Archive for BMW

BMW driver Tommy Milner talks about what it feels like to be a race car driver: it’s not about driving a really fast car, its about racing with someone else, and hopefully winning. We get to see some sights and sounds of the new BMW M3 GTR race car, but lots of the video are actually screens from the Need For Speed Shift game which features the M3 GTR. Watch the video after the jump. It’s quite worth a watch to see what Milner has to say about being in a racecar in the heat of a race.

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BMW is making its EfficientDynamics brand have a bigger role than before. Earlier it was just a word to describe a set of fuel saving technologies such as Brake Energy Regeneration and Auto Start-Stop, but now it’s being used as a suffix for cars that are particularly ‘green’. Other car manufacturers also have similiar brands such as Volkswagen’s use of BlueMotion.

The new BMW 320d EfficientDynamics has CO2 emissions of 109g/km and a combined consumption figure of 68.9mpg, which translates to 24.4 km per liter of diesel. The 2.0 liter engine puts out 163hp at 3,500rpm upt o 4,200rpm and 360Nm of torque spread between 1,750rpm to 3,000rpm.

Modification over a regular non-EfficientDynamics 320d include a longer final drive, lowered suspension for better aerodynamics, and special aerodynamics alloy wheels with Michelin EnergySaver tyres. The usual set of EfficientDynamics features are also there – Auto Start Stop, Brake Energy Regeneration and Electric Power Steering.

There have also been some modifications to the engine. A dual mass flywheel with springs and new Centrifugal Pendulum Absorbers is fitted between the engine and transmission. The whole point of these modifications that make the engine ’smoother’ is to allow the diesel engine to spin more smoothly at the lower RPMs that the new final drive provides.

We might see BMWs like this car and the 118d in Malaysia if the new Euro 2M diesel that is supposed to be introduced in September this year is deemed good enough by the car company’s homologation engineers.

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The Malay Mail has an insider scoop that Air Asia is considering expanding their involvement in F1 by “having their own team”. If this is true, it will probably happen only later as Air Asia is currently still in a 3-year sponsorship deal with the AT&T Williams F1 team as one of their sponsors as parts of their international brand-building efforts.

An overseas F1 news syndicator have linked Air Asia to the BMW Sauber F1 team as a potential purchaser, however Air Asia has stated that their interest in F1 is still AT&T Williams for now and they will continue sponsoring them. If Air Asia expands its role in F1 with a deeper involvement with BMW Sauber F1 it would mean a Malaysian sponsorship “tagteam” of sorts as as the team currently already has a Malaysian sponsor – Petronas.

Source

The BMW ActiveHybrid X6 isn’t about saving the world. It’s about recovering every bit of energy that could have wasted as you’re barrelling towards a corner and braking hard to prepare for it, and using that power to help you get out of that corner faster. It’s an X6 with a KERS booster system. It’s also meant to give the owner that feel-good factor of driving in EV mode.

When the ActiveHybrid X6 and ActiveHybrid 7-Series were unveiled on BMW’s press site simultaneously a few days ago, only the 7-Series had beauty footage accompanying its press pack. The X6 hybrid not have any video, until now that is.

Watch the video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: New BMW ActiveHybrid X6 in motion

The BMW ActiveHybrid X6 is truly mind-boggling. It’s an SUV, but the sloping roofline and two seats at the back kind of limit its utility and storage space. And it’s a hybrid which people usually associate with economy, yet its mated to a massive V8 twin turbocharged engine. There is not one but two electric motors, and the vehicle ends up having more torque than the BMW X6 M, a full 100Nm more to be exact.

The V8 motor puts out 407 horses, while the two electric motors make 91 horses and 86 horses respectively. All three propulsion devices running at the same time produces a peak 485 horses, with a massive peak torque of 780Nm.

This not only makes the X6 M the most powerful hybrid ever, but its also the most torquey BMW ever, beating the 760Li’s 750Nm by 30Nm. Only the upcoming BMW-built Rolls-Royce Ghost’s 6.6 liter V12 engine equals the ActiveHybrid X6’s 780Nm. 0 to 100km/h takes just 5.6 seconds, the car puts out 231g/km of CO2, while fuel consumption on the EU5 cycle is 9.9 liters per 100km.

Interestingly, BMW says this vehicle uses a 7-speed automatic transmission. Since when does BMW have a 7-speed automatic, other than the DCT and M DCT systems? This is not a conventional gearbox, as BMW says the transmission is “provided by the electric motors”.

It is an e-CVT, which is quite similiar to how the Prius’s e-CVT is also not a real transmission but instead is the result of the car’s two electric motors working together with various other components. Like the Prius too, one motor acts mostly as a generator while the other motor actually drives the vehicle. The two motors linked by three planetary gearsets are able to provide 7 different ratios.

The ActiveHybrid X6 can also run on an EV mode, which means on the motors only, at speeds of up to 60km/h for distances of up to 2.5km. Of course for EV mode the car must be driven gently – step on it abit more than the threshold and the V8 springs to life to provide you with the acceleration that the car thinks you need. Of course like any other hybrid it has a auto start-stop feature.

Unlike the ActiveHybrid 7-Series which uses lithium ion batteries, the ActiveHybrid X6 uses NiMH batteries and they are positioned beneath the floor of the luggage compartment. The batteries are liquid cooled with a heat exchanger that is cooled via outside air flow and also optionally through the air conditioning cooling circuits, depending on the cooling requirements needed.

Look after the jump for loads of hi-res photos of the new X6 hybrid.

Click here to read the rest of The new BMW ActiveHybrid X6 xDrive50i: world’s most powerful hybrid!

BMW now has a competitor for the S400 BlueHybrid – the new BMW ActiveHybrid 7. The ActiveHybrid 7 (available in both F01 and F02 longwheelbase bodies, with the long wheelbase called the BMW ActiveHybrid 7L) uses a mild hybrid system, also sometimes called a motor assist system.

Basically the V8 engine and 8-speed ZF automatic transmission is assisted by a three-phase synchronous electric motor weighing 23kg to give a peak output of 465 horses and 700Nm of torque. The electric motor (20 horses and 210Nm of torque) is positioned between the V8 and the 8-speeder’s torque converter, and receives power from a 35 cell 400wH lithium ion battery, which can also be recharged by the motor via brake energy regeneration.

This lithium ion battery measures 370mm by 220mm by 230mm and weighs 27kg, and is housed in the luggage compartment between the wheel arches, protected by a high-strength casing. Basically BMW had to remove the air-conditioning compressor for the rear aircond vents to make space for the battery.

0 to 100km/h takes 4.9 seconds, while EU test cycle fuel consumption is rated at 9.4 liters per 100km. CO2 emissions have been measured at 219g/km. Not exactly figures that will make greenheads drool but being an enthusiast I’m quite interested in experiencing the kind of pulling power that a high torque turbocharged engine and an inherently torquey electric motor can give.

The ActiveHybrid 7 also features automatic start-stop, which is said to be a first on a BMW equipped with an automatic transmission. Auto start-stop has been available for quite sometime now as part of their EfficientDynamics program but have previously been available only on manual transmission models.

The air conditioning and other systems remain fully operational whenever the engine is off, however being a mild hybrid system the car will not move with the V8 engine turned off – it will only turn off when you come to a stop. The air conditioning system can also be activated remotely via the remote control to cool down the car sufficiently before you get into the car.

Look after the jump for a full hi-res gallery and a video of the new BMW ActiveHybrid 7.

Click here to read the rest of New BMW ActiveHybrid 7 hybrid luxo-barge to face-off the S400 BlueHybrid

Some initial details and low-res photos of the upcoming hybrid versions of the 7-Series and X6 scheduled for public debut at the Frankfurt show this year have appeared on the internet. Both vehicles will be based on the 4.4 liter V8 engine but the 7-Series will have an electric motor, while the X6 will have two motors.

The turbocharged V8 and the two motors allow the X6 ActiveHybrid to produce a combined total of 478 horsepower and a massive 780Nm of torque, which is a full 100Nm more than the X6-M! Though its likely that none of the extra equipment require more space in terms of height in the engine bay, BMW has gone and added a powerdome to the X6’s bonnet anyway.

The 7-Series ActiveHybrid features a 459 horsepower and 760Nm combined total output. There is a fundamental difference between how these two hybrid systems work. The X6 can run on EV mode, which means it can move propelled by the electric motors alone with the V8 engine shut off (though only for 2.5km at speeds of up to 60km/h), while the 7-Series uses a motor assist setup which means the electric motor cannot be used standalone. Clearly not exactly positioned for those who really want to do their bit to save the earth or even save fuel, otherwise they would have based these babys on the 3.0 liter turbo six instead of the turbo V8.

Click here to read the rest of Initial details on BMW ActiveHybrid 7 and BMW X6 ActiveHybrid unveiled!

BMW has released the first TV commercial for the new BMW X1 SUV and from the looks of it they are clearly positioned it as an active lifestyle vehicle for you to go on major road trips with your friends, and of course it will be a new cheaper way to enter this particular segment of SUV (or SAV as BMW would rather the whole world call them).

By the way, I’ve just found out what that oddly tilted square lense positioned in the inner ring of the bi-xenon headlamp is. Apparently it is just a lense designed to direct the light from the inner lamp to light up the corona rings (popularly called angel eyes) of the headlamp. In a bi-xenon headlamp, the outer xenon lamp serves both low beam and high beam functions so the inner lamps mostly serve to light up the corona rings only. The adaptive cornering lights are located in the fog lamps.

Anyway look after the jump to watch the commercial and see the new X1 in action. The X1 is likely to be launched in Malaysia within the first half of 2010.

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: first TVC produced for the BMW X1

The car you see above is a special high-security version of the BMW 7-Series, essentially Munich’s competitor for the Mercedes-Benz Guard cars. Available in either 760Li High Security or 750Li High Security form, they are certified to BRV 2009 and meet the VR7 and VR9 ballistic protection levels.

The 7-Series High Security cars are much heavier than a regular F02 because of all the armour plating that it has, so the suspension and other components had to be retuned to cope with the new weight. There are armour plating on the doors, the roof, the pillars, the front footwell, the undercarriage (with extra explosion protection) and the separation wall between the passenger and luggage compartments. The windows use 60mm thick safety glazing and are covered with a polycarbonate layer on the inside to prevent shattered glass particles from entering the interior.

There is various extra equipment that you can specify with the car, including an intercom system with concealed mics and speakers to communicate with people outside the car without having to open the doors or windows. There’s also an assault alarm, a fire extinguisher system with temp sensors in the engine bay and below the vehicle, gas irritant sensors (windows will close, central locking activates, fresh air valves close, and ventilation system shuts off), flag holders, a gun case that can store two machine guns in the center console, and a bright roof beacon that comes complemented with LED flashing lights on the front grille.

Look after the jump for a whole hi-res photo gallery of the new 7-Series High Security. The way they mounted the controls for some of the optional features like the roof beacon etc look pretty aftermarket, it would be nicer if they found a nicer way to integrate those extra buttons.

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Here’s some details from Autocar UK on BMW’s next generation bread and butter – the replacement for the E90 BMW 3-Series set to be launched for the 2011 model year. No doubt some of this may be just conjecture on Autocar’s part, but here’s the list anyway:

• The 4-cylinder engine will finally be replaced by a turbocharged unit, but Autocar is suggesting 3-cylinder engines will be used. The idea of an inline-3 in a 3-series is a little bleh though, what’s wrong with just downsizing to a small 4-cylinder and then turbo-ing it? But there’s no doubt that mechanically the inline-3 engine will likely be competent.
• Greater care for aerodynamics, such as the use of narrow and upright intakes in the front bumper to channel the air through the bumper and out of a slot in the wheel well that pushes and smoothens the airflow across the face of the wheel.
• The chassis will have provisions for an integrated motor assist kind of system for the rear axle. Space also needs to be designed for batteries and control units related to hybrid systems.
• The 8-speed auto will find its way into the whole BMW range, with the 7-speed twin clutch reserved for sports models only. Though there has been improvements of leaps and bounds to computer-clutched transmissions, a real auto will always be smoother than a twin clutch.