Archive for BMW

BMW Web TV talks to BMW spokesperson Wieland Bruch at the 2008 Paris Motor Show on the new F01 7-Series ActiveHybrid. The BMW Concept 7-Series ActiveHybrid features the 4.4 liter V8 from the 750i and the X6 xDrive50i, but is supplemented by a 15kW/210Nm electric motor integrated into its 8-speed transmission’s housing.

When the concept was unveiled I was wondering what was the whole idea behind making a hybrid car with such a huge engine. According to BMW, hybrid technologies have the biggest effect on large displacement engines so they decided to add the technology to a car that would save the most fuel compared to a non-hybrid version rather than outright consume the least fuel in total.

It seems that fuel savings of 20% can be expected over a regular 750i, plus someone who could afford a 750i would most likely afford the hybrid bits in the car anyway. But then again he could also afford the fuel, so it’s down to reduced emissions I suppose.

Watch the video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: BMW Concept 7-Series ActiveHybrid

This is an experimental demo of a BMW car configurator using the new Microsoft Surface technology. Even if you are not someone that keeps up to date with the tech world, if you watch CSI: Miami you probably have already seen it in action.

Real life usage can be found in AT&T stores. It’s essentially a system running Windows Vista which uses 5 cameras to record infrared light from human fingertips on the “surface”, as well as specially tagged objects.

The BMW car configurator is appropriately called the BMW Konfigurator, and although it is currently still in prototype form we may see it a regular feature in BMW showrooms soon. Basically you have a 30 inch touch screen display on a table which you are able to interact with to configure your BMW car.

For example, you can change colours of the exterior and interior, change the wheel design, and add other accessories. At the end of your selections the system will quote you a price. You can also view photos and videos on the car.

You can look after the jump for a video I recorded of the BMW Konfigurator being used to configure the latest F01 BMW 7-Series.

Click here to read the rest of BMW Konfigurator powered by Microsoft Surface lets you configure your BMW, CSI-style!

BMW has pulled the wraps off the new BMW Concept X1 and has even released an interview video with BMW chief designer Adrian van Hooydonk explaining the car’s target market and its design cues.

The front end of the car immediately reminds you of the F01 BMW 7-Series recently revealed, thanks to its 7-Series-like headlamps and kidney grilles. The side profile has hints of the current facelifted BMW X3 while the engine hood is inspired by the design on the facelifted 3-Series.

Despite the X1 name which indicates a crossover version of the X1, the vehicle is actually built on the platform of the E90 3-Series. Its actually quite large - larger than most people expected it to be. At 4456mm long with a 2760mm wheelbase, these figures are close to the current X3 facelift’s statistics with a 4565mm length and a 2795mm wheelbase. This means the next generation X3 will grow larger (as expected) and will probably have a mid-2800mm-ish wheelbase, as the 2nd gen X5 has a wheelbase of 2933mm.

Since it shares the same platform as the E90, you can expect a similiar engine range with a twin turbo 3.0 liter petrol X1 xDrive35i and a twin turbo 3.0 liter turbodiesel X1 xDrive35d as the top of the range models.

Look after the jump to view more hi-res images and watch a video.

Click here to read the rest of BMW Concept X1 unveiled with video!

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BMW has released another teaser image of the BMW Concept X1 in some pretty bad light but with the help of some brightness and contrast adjustments we are able to see a little more detail of the upcoming small SUV.

The result is something that looks like a downsized BMW X5, but are we really surprised when an increasing amount of car manufacturers just seem to create one design and resize it for different models?

A BMW X1 xDrive23d powered by the 2.0 liter inline-4 twin turbodiesel would be a nice lifestyle vehicle with both fuel economy (relative) and power packed into one vehicle.

A concept version of BMW’s most compact SAV to date will be unveiled at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. They’ve released a teaser video which gives away very few details about the car. You only manage to see a little of the wheel design and the car’s ride height.

The theme of the video indicates a young and fun-loving target market, somehow I am reminded of the same people who would be buyers of the Kia Soul with alot more money?

Watch the video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of BMW releases teaser trailer for X1 Concept

Hartge has made the BMW 135i Coupe even more rapid with a new styling and performance kit that brings the 135i up to 350 horsepower at 5,660rpm and a massive 480Nm of torque at 2,950rpm. That’s more torque than the new BMW M3’s V8 puts out, and installed in a smaller car too. 0 to 100km/h takes 4.8 seconds while an unrestricted top speed is achieved at 280km/h. The rear end styling of the car even gives it an M-like quad tailpipe exhaust.

The power figures in this car however falls short of the monster that Hartge created two years ago based on the hatchback version of the 1-Series. The Hartge H1 is based on the BMW 130i M Sport hatchback. They basically dumped the N52B30 and put in the 5.0 liter V8 engine from the E39 BMW M5. New cylinder heads, cam profiles and engine management are slapped on for a total of 450 horsepower and 510Nm of torque.

This is so much power that the car’s rear subframe had to be replaced with stronger components. All that madness shaves about 0.2 seconds off the 0 to 100km/h mark.

Look after the jump for more hi-res photos of the Hartge 135i Coupe.

Click here to read the rest of Hartge BMW 135i Coupe comes with 350 horses

When the MINI Crossover Concept was unveiled earlier this month, it featured something called the MINI Centre Globe which sort of takes the whole iDrive concept to a whole new level.

MINI’s equivalent to “iDrive” in this concept car is a giant sphere in place of where you’d expect the large speedometer to be in BMW’s new MINIs. The sphere uses laser projection to display different graphics if viewed from different positions.

Some things are just best viewed in motion, so after a jump you will find a video of the MINI Crossover Concept and you will be able to see the MINI Centre Globe in action somewhere at the end of the video.

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: The MINI Centre Globe Concept

The BMW 7-Series has got to be the only BMW with so many fuelling options available. You have your run of the mill petrol and diesel versions but there is also a Hydrogen 7 and now soon after Mercedes Benz’s S400 BlueHybrid car comes the BMW Concept 7-Series ActiveHybrid, based on the F01 BMW 7-Series.

The Concept 7-Series ActiveHybrid features the 750i’s 4.4 liter twin turbocharged V8 direct injection engine mated to a tiny electric motor producing 20 horsepower and 210Nm of torque. The electric motor is powered by a lithium ion battery stored beneath the luggage compartment and this is charged via a more potent version of BMW’s Brake Energy Regeneration system.

This concept also marks the debut of BMW’s upcoming 8-speed automatic transmission by ZF. The electric motor is integrated into this transmission’s housing.

Some other details on the concept hybrid car include the use of LED lighting for the foglamps. The car’s foglamps consist of LEDs arranged vertically in two rows on each side of the car. The side profile features large 20 inch alloy wheels while the rear end features an unusual tailpipe design that is wide and flat.

Anyone who buys this car is not going to realistically imagine he’d be getting excellent fuel economy out of what is essentially still a 4.4 liter twin turbocharged monster. The fuel-economy conscious 7-Series buyer will still go for the 730d. This is basically just a way to take Brake Energy Regeneration a step further and convert wasted braking energy into a little more horsepower and torque.

Look after the jump for a hi-res gallery of the car.

Click here to read the rest of F01 BMW Concept 7-Series ActiveHybrid

In order to pack enough components and space into such a small little thing, Toyota’s new premium small car the Toyota iQ warranted an all-new platform with many newly designed components.

Some packaging innovations used in the new Toyota iQ includes a relocated differential moved to the front side of the engine to allow the front wheels to be moved further forward, a new steering rack that is mounted high on the firewall, a new wiper motor and mechanism to allow for the new steering rack, a book-thin flat fuel tank located under the rear passenger’s feet, a compact yet powerful climate control unit, ultrathin seatbacks to create more space, and repositioned engine ancillaries around the suspension for a turning radius of 3.9 meters. Because the rear passenger is so close to the rear of the car, there are even rear windshield airbags.

The iQ will have a production volume of only 100,000 units a year which is not enough to recover the R&D costs, so a few more cars based on the Toyota iQ platform is expected to arrive soon. One is a small SUV - likely to be a Cross-iQ, and others would include a compact 7-seater as well as a car to replace the Toyota Yaris.

It seems that the Toyota iQ is actually a challenge to Toyota’s R&D team to rethink how they usually design a vehicle platform, and then use the space-maximizing innovations and platform to create more normal sized cars that offer class-leading interior space. Imagine, perhaps two generations from now we will get an iQ-based Toyota Vios B-segment sedan that offers C-segment interior space.

And it will all be because of the Toyota iQ.

BMW North America’s CEO Jim O’Donnell has confirmed the existence of a turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline engine project for BMW cars.

BMW is already using a turbocharged inline-4 for its MINI brand, and has a turbocharged four cylinder diesel (320d), a twin turbocharged four cylinder diesel (123d), a new smooth-revving turbodiesel six (facelifted 330d and F01 730d), a twin turbocharged six cylinder diesel (330d), a twin turbo six cylinder (335i), and a twin turbocharged 4.4 liter V8.

Adding a powerful turbocharged or twin turbocharged inline-4 engine will complete this line-up of new turbocharged engines and if it ends up in the 1-Series will make the car a true spiritual successor to what the original BMW 3-Series was like. The new engine could also replace some of the smaller displacement N52 engines like the 2.5 liter in 523i and 525i states of tune. But will a fast BMW really feel the same without the lovely engine sound of an inline-6 or a V8?

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