While we have not covered the Koni Challenge Series/SCCA SPEED World Challenge Series here at BimmerFile in great depth we thought it was worth the mention for this weekends race in NJ because 17 BMWs will be racing. The BMW models competing will include a Z4, 328i, E46 ///M3 and current generation ///M3s from race teams such as Turner Motorsports and Kinetic Motorsports. With a wide range of models and teams of BMWs composing nearly a third of the field there should be some interesting racing! The Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge and the SCCA SPEED World Challenge GT races will be held at NJ Motorsports Park in Millville.
The KONI Challenge race is scheduled to start at 3:10 p.m. ET Saturday, May 1 and will broadcast on SPEED television at 12:00 p.m. ET on May 9. The SPEED World Challenge Touring race is scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. Saturday and will be televised on SPEED on May 22 at 2:00 p.m. ET. The broadcast of the Sebring SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge races has been delayed, and will now air on SPEED Monday, May 11.
Official Release: The Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2009 has produced a brilliant winner. An Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Berlinetta Touring claimed victory in the coveted Trofeo BMW Group, awarded by the Jury to the “best of show” at the Concorso. And it was not only the Jury who were won over by the 1938 Alfa – the two prizes awarded by public referendum, the traditionrich Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este and the Trofeo BMW Group Italia, also went to the car owned by American Jon Shirley. In the Concorso d’Eleganza Design Award for concept cars and prototypes, the public voted for the Aston Martin Lagonda One – 77.
Information on future BMW models continues to slowly leak to us from all corners of the globe. While we are still a ways away from any official confirmation of any of these future models, certain things are beginning to take shape.
The recent Huckfeldt rendition of the Z2 also included an image of the BMW Project-i Megacity car. On many occasions we have been led to believe that Autobild and Huckfeldt are given information well in advance of launches (based on design concepts) to gain the feel of the general public. That is why more often than not the cars depicted in these images are so close to the eventually released products.
Official Release: In January 2009, the BAVARIA Yachtbau GmbH announced BMW Group DesignworksUSA as their new design associate and commissioned the global design consultancy and subsidiary of the BMW Group to support the Giebelstadt boat builder in the realignment of its product portfolio. DesignworksUSA operates in a multitude of industries both for the parent company’s three brands as well as for external customers. Together with BAVARIA the consultancy had presented their debut joint project, the Deep Blue 46, at the BOOT Düsseldorf. With this boat the two partners achieved a precision landing. It was recently awarded the trophy “Boat of the Year” at the Croatia Boat Show. The second collaboration of this Bavarian connection is just about to be presented to the public. In April, the Cruiser 55, the biggest BAVARIA yacht to date, will be shown for the very first time at the Saló Nàutic Internacional de Palma on Majorca.
Over the last several weeks we have been hearing interesting news in terms of what BMW is thinking about the future and future models. We all know that over 20 new models will be coming to market within the next few years but in which direction is the company moving?
Most enthusiasts are concerned about the overall increases in size and weight of BMWs in general. We have heard from several (reliable) sources this is not necessarily the direction of the future. With the possibility of new legislation being passed throughout the world to help combat pollution BMW has been investing in Efficient Dynamics to decrease emissions and make cars lighter. We have seen the first stage of the this program with stage 2 to be released shortly to the buying public in the form of hybrids.
That is not the end of the program; the team at Project-i is mandated to defy conventional thinking. And with the Vision Concept (the Z2) they will do just that in Frankfurt this September. The Z2 is not expected to hit dealers until 2013.
Today BMWNA announced the official numbers for the new ///M models. In X5 guise it will weigh in at $85,400 and for the X6 $88,900. Ordering will begin in late May for production sometime in July with deliveries this fall. We all know there will be some sort of EPA hold up as has been the case in 3 out of the last 5 years with new models so expect them at the dealers in early October. Check out the PDF for all the info.
Official Release: A child suddenly runs out into the road from between two parked cars – it’s every driver’s nightmare scenario. BMW Group Research and Technology, in collaboration with leading research institutes in Germany, has now developed a system that can take the heat out of such situations thanks to so-called Car-2-X Communication. The research project AMULETT (the German acronym for “Active mobile accident avoidance and mitigation of accident effects through cooperative data acquisition and tracking technology”) involves vehicles communicating with a radio transponder carried, for example, by a pedestrian for purposes of personal safety. Cooperative sensor systems between the car and the transponder mean that even hidden pedestrians can be recognised.
Last year around this time we featured an article on what BMW models are made where entitled “Made in Germany?” . BMWAG has graciously done this work for us this year by releasing a list of production facilities, what models are produced/assembled at each plant and the total number produced at the plant for 2008. This saved us a good deal of time and we thank them!
Worth noting in this official document is that the 5 Series GT will be in production this year as will the X6 Hybrid, but there is no mention of the new X3 or X1 which are both expected this year as well (now possibly in the Spring of 2010?). If you are questioning BMW producing cars in Asia, you will be happy to know that CKD stands for Complete Knock Down, and these are cars produced elsewhere in kit form and assembled for the specific local market in which they are assembled.
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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 Apr 29th, 2009 1 Comment 
