Official Release: The BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team M3s return to Florida for Round Two of the 2009 American Le Mans Series at this weekend’s Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg for the first of two consecutive street races.
Following the retirement of both cars at the season-opening 12 Hours of Sebring, the team has spent long hours during the ten days between events diagnosing the problems that struck both cars, and implementing modifications.
Official Release: This year BMW Group Classic marks a number of anniversaries at Techno Classica in Essen, Germany. BMW celebrates 80 years of automobile production and the new BMW Z4 enjoys the distinguished company of the BMW Z1, Z3 and Z8 Roadsters. In addition, the BMW 700 looks back 50 years to the time when it set the company back on track. The MINI brand, meanwhile, surveys a somewhat different history: it was also 50 years ago that this small British car won over the hearts of motorists and rapidly emerged as a cult car. As ever, visitors will find all these models in Hall 12.
Official Release: 38-year-old Marc Girard from France is to take up the post as head of the Interior Design department at BMW Automobiles commencing 1 April 2009. Marc Girard has worked as a designer for the BMW Group for 15 years now. His most recent position was as team leader at Interior Design BMW Automobiles. From 2004 to 2006 he was head of Interior Design for the MINI brand and responsible, inter alia, for the interior styling of the MINI Clubman. Marc Girard names enthusiasm as the most important incentive for his creative work: “Interior design offers customers control, protection and a feeling of security. I am pleased to be able to assume this responsibility and to create this crucial interface within the development process together with the entire BMW Interior Design team.”
We here at BimmerFile have been fans of the 1 Series since its launch. It is one of the few cars that out of the box is ready for some time at the track and will not completely melt a giant hole in your wallet. That is not to say it is perfect; like most cars designed for the masses there are little things that could be tweaked to make the car even better and of course increase its sporting intentions. Some of those tweaks would discourage most buyers but not us enthusiasts.
We are not the only ones looking for a bit more performance and sport out of the current array of BMW models; the BMW Performance Parts division is right there with us in the quest for the true “Ultimate Driving Machine”.
I recently had the privilege of spending some seat time with Stephen Zoepf, Accessory Development Manager for BMW Performance Parts, and Matthew Russell of BMW Product and Technology Communications in a fully equipped BMW Performance 135i. Outside of being employees of the weiss mit blau they are true enthusiasts and you are likely to catch them out on a track somewhere in an E30 ///M3 or even 328i sport wagon in quest for the perfect line.
Over the course of the week we will be posting our exclusive candid interview about BMW Performance and some other ground breaking things BMW has in store for us in the not so distant future, but for now we will put our focus on the BMW Performance 135i.
How do you make a great car even better? Find its weaknesses and attack them from different angles. That is what BMW Performance has done to this 1 Series.
As many of you know I sold my 2007 MCS (with every JCW accessory imaginable) a few months ago. There were lots of reasons I won’t go into here but I will say one of the over-riding factors was that I simply needed something a little larger and unfortunately a Clubman wouldn’t quite do.
So I was resigned to the fact that I would probably be MINI-less for at least a couple years with this move. But I still wanted to make the most of it and get something a truly enjoyed driving everyday. There were a few choices I immediately considered. While I could comfortably afford more than my previous MINI, I wanted to aim quite a bit lower due to new priorities. So with that decided, I zeroed in on a price range that was from $20,000 to $25,000. And besides, there’s something I’ve always found a bit charming in the search a great used car. So the idea was set, I’d find something interesting with four doors that would allow me to get something even more interesting and smaller (and presumably more fun).
The Search
So let’s see. Four doors, fun, relatively efficient and rare or at least interesting. There are several brands out there that I could consider. The new MazdaSpeed 3 fit within this category but it’s too small and not really what I’m looking for. And the size factor rules out things like four door GTI’s (not to mention the quality factor) and other like-sized hatches.
In the end there was only one brand that made sense. It’s the one that I’ve owned and driven for years; BMW. A lot of MF readers might not know this but my 2002 MC was my first front-wheel drive car. In fact it was only the second non-BMW I’ve ever owned. So stepping into a BMW just felt right. Now the hard part, which one.
BMW USA has priced the 2009 Z4 and we have the official PDF. The big news: The Z4 sDrive30i (yes we hate the name) comes in at $46,575. The top of the line Z4 sDrive35i is now more than last year’s M Coupe at $52,475.
The most notable option is the new double clutch transmission (available only on the sDrive35i is $1525 and is the only automatic option on that model.
You can read all the details in the official PDF below.
What once was rumor is now fact. Or so the rumors go.
Ok that aside it would seem that BMW has committed to building the Z2 roadster and coupe based off of the next generation 1 Series architecture. The car will feature all the technology you’d expect in a small sports car for the future. Turbo four cylinder engines will dominate (potentially a version of the MINI JCW 1.6L currently offered) but hybrid and full electric power will be offered according to the German magazine Auto Bilde. This technology will come directly from BMW’s much publicized Project i initiative that is currently manifested in the MINI E but will also surface in BMW and MINI’s new city cars. In fact think of the Z2 as the flagship for BMW’s Project i and its Effecient Dynamics.
The Z2 will also feature a lightweight construction that goes far beyond a piece of carbon fiber here and there. Reportedly the target weight for the roadster is a scant 2200lbs. In all it’ll be quite a statement and in some ways a return to BMW’s roots.
We recently had the opportunity to take a quick spin in the new F01 750i. A quick call to the local dealer revealed the new 7’s were in and freshly prepped that day. That’s all I needed, I grabbed a camera, my coat and headed for the door.
BimmerFile is dedicated to bringing you the most interesting news, links and reviews related to the BMW brand and it's vehicles.
We believe in the old school BMW ownership experience. We believe in garage nights with a six pack and some friends. We believe in 2002s, in E30 M3s and E34 540s with the 6 speed. We believe in progress in both design and engineering but we haven't lost sight of what made the brand and its products great all those years ago. And yes, we believe in the manual transmission.
We long for the days of the wave and for the days of roll-up windows. Yet we love the gadgets on the inside and the xenons on the outside.
In short, we can't get enough of BMWs. This is BimmerFile.
Sections: Motorsport, Official News Mar 31st, 2009 2 Comments 
