Category: BMW

As most readers will know, we’re big fans of the BMW 1M here at AUSmotive HQ. It’s hard to believe it is now over a year since BMW released official info. So it is with some pleasure we share this unofficial video with you, showing a Valencia Orange 1M prowling the streets of Poland.

The camera work is good, the post-production first class. Mind, the soundtrack is pretty rubbish; a small price to pay for an otherwise excellent clip.

BMW UK is back with another F10 M5 video. This time they’ve fired up the twin turbo V8 at Pendine Sands in Wales. It’s all in support of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Whatever, it just looks like a heap of fun!

Here’s a nifty little video comparing line drawings of the new F30 BMW 3 Series against its E90 predecessor. Amazing how, in this visual form, the E90 looks horribly dated already. Perhaps the most controversial element of the F30 design, the connection of the headlights to the famed BMW kidney grille, looks as though it was always meant to be and the former treatment now appears incomplete.

The video can be seen after the break. It runs for about three and a half minutes and it is a bit slow moving, but worth persisting for the excellent soundtrack.

For those who like to know the numbers, here’s how the F30 has grown:

• 40-45kg lighter than E90 sedan, depending on engine
• 93mm longer body
• 50mm longer wheelbase
• 37mm wider track (front)
• 47mm wider track (rear)
• 15mm more legroom for rear passengers
• 8mm more headroom

[via F30post]

A couple of days ago BMW released this teaser title ‘A new chapter powered by M. Step 1.’ The hot tip is we’re looking at the first diesel powered M car.

Here at AUSmotive we don’t care too much for the X6 at the best of times, so if BMW is going to cause some short term pain to its brand image by plonking a diesel in one of its cars we’d rather they get it right in this monstrosity, before, more appropriately perhaps, sticking one into a 5 Series, or whatever.

As a longer term vision we can’t see too much wrong with future BMWs wearing variations of Md badging. As the world changes, the motoring industry must follow. The idea of high-torque powerplants appeals to us very much. If that end goal is achieved by conventional petrol engines, multi-turbo diesels or even electric power we don’t care too much, as long as fun can be had along the way.

You only have to look at how Audi, and to a lesser extent Peugeot, have rewritten the performance rule book, literally as it happens, with their overwhelming dominance at Le Mans to see how far diesel power can be pushed.

BMW are no mugs. They will get diesel powered performance spectacularly right.

In his latest DVD, Powered Up, Jeremy Clarkson has given a big present to BMW, just in time for Christmas too. As is to be expected he has assembled a stunning array of machinery for his latest production. The Ferrari FF, Nissan GT-R and McLaren MP4-12C, among others, were on hand to win Jeremy’s heart and mind.

But in naming what he reckons is the best and most fun cars of 2011 he ignored all of that exotica and went straight to the heart of Munich. According to Clarkson the 535d Touring is the best car of the year and the 1 Series M Coupé is the most fun. Check the video after the break to find out his reasons.

Steve Sutcliffe from Autocar brings us one of the first video reviews of the new F30 3 Series. It’s arguably BMW’s most important model, one they can’t afford to mess up. Sutcliffe is at the wheel of a 180kW 2.0 litre turbocharged 328i Sport with optional 8-speed auto. He likes the handling and reckons the new steering is first class as well. He’s not even put off by all the electronic gadgets and multiple settings available. Could this be the best 3 Series ever?

This short video of a BMW F32 4 Series is the first we’ve seen of the new 3 Series-based coupé. You don’t get much in the way of sound and you certainly don’t get much in the way of excitement, it’s just a car with stacks of camouflage being driven sedately in regular traffic. But you do come away from the video wondering how you would answer if the F32 asked “Does my bum look big in this?”

[Source: F30POPST]

BMW UK has released this promo video for the F10 M5. It’s well shot, the audio sounds good (even though we suspect it’s been enhanced a little) and does anyone ever get tired of watching a car going sideways? Find out for yourself after the break.

In the coming days we’ll have a special insight into the M5. Stay tuned!

[via BimmerFile]

The clever clogs from Wild Speed have produced a series of renderings of what they think the new BMW 4 Series coupé (F32) will look like. Of course, expected styling cues from the new F30 3 Series are all there and, also unsurprisingly, the mid-sized 4er looks a bit like a mini-me version of the 6er coupé.

Imagine the above kit with an M bodykit and a silky smooth high powered six cylinder engine and you’re looking at the proper ‘M3’, which will now be called an M4. In a few years time it will all make sense we suppose.

[Source: F30post]