Archive for BMW

Once I was driving around town and saw an E39 5-Series with a long horizontal strip of LED daytime running lights, one strip on each side of the bumper. I later found out that these long strips of LEDs were available from accessory shops and you could put them on anywhere on the car you want. These horizontal strips of lights have become so popular (by Audi) that even Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche have implemented them. And now it comes to BMW via a namebrand bodykit, thanks to Hamann.

The Hamann bodykit for the F01 and F02 BMW 7-Series features a short strip of daytime running lights integrated into the front bumper. The rest of the bodykit does well to make the car seem more dynamic and aggressive, including a roof spoiler and some mean-looking quad tailpipes with 90mm diameter outlets. The Hamann side skirts are only for the short wheelbase F01.

The 730d and 740i receive 4 new springs which lower the car’s centre of gravity at the front and rear axles by 40mm each, while the 750i and 750Li gets a set with 2 new springs and an “evening kit” – I’m not entirely sure what that is. Wheels are 22 inchers wrapped with 265/30ZR22 tyres at the front axle and 295/25ZR22 tyres at the rear axle.

Hamann has also thrown in some engine tuning for the 730d. The single turbo alumininum crank turbodiesel engine gets its 245hp power upped by another 45, and Hamann says this is just the first stage.

Look after the jump for a full image gallery.

Click here to read the rest of Hamann kit for the F01 BMW 7-Series

Click to enlarge

The abomination above is apparently what Katy Perry would be churning out if she invested in a pimp-my-ride kind of shop. This Life Ball MINI was designed by a two-people team called “The Blonds” and inspired by Katy Perry’s style apparently. It’s based on the only just recently launched drop top MINI Cabriolet.

It will be offered as a prize draw at the Austrian event and you can purchase a ticket for 10 Euros, with all proceeds going to causes that fight AIDS. Last year’s Life Ball MINI went in an auction style and frankly I very much prefer that design as well as the photography that came with it… remember the Agent Provocateur MINI Clubman?

Hopefully the raffle style sale will generate more money than the auction, which hit €45,000. Look after the jump for all the Life Ball MINIs in the past.

Click here to read the rest of Life Ball MINI 2009: Katy Perry Edition

Being fast is something that car manufacturers want to associate themselves with, so you can’t blame Ferrari and BMW for pulling off publicity stunts with 2008 Male World Athlete of the Year from Jamaica, Usain Bolt.

Ferrari let Usain drive around in their F430 Spider on Monte Carlo but BMW and his sponsors Puma gave him another rather fast car, the E92 BMW M3 Coupe.

But that M3 is gone now, as Bolt crashed it into a ditch on Highway 2000 a few days ago, but not before the car flipped around a few times and landed upside down, there goes the carbon fiber roof! The road was wet as it had rained earlier. But even after all of that he emerged from the crash virtually unhurt, with just a few cuts according to him. A testament to the crash safety of the M3.

As a precaution to these sort of things happening, when Usain Bolt took delivery of his BMW M3 Coupe he attended BMW Driver Training session where he took his new screaming V8-powered car at the BMW Vehicle Test Facility in Munich under the supervision of a BMW driving instructor.

Well, at least he still has his model car. Look after the jump for a news segment revealing more angles of the crashed BMW M3 Coupe.

Click here to read the rest of Usain Bolt crashes his BMW M3 Coupe

Recently, the latest additions to the M GmbH family, both the BMW X5 M and BMW X6 M were officially released, allowing BMW to venture into the high performance, high ground clearance vehicle segment, a segment which was, till now, dominated by the Porsche Cayenne. According to BimmerFile, it now has the juicy pricing details for both the twin-turbo SUV’s.

The slightly modest looking BMW X5 M can be fetched for US$ 85,400, while the ‘coupe-ish’ X6 M carries a US$ 88,900 price tag (yes, only US$ 3,000 difference). The above mentioned prices should be for the base-line models, as you can expect them to hike up a little as you add more ticks on the options list.

Both all wheel drive performance SUV’s are powered by the M TwinPower Turbo engine, which is a 4.4 liter twin turbo V8 that is able to crank out 555HP between 5,750rpm to 6,000rpm and 680Nm of torque between 1,500rpm to 5,650rpm. Both cars can sprint to 100 km/h in 4.7 seconds, all the way up to a governed top speed of 250 km/h.

Please click here to learn more about both the BMW X5 M and BMW X6 M, as well as to view a high-res image gallery and a 38-minute long video.

Hot after the new MINI Cabriolet (or Convertible, depending on the country you’re in) launch early this year is its Malaysian debut for RM 235,000 OTR without insurance and without MINI tlc package).

The MINI Cabriolet continues to use a soft top and now features larger side windows and a new retractable rollbar to help improve driver’s visibility. The rollbar moves up and down as required to help offer the driver an unrestricted rear visibility. The soft top comes down in just 15 seconds, and the Malaysian spec car comes with the Always-Open Timer as standard, which shows the driver the time they’ve spent driving with the roof down. This is supposed to encourage open air motoring as much as possible, which I hope is why you slurged the extra cash on the Cabriolet over the regular MINI in the first place.

Unlike the Cooper and Clubman which are available with both the regular and the turbocharged S versions, the Cabriolet comes only with the normally aspirated 1.6 liter for now, putting out 120 horsepower at 6,000rpm and 160Nm of torque at 4,250rpm with the help of Valvetronic.

Check out a full gallery and some videos of the new R57 Cabrio after the jump. There’s a new promo clip called “Radical Maneuver” as well as a “Making Of” video… I don’t recommend you perform the stunts in the video in real life!

Click here to read the rest of R57 MINI Cabriolet now on sale in Malaysia!

One of the earliest ways for a Middle Eastern customer to see a BMW X6 M in action in person is at the MotoGP 2009 leg in Qatar, which happens right now during this weekend. It’s done up in a nice traditional M paint job which includes white paint and blue and BMW M stripes.

The BMW X6 M will function as a safety car alongside its sibling the BMW M6. The fact that they paired these two cars together further implies BMW marketing’s want to position this is a bona fide coupe, or a
Sports Activity Coupe to be precise.

1,000th customer Chandrsekaran A/L Ramasamy with his new MINI

Remember the 1000loveMINI contest? The 998th, 999th and 1000th MINI customer in Malaysia won a visit to the MINI Plant Oxford in the UK, and a limited edition MINI roof art for their car by Munkao, inspired from an Iban shield. The basic design is the same but the colour will be customised according to the choice of the winning customer’s MINIs.

The other part of the contest involved existing MINI customers and a photography challenge. One had to take a photo with her MINI and send it in with a photo caption. The winner was Khor Pee Lynn from Penang, whose slogan was I love my MINI because… it’s my love at first sight”. She will also get to join the 3 other winners to Plant Oxford.

There are a lot more photos here, check it out.

Related Posts:
MINI Production Triangle and Plant Oxford tour
MINI Collection Fashion Show

The fact that there is now an SUV in the BMW M line-up opens a door to a whole lot of new possibilities, including the potential of a high performance M diesel SUV or a high performance diesel version of the X5/X6 that’s as powerful as M cars but without the badge, if they want to keep that last remaining bits of exclusivity.

After all, even though the Cayenne Diesel has specs that are abit of a bore, the most powerful Audi Q7 is the Audi Q7 V12 TDI.

The latest rumours to hit the web is the development of a tri-turbo diesel for this high performance diesel BMW X5 which could produce 354 horsepower and nearly 800Nm of torque. BMW’s star diesel powerplant right now is the all-aluminium N57B30 which makes 245 PS and 540Nm of torque.

Its most powerful diesel is a V8 from the E65/E66 745d, making 329 hp and 750Nm of torque. The tri-turbo diesel could slot above the 730d as an upmarket diesel model in the new F01/F02 7-Series. But all of these figures are still short of the Q7 V12’s 500 PS and collosal 1000Nm.

Tri-turbo engines are not new, though I’m not sure if any made it to production there are companies who have showcased concept engines. One of the more recent examples that also so happens to be a diesel is the concept Mercedes-Benz SLK320 CDI Tri-Turbo which had a V6 diesel engine with 2 small turbos that connected to 1 large turbo. It made 286hp and 628Nm of torque. It never went into production because engineers said it was too expensive.

The BMW X3 gets a new economical green variant called the BMW X3 xDrive18d, equipped with a 2.0 liter inline-4 turbodiesel producing 143 horsepower and 350Nm of torque. It is slotted under the xDrive20d.

2008’s World Green Car of the Year also had a 18d designation, as it was about this time last year that the 118d was announced WGCOTY 2008. Let’s compare the 118d to the X3 xDrive18d in terms of emissions.

The BMW 118d emits just 119g/km. The X3 model puts out a fair bit more pollution at 165g/km of CO2 – that’s the difference a heavy SUV body and all-wheel drive will make.

But it’s still less polluting than the X3 xDrive25i that is sold here in Malaysia, that one puts out 228g/km of CO2 and is only EU4 compliant while the diesel models comply with EU5. Look after the jump for more images of the new xDrive18d.

Click here to read the rest of New BMW X3 xDrive18d: a “greener” SUV

Honda has its own “Z car” now, as Acura have unveiled its X6 competitor at the New York International Auto Show and have decided to call it the Acura ZDX. This is a “prototype” of the production version which will go on sale beginning fall this year.

The ZDX is similiar in size to the X6, measuring 4887mm by 1994mm by 1570mm (LxWxH) compared to the X6’s 4877mm by 1983mm by 1690mm, however the X6 has a much longer wheelbase at 2933mm versus the ZDX’s 2748mm.

“From the very first sketch of the ZDX, I wanted to create an emotional vehicle that challenged conventional thinking of what a sports coupe should be. My goal was to create a strikingly beautiful exterior, and use that attraction to help draw you into the rich interior,” said ZDX exterior designer Michelle Christensen, which I feel in reality could have been something more like “My bosses told us to rip off the BMW X6.” It’s a four door but the rear door handles are hidden near the window to help create a more coupe-like profile, since coupes are supposed to be 2-doors after all!

The Acura ZDX will be powered by an unnamed V6 engine mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission, sending power to all four wheels via Honda’s Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD). The V6 will likely be a variation of the large 3.7 liter, not sure what has happened to the development of the inline-4 2.3L i-VTEC Turbo!

Look after the jump for a full gallery of the ZDX.

Click here to read the rest of Acura ZDX: a Japanese take on the BMW X6