Category: BMW

BMW recently announced details for their third-gen X5 SUV, codenamed F15. It’s a reasonably straightforward evolutionary step as far as the looks go, although there are a few areas of concern.

You can see elements of the F30 3 Series at the front, with the way the headlights link to the kidney grille. And that grille is pretty damn big too, much larger than the E70 model it replaces. It looks a bit odd now, but over time it will make sense.

However, the side profile raises our eyebrows. Specifically at rear window and its Hofmeister kink. To us this is poorly resolved and looks a bit too much like the awkward Honda CRV, which is a tad unfortunate.

At launch the new X5 can be had with a 330kW/650Nm 4.4 litre V8 (xDrive50i), a 190kW/560Nm 3.0 litre diesel (xDrive30d) or the M Performance model with 280kW/740Nm 3.0 litre diesel (M50d).

As is BMW’s wont these days all engines carry the TwinPower Turbo tag on account of their forced induction. Although, it’s only the xDrive50i that has a twin turbo setup, the xDrive30D uses a single turbo and the M50d has three.

More engine options will be added to the range in December. Full details of the new X5 can be read below.

Want a new BMW 8 Series? Then this Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupé will make you smile. Indeed, we’re pretty sure you’ll smile from almost angle—it is a beautiful thing—so long as you don’t look too long at the huge kidney grille from front on.

The Gran Lusso is a one-off joint project between BMW Design and noted Italian design house Pininfarina. “The appeal of this collaboration with Pininfarina is that you get another, very different and special angle on facets like luxury and exclusivity,” notes Karim Habib, Head of BMW Design.

“The Italian company, after all, has always been a byword for these criteria in particular, demonstrating time and again its keen sensitivity and exceptional finesse in these areas.”

Being a true concept vehicle there’s not a lot of technical detail and all we can tell you is that it’s powered by a V12 engine. But that’s it, pretty much. Although you’d expect the engine to be based on the 6.0 litre V12 found in the 760i.

Technically speaking if this concept did materialise into a production-ready 8 Series there’d need to be some extra work. Visually, though, not a lot would need to change. And so long as they rework that front grille we think that would be a very good thing.

A BMW M5 driven by Johan Schwartz has set a new world record for the longest sustained drift. A couple of years back Mercedes once held this record with a paltry distance of just under 3km. Schwartz has upped the ante to a staggering 82.5km (51.278 miles)!

The record was set at the BMW Peformance Centre in South Carolina and raised $20,000 in donations for BMW’s Charity Pro-Am golf tournament.

Schwartz bettered the previous best mark of 76.8km (47.71 miles) set in Abu Dhabi earlier this year. Video of the loooooooongest drift can be seen after the break.

With the global success of the M135i you’d reckon BMW’s brief for the 2 Series version would be simple: Take the designers of the 1 Series out the back and give them a good flogging and send the engineers to the pub for some celebratory drinks. And it could just be that that is precisely the approach taken by BMW, if this rendering is anything to go by.

If the M235i does indeed end up looking something like the image above we expect BMW will do well to meet demand. It won’t be the prettiest coupé BMW has ever made, but what we see above is miles ahead of the M135i, regardless of how talented the 1 Series M-lite may be.

We just have to trust BMW that none of the engineering greatness of the M135i is lost by chopping off the rear doors and losing some cargo space. There’s no reason to even suggest for a moment that BMW will stuff that up.

After the break you can see a few spy shots and a video of the M235i in action at the Nürburgring, of course.

[Source: Bimmerpost | Rendering: David Kiss via Top Speed]

This is Max Reisböck. He’s a former BMW engineer and he created the first ever BMW station wagon, based on a wrecked E30 3 Series saloon. The reason for his handiwork? So he could take his daughter’s tricycle on family holidays.

It’s actually a very cool story and without it we may never have seen the 3 Series Touring. Thankfully, BMW has seen fit to document Max’s story with this short video.

We love Euro estate cars because they’re super-cool. And now we love Max Reisböck, because he’s cool too.

[Thanks to Paul for the tip]

BMW Australia has announced pricing for its M6 Gran Coupe and you’re going to have to really want one to meet the $299,500 asking price.

Gran Coupe pricing slots neatly in between the M6 Coupé and Convertible, which are priced from $292,500 and $308,500 respectively. Powered by the same 412kW/680Nm 4.4 litre twin-turbo V8 as its other M6 siblings the Gran Coupe will arrive in Australia just after mid-year.

Pricing for the BMW 3 Series Touring (318d and 320i) was released late last year. But now that the models have arrived down under BMW Australia has added the 328i to the range (March build onwards) and come good with some detailed info on the F31 estate. And there’s a lot of it!

If you like the 3 Series Touring, and you should, you can choose from the following three models at initial launch:

• 318d – from $58,900
• 320i – from $62,600
• 328i – from $69,900

Full details from BMW Australia and including a pricing matrix can be seen below.