BMW
Driven: 2015 BMW M3 and M4
For many automotive enthusiasts, the BMW M3 has, for decades, been the gold standard by which all other sport coupes have been judged. Over the course of the seven year production run of the outgoing generation of the M3, denoted as the E90 (sedan), E92 (coupe) and E93 (convertible), the sports car landscape has changed fairly dramatically. Suddenly, $30,000 Mustangs were now capable of giving the M3 a run for its money both in a straight line and at the track, several new entries in the M3’s price bracket came out of the gate playing in leagues well above the M car’s performance envelope, and increasingly stringent government-mandated fuel economy standards began to force engineers to rethink their approach to vehicle and engine designs in fairly sweeping fashion. This new pair of cars, denoted as the F80 M3 sedan and the F82 M4 coupe, offer a new visual aesthetic, ditch the high-revving naturally aspirated V8 in favor of a torquey, twin turbocharged inline six cylinder and, for the first time in M history, bring a drop in curb weight when compared to its predecessor. There’s plenty of promising news there, but is all of it good? We headed to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, home of Road America racetrack and some genuinely great twisty backroads, to find out.
WRR TV: Vintage Racing On Indy Road Course – Onboard 1989 BMW M3
Ride along on board the Winding Road Racing/Jagermeister BMW M3 in the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association group 8 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Classic: BMW M1
A look through the pantheon of automotive history reveals car companies have often struck up unlikely partnerships with each other. One of the more obscure tie-ups is an agreement signed by BMW and Lamborghini in the middle of the 1970s that outlined the joint-development of a mid-engined sports car.
Driven: BMW i8
When we stepped out onto the front drive of Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica to get a closer look at the we’d be tooling around the backroads of Malibu the following day, the realization that the i8 – as an actual production car bound for showrooms in the very near future – finally dawned upon us. In contrast with the typical catalog of vehicles one sees on the road, even in this part of Southern California, it seems almost implausible. But there it is, a hybrid spaceship of a sports car that any mere mortal can raise the door of, hop in and drive – provided they’ve got the coin for admission, of course.
Driven: BMW i3
We are in the midst of a season of somewhat confusing electric vehicle launches. The confusion stems from the way these recent and upcoming EVs challenge conventional thinking about the value proposition for new cars.
Cross-Country In A Tesla Model S
Tesla’s Model S is one of those products that transcends the barriers of normal physical existence to become a cultural phenomenon. Perhaps it is a low-grade phenomenon, but it has become a phenomenon nonetheless. With a product like this, a lot of people have opinions about it and many are interested in how it works. A lot of journalists also write sometimes semi-stupid things about it adding to the confusion we’re accustomed to in daily life with the result that urban myths develop that are simply wrong (bet you’re not surprised) but are also plausible enough to increase confusion further.
Driven: 2014 BMW M5 Competition Pack
BMW has taken some flack over the past few years for what some diehard fans consider the dilution of its M performance brand, first by allowing forced induction into the equation after staunchly sticking to the use of naturally aspirated engines in M cars for decades, and then by gradually loaning out the M badge to appearance packages and more pedestrian upgrades to lesser vehicles. At its core though, M performance has long centered around two vehicles in particular: the M3 coupe and the M5 sedan. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the E39-generation M5 achieved near-mythical status as the ideal every day driver’s car, and many still regard it as a high watermark for BMW sedans. Whether or not the E39 M5 is worthy of such praise (we think it is), it set fairly lofty expectations for its successors. Two generations later we find ourselves with the F10 M5, here outfitted with the Competition Pack, ready to spend a week trying to determine whether or not this particular spec of the M5 still champions the same principles that placed its predecessors in such high regard.
BMW Announces 2-Series Track Handling Package
While the BMW M235i we drove earlier this year makes for a great pint-sized rocket, we couldn’t help but wonder what a similar treatment would do to the lighter and more centrally balanced 2-Series equipped with the 240 horsepower 2.0-liter turbocharged four cylinder engine. It appears this quandary hung heavy on BMW’s collective mind as well, as they’ve now announced the Track Handling package, an equipment group aimed at bridging the gap between the standard 228i and the pricier M235i.
BMW Releases Pricing for M3 and M4
Bavaria’s newest M cars now have an official price tag, along with a full rundown of what it will cost to equip the coupe or sedan just how you see fit. Interestingly, the base price of the M cars places it competitively within its segment, but once you start checking boxes on the options list, that landscape changes quite a bit.
WR TV: 2014 BMW 640i xDrive Gran Coupe
This week Chris Amos gets up close and personal with BMW’s all wheel drive, full sized, coupe-like four door sedan. Powered by BMW’s 3.0-liter twinscroll-turbocharged 24-valve inline six-cylinder motor, here making 315 hp and 330 lb-ft of torque and mated to an 8-speed automatic, the 640i xDrive Gran Coupe may be just the thing for those who want a 5-Series with a little more panache.
Preview: 2016 Jaguar XE
Earlier this month at the Geneva Motor Show, many thought Jaguar would take the wraps off their X-Type successor. While the new car didn’t make an appearance in the flesh, Jaguar did bring a few interesting tidbits about the new mid-sized sports sedan, dubbed the XE.
WR TV: 2014 BMW 435i xDrive Coupe
This week Multimedia Editor Chris Amos traverses the snowy Michigan roads in a 2014 BMW 435i xDrive Coupe. Equipped with BMW’s venerable 3.0-liter inline 6 cylinder twin scroll turbocharged engine, a six speed manual gearbox, BMW’s xDrive all wheel drive system, and a smattering of M Sport goodies, this 4-Series certainly sounds up to the task.
WR TV: 1985 BMW 535i – POV Test Drive
Our courageous Multimedia Editor Chris Amos gets behind the wheel of a 1985 BMW 535i equipped with a 5-speed, a limited-slip differential and a set of snow tires and attempts to gingerly navigate the slippery snow-covered roads of Michigan. Spolier alert: the snow tires are no match for Chris’s lead foot. When was the last time you threw in some opposite lock at 3mph?
Gallery: 10 Awesome Turbocharged F1 Cars
Motorsport Retro brings us this collection of especially palatable boosted F1 cars from yesteryear. Forced induction seems to be infiltrating every corner of motoring these days, and for the 2014 season, even Formula One is getting in on the act. Although it remains to be seen if this change will bring a new level of intensity to F1 that we’ve been craving, perhaps this collection of turbocharged F1 cars will help us determine the necessary ingredients for boosted success.
Progress Report: Driveless Cars
The current popular line of thinking dictates that soon, and in a fairly sudden paradigm shift, driveless cars will be among us, carting us from place to place with little or no input from the driver, a la the Google car. The reality of driveless car technology is that most of its implementation will likely be rolled out gradually through embedded features on your everyday vehicle which will provide different aspects of driving assistance. You might not realize it, but some of the fledgling steps of this technology can probably already be found in your current daily driver.
Preview: BMW 4-Series Gran Coupe
Following in the tradition of the 6-Series Gran Coupe, BMW has announced the 4-Series Gran Coupe. Much like its 6-Series counterpart, the 4-Series Gran Coupe adds a pair of doors to its coupe counterpart’s silhouette and throws in a hatch-style liftgate in back for a dollop of versatility.
Driven: 2014 Mini Cooper and Mini Cooper S
Now entering its third generation since the nameplate was brought back to market by BMW in 2000, the 2014 Mini Cooper and Mini Cooper S now shares key engineering elements with front-drive BMW models coming to market later this year. While on the surface the new Mini may not appear significantly different from its predecessor, underneath the skin, the new Mini Cooper tells a different story.
Preview: 2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe
GM has had its sights set squarely on its German counterparts for a while now, and the next step in their plan of attack involves bringing their newest bag of tricks to the hotly contested battleground of compact sports coupes. To that end, at this year’s Detroit Auto Show Cadillac rolled out the ATS Coupe, a car designed to go to toe with the likes of the BMW 4-Series and the Mercedes Benz C-Class. If the specification sheet is any indicator of what to expect from the new diminutive Caddy, the Europeans would be wise to take notice of what’s in store from The General.
Driven: 2014 BMW 435i Convertible
While we were out in the Nevada desert putting the M235i through the ringer at Las Vegas Speedway, BMW also gave us a chance to get behind the wheel of their newest drop-top coupe, the 4-series hard top convertible. In 435i configuration and equipped with an 8-speed automatic, one might expect this 4-series to provide a fairly similar experience to that of the M235i, which comes boasting essentially the same drivetrain. But in practice, the 435i exhibits a significantly different character that in turn gives this substantial two door a fundamentally different mission.
Driven: 2014 BMW M235i
As the first M Performance model to be offered to American buyers, the 2014 BMW M235i has a significant burden to bear. Not only have BMW enthusiasts been demanding a new “affordable” sport coupe from the Bavarians for years, the M235i also has the considerable task of making the case to buyers in the United States that BMW’s new mid-range sport level has a reason to exist. Perhaps even more importantly, the M235i also has to assure the faithful that BMW’s recent proclivity for placing M badges on vehicles we wouldn’t expect to find them on is not a dilution of the brand and its implication. While much of that will ultimately be left to individual perception, we’re also happy to report that BMW’s decision to give us a chance to flog the M235i around the oval and road course at Las Vegas Speedway was not a regrettable one.
Preview: BMW M235i Racing
BMW has announced the official specifications for their newest competition-ready coupe. At $80,000 for what is essentially a turn-key factory racecar, this spiritual successor to the M3 GT4 looks to have a lot to offer would-be private race teams.
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