Category: BMW

The Industry Pool has been in full swing all week at the Nürburgring and one of the cars seen in development is the upcoming BMW M135i.

BMW revealed the M135i Concept last month and told us it will feature a 3.0 litre six cylinder turbo charged engine (it’s the N55 unit from the old 135i for those playing at home). Although, we can expect the new M135i to better the 225kW offered by the E82 135i.

You’ll notice the car above is in 3 door guise (F21), which hasn’t actually been released by BMW yet. If you need more doors, it’s okat, the M135i will be available in the regular 5 door body (F20) as well.

BMW has yet to announce when they will launch the M135i, but the 2012 M Festival in June shapes as a pretty good bet.

There’s more pics available from the link below, or you can see video of the M135i and standard 135i in action around the Ring in a short video after the break.

[Source: 1addicts]

Details have emerged this morning of a massive recall to be undertaken by BMW. It’s estimated 1.3 million vehicles are affected, including models sold in Australia. The cars affected are all 5 Series and 6 Series models built between 2003–2010.

In delightful PR-speak this recall is being referred to as a “quality measure”. According to an official statement from BMW AG the fault is related to the battery cable cover.

“In some remote cases, the battery cable cover inside the boot of these vehicles may be incorrectly mounted,” the statement reads.

“This can result in the electrical system malfunctioning, the vehicle failing to start and, in some cases, to charring or fire.

“We are not aware of any accidents or injury to persons resulting from this fault.”

BMW Australia has made efforts to alert owners through twitter and Facebook updates. Apparently the inspection and repair should take less than an hour and BMW will be contacting owners through their nationwide dealer network to make arrangements.

Fair play to BMW, it’s good to see manufacturers getting on the front foot for these types of issues. Not all of them do.

BMW’s official performance figures for the F10 M5 say it can see off 100km/h in 4.4 seconds. That’s pretty fast, but not blindingly so. However, US-based Motor Trend recently tested the M5 and:

“We recorded a 0-60-mph time for the previous M5 at 4.1 seconds with a quarter-mile time of 12.5 seconds at 115.3 mph. Those seem like fast numbers until you consider the newer car runs to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds and gets through the quarter in 11.9 seconds at 120.3 mph.”

Now 60mph is not 100km/h, of course, but at 96.5km/h it’s pretty damn close. Close enough to call it comfortably sub-four seconds for a 0-100km/h time. And a sub-12 second standing quarter isn’t exactly hanging about either.

[Source: Motor Trend]

The new BMW 3 Series Coupé replacement, the F32 4 Series, has been caught on video testing in the snow. If nothing else it looks like a lot of fun and would be a great way to refine your mad drifting skillz.

We first got a look at the F32 coupé late last year, with a com-gen rendering not long after, and, really, you’re not getting much more to see now. Thanks, of course, to BMW’s familiar patterned camouflage.

Current speculation suggests the two-door F30-based 4 Series will debut at the Paris Motor Show in September.

[Source: WCF]

Back in January we gave you the inside word that the 160kW 125i was going to be added to the BMW Australia range. Well, now they’ve made it official by releasing a press statement to that effect.

The 125i will be available from March production. Well that’s now, but you’ll need to allow at least 6–8 weeks to get yourself a build slot and then have your fancy new car shipped to Australia.

As expected, pricing starts at $45,700 and until the M135i turns from concept into reality this will be the most powerful F20 1 Series you can buy. Add that to the fact the 125i sends all of its power to the rear wheels and the only stumbling block left is working out if you can deal with its rather unique looks.

Also confirmed by BMW Australia is the availability of the M Sport Package, which costs $5385 and can be added to the 118i, 118d and 125i. But you already knew that too.

The asking price for the M Sport package may seem a tad high, but it does offer M Sports suspension, sports seats, M leather Steering wheel, M aerodynamics kit, 18” M light alloy wheels and more.

Jeremy Clarkson once explained turbocharging by saying: “Exhaust gasses go into the turbocharger and spin it, witchcraft happens and you go faster.”

BMW has taken a slightly more technical approach to explain how their soon-to-be-universally-acknowledged-as-awesome tri-turbo diesel engine works. That’s the donk from the M550d/X5 M50d and so on.

In typical teutonic fashion the explanation is all fancy animation and clinical; there’s not even any sound. Just words and pictures. Come to think of it, and going back to Clarkson’s original theory, maybe the video below makes more sense in the second half. See what you think.

BMW has taken the engine from the E82 135i Coupé and stuffed it inside a new three-door F20 1 Series to create the Concept M135i. As its name suggests this is an example of what to expect from the M Performance Automobile range.

Not a lot of detail is given other than the fact the car uses the 3.0 litre six cylinder from the 135i and matches its spec to offer 225kW/300hp.

The Concept M135i will debut alongside its diesel-powered siblings at the Geneva Motor Show early next month.

It’s not been confirmed for official production just yet, but we reckon it’s a pretty safe bet. Currently the 160kW 125i is the most powerful confirmed F20 production model. Having 300hp in this platform will no doubt make for a rewarding driving experience, just a shame it’s a bit of a dog to look at.

Here we bring you five videos documenting the production process of the new BMW F30 3 Series. The new 3er is about to roll out in BMW dealerships across Australia so now is a great time to take a closer look at how they’re built.

We’ll be honest these clips are the most exciting things you’ll see today, but if you’re a bit of an engineering nerd or an all-round car geek then we think you’ll love them.

[Source: Bimmerpost]