Archive for BMW

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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According to Autocar, BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer has confirmed in a report by German weekly newspaper Die Zeit that the boys at Munich are currently developing a new city car.

He did not mention which of its brands the new car would be sold under - we can definitely rule out Rolls Royce but there is a possibility that other than BMW or MINI, a fourth brand will be set up which could see the revival of the Isetta name as a brand. BMW also owns the rights to the Triumph name.

The new BMW city car will come with two engine offerings. One will be a conventional internal combustion engine with a small displacement to be fuel efficient but the other will be a Zero Emissions Vehicle that will use pure electric propulsion. The electric version is planned to have a range of at least 322km.

The original BMW Isetta was a rebadged (the original was a project by Iso) and redesigned car that saved BMW from financial crisis. This new city car may very well end up being a joint venture project with Fiat (sharing a platform with the upcoming Fiat Topolino?) as per the small car joint venture announcement made early July 2008. The internal combustion engine could be Fiat’s two-cylinder SGE engine.

At first glance the little hatch above may look like the Infiniti FX. It is actually BMW MINI’s third variant in its line-up of “New MINIs” and it will be an all-wheel drive type of vehicle. MINI will be previewing the upcoming MINI crossover “softroader” SUV (reportedly going to be called the “Crossman”) at the 2008 Paris Motor Show.

The MINI Crossover Concept rides on a 2606mm wheelbase (longer than the Cooper’s 2466mm and Clubman’s 2547.6mm) and has a conventional four doors with two on each side of the car. The driver’s side has no B-pillar so that particular door is of a sliding type that slides to the rear to open. The rear hatch once again opens with a split in the middle, so I suppose you could call this a 6-door hatchback?

The focus of the interior is the “MINI Centre Globe” which is installed in the place of where you’d typically expect the giant speedometer to be. The 3D sphere uses laser projection to display two different views if viewed from different positions. This allows the front passenger and front driver to view different displays from the same MINI Centre Globe.

It’s quite obvious that BMW ConnectedDrive will come to the MINI brand soon enough because the press release also indicates the ability for the front passenger to surf the web from the MINI Centre Globe display, and ease of data input is facilitated by a keyboard that can slide out from the front dashboard on the passenger side. Steering-wheel controls typically use buttons or scrollwheels but in the MINI Crossover Concept, a trackball is used.

The starter system gimmick is also integrated into the MINI Centre Globe. Instead of a keyfob, a Keyball is used. The Keyball is inserted into an opening in the upper edge of the globe. It will then roll down towards the driver along the middle of the globe. The driver can then press the Keyball to start the engine. When the engine needs to be turned off, the ball is pressed again and it will then roll down into its housing bay where it can be removed.

The MINI Crossover Concept is a four seater with four individual seats, with all four having the ability to slide forward and aft. Something called a MINI Centre Rail runs through the middle of the car from the front dash all the way to the tailgate. Cupholders, storage boxes and other items such as an external music player can be attached to the Centre Rail. Even the armrest attaches to this rail and can be removed if needed. You can also slide things along the rail, allowing someone at the rear to place a drink in a cupholder and then slide it to the front for the driver.

Look after the jump for more hi-res photos of the concept.

Click here to read the rest of MINI Crossover Concept previews upcoming softroader all-wheel drive MINI SUV