“The BMW Concept X1 sets the standard for cool elegance, modern style, and variable function in the premium compact segment,” says Guenther Seemann, Managing Director of BMW Group Australia. Another day, another SUV with tenuous marketing justification. To be fair, this X1 looks a damn sight better than the hideous X6. Expect BMW to sell plenty of X1s and expect plenty to never see any dirt.
Pics and BMW Australia’s press release after the jump. Official Concept X1 microsite HERE.
Short, sweet and to the point. Here’s a brief promo clip celebrating the first birthday of BMW-web.tv. Make sure you check out the site from time to time, it provides a great insight into BMW.
Apologies for the late update to this week’s show. Jason Plato—AUSmotive’s preferred Fifth Gear presenter—started the show comparing the JDM Honda Civic Mugen RR v the UK spec 2000 GT. The Japanese Civic was the quickest around their test track, and by some margin, plus it sounds bloody good, too.
I didn’t want to mention Tim Shaw this week, but given he covered the revised CO2 taxes UK residents will be paying shortly, I thought it would be worth raising, given our federal government’s recent issues with its proposed Luxury Car Tax increases. I’m guessing it won’t be long until we’re paying taxes based on emissions here in Australia too. They highlighted a Volkswagen Golf 1.6 and a Citroen C4 XS, the French car expels 13 grams less in CO2 emissions, but when the new tax laws are introduced, the Citroen will cost almost AU$200 less to register. I daren’t mention the funky and frugal MINI John Cooper Works again (6.9l/100km, 165 g/km), but, well I just did.
Adrian Van Hooydonk, BMW’s Head of Design, talks us through the design of the 1 Series Coupé. The clip runs for 3 minutes, 44 seconds.
Source: bmw-web.tv
Regular trawlers of motoring websites will know information on this BMW M3 race version is not new. This does not mean its late arrival on AUSmotive is any less worthy however. A replacement for the awesome BMW M3 GTR the new M3 race version is all set for the 2009 American Le Mans Series. Like the previous GTR one would expect this M3 to have a crack at the Nürburgring 24 hour race in 2009 as well. Enjoy this clip above from bmw-web.tv before going all ga-ga over the glory of the images below (click each pic for a 2000px super image). Just look at it! There’s also enough technical data in BMW’s press information to keep anyone happy.
BMW’s most important model, the 3 Series, has recently been given a bit of a spring clean. And look at that, the lads in Munich still had a few extra crease lines in the back of their cupboards that needed some air. Good thing then, that, despite negative hype, BMW actually do know how to design a car. This mid cycle refresh has kept the 3 Series looking sharp, both figuratively and literally.
Other more obvious exterior changes included a revised headlight cluster, now with LED turn signals. The famous BMW kidney grille has been enlarged and better suits the reskinned bonnet lines. The lighting changes continue at the back, too, with a more L shaped design employed, fitting into a restyled boot detail.
Inside there is a reworked iDrive system, an 80GB hard drive for music storage, and perhaps more importantly, it can also be used for map storage to aid navigation capabilities. A few other minor cosmetic tweaks have been made, including a repositioning of window switchgear.
More detail can be read below in BMW Australia’s press release, including a full suite of photos. You’ll be able to see the new 3 Series range in Australia in early 2009.
BMW Group have just released this handy model guide in PDF format. Featuring simple side on line drawings of all their automobiles from 1928 through to 2008. The guide also includes useful information on production numbers for BMW models that have ceased production. For example, the stunning 507 coupé had 251 models built between 1956-59. While there were 6,291 ‘breadvan’ M coupés built between 1998-2002.
MINI and Rolls Royce models built under BMW ownership are also featured in this guide. Although, the MINI trainspotter in me can see that the line drawing for the R53 Cooper S is not quite right. How so? The lower side skirt detail is incorrect and there is no bulge in the bonnet for the scoop.
Most of the drawings are vector based with sharp, limitless detail. Some drawings, for whatever reason, are crude bitmap based images, which is a shame. Regardless, this is a great resource and AUSmotive is happy to make this document available to you:
BMW Automobiles – Production models since 1928 (PDF – 1mb)
There are two internal spreads from the guide below, click on any image for a larger version.
In a bid to reduce the chances of vehicle re-birthing Hyundai has joined Audi, Nissan and Renault by introducing self-voiding vehicle identification labels. The labels are cheap to produce and will be rendered useless if removed from the car. The new labelling will replace the familiar aluminium compliance plates found on most other cars sold in Australia. The older style compliance plates are easily reused in a re-birthing industry that costs Australians around $250 million every year.
“Improved vehicle identification is a major focus of the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council” said NRMA Insurance Head of Research Robert McDonald, “vehicle identification technology such as self-voiding labels, cost less than $2 and are one of the best defences against professional car theft.”
Hyundai’s announcement follows the release yesterday of NRMA Insurance’s annual Vehicle Theft Ratings, which measure the ability of a car to resist being broken into, stolen and re-birthed. Hyundai’s Sonata was one of the top three performers in the medium car category, whilst the Grandeur scored the highest security rating in the large car category. Although the Vehicle Theft Ratings revealed that Subaru, BMW, Audi and Porsche were the standout manufacturers in 2008, with all of their vehicles performing well.
BMW Australia has lifted the lid off its new M3 Convertible and Sedan models. Both feature the 309kW V8 from the M3 Coupé and the Convertible will be the first BMW in Australia to offer the company’s new seven-speed double-clutch transmission (M-DCT). It will also be the first M3 Convertible to feature a retractable hard-top roof—which takes 22 seconds to fully open. The Convertible will be on demonstration in Australian showrooms in July, with the first deliveries expected after October.
The first 3 Series Sedan to feature a V8, the M3 Sedan, will arrive in Australia shortly after the Convertible and it is expected the first crop of Sedan will find their way into customers’ hands around Christmas time. The M-DCT gearbox will also be available in the M3 Sedan and the four door saloon is capable of doing the 0-100km/h dash in just 4.7 seconds. Watch out Audi RS4! Pricing for the Sedan is yet to be announced, but it should come in under the M3 Coupé.
Full press releases are available for both cars after the jump.
To get you in the mood for this weekend’s Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix, I hope you enjoy this lap of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with commentary from BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld. This clip was spotted at our friends from BimmerFile, via BMW-web.tv.
After attending the launch of BMW’s 1 Series Coupé, I was keen for a closer look at the 135i. Initially I thought the 1 Series Coupé was a bit of a design faux pas, however, the more I see it, the more cohesive its design appears to be. The 1 is certainly a car that looks better in the flesh than in photos. Even the Sedona Red colour, used in most of the promotional material, looks better than photos would suggest. As with most current BMW’s the visual language is unmistakable and on the 1 Series Coupé it is from the dramatic shoulder line the rest of the car’s visual cues hang. Its stubby tail gives the car a squat aggressive look that sums up the its raison d’etre perfectly. Most importantly for BMW, in a segment that is all about traditional swoopy coupés, like the 350Z, Audi’s gorgeously updated TT, or even BMW’s own Z4, the 1 Series Coupé provides a unique and fresh solution.
I recently heard about the BMW Performance range, a collection of official aftermarket bits and pieces that can be retro fitted to sir’s 135i. Given a few of the photos below are taken with parts fitted to an M3, it seems as though it shouldn’t be too long before BMW offers the parts across their range. In the meantime, more pics and the official BMW press release are included below. It’s a bit boy racer, but the steering wheel with shift indicator and small display for lap times seems pretty nifty.