. ...Published on 04-22-2011 03:29 PM
If reading the UK-based Max Power magazine is a guilty pleasure most of us enjoyed a decade ago, reading the Greek version of Max Power is an absolute cardinal sin. The Greek Max Power has everything every teenaged car nut could want- more girls, more absurd cars, and more street racing.
When Max Power Greece asked us to shoot a Martin’s M3 for a full feature, we naturally agreed with a grin. ...What does CNC machining look like? Click to see video of a billet DCT pan being made for BimmerBoost
Published on 04-21-2011 06:32 PM
What is CNC machining? CNC stands for computer numerical control and you see this term used often in the aftermarket automotive industry. Basically, a computer is used to design the product and this design is fed to a computer that tells the machine what to do. In this case, create a DCT oil pan out of a solid block of billet aluminum. Check out the video of the process below. ...Published on 04-21-2011 07:53 AM
A Chinese autoblog has posted pictures of the interior of the M5 concept. Nothing ground breaking here, looks pretty much like a standard F10. Differences being the M style tach, M stitching on the steering wheel, and alcantara on the door with some exposed stitching. The cloth doors don't look all that luxurious. Compare this to the recently revealed 2012 E63 AMG and see what you like better. ...Published on 04-20-2011 09:43 PM
In the previous weeks we brought you the details on the DCT oil pan upgrade and the pictures of the machining process. We are happy to say the final design has been completed and here are the pictures of the finished product. Once again, this will allow 2 additional liters of fluid as well as the capability to connect to an external cooling source as you can see from the openings. Pricing details for the complete DCT cooling kit as well as components will be coming next, stay tuned. ...Published on 04-19-2011 11:41 PM
Everyone knows the new Fast and Furious movie, Fast Five is coming. Based on a scene in the movie, Autotopias organized a competition based around having a getaway vehicle that would do well in a heist similar to what the actors in the movie needed to pull off. OE Tuning and Gintani participated (and did very well) using their C63 AMG and X5 M respectively. ...Published on 04-19-2011 08:09 PM
Former_Boosted_IS has done another great review and DIY which he has encouraged us to share, here it is in his words:
When I got my N54 and decided to tune it, one of the first things I needed was a boost gauge. Since the N54 meters pre throttle body, it becomes that much more important to know real boost values. I wanted an integrated setup that didn't look like a pod sitting on my dash at the time and the P3 (originally RiX vent gauge) was a perfect fit. It was sleek, OEM, and very stealthy. When I heard P3 was coming out with a version 2 of the gauge, I was immediately interested. ...Published on 04-19-2011 03:44 AM
HPF has been marketing their new setups aimed at getting better launches at the strip pretty heavily as of late. Chris, the owner, took the HPF M3 to the drag strip to test out the "anti-lag" setup which allows boost to be built at the line. The car allegedly hit 1.55 and we use that term because no slips were posted. We are not doubting it, but HPF (and others) need to get in the habit of posting timeslips when making such claims. Check out the video below and if the car did not have issues shifting it likely would have been a 10 second pass. ...
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