Brilliance Automotive, BMW’s Chinese partner has recently unveiled an all new mid-sized car but its name is not so new- the 530. The Brilliance 530 will debut in 2012 and will feature a four cylinder with a minuscule 136hp output- not competition for a real 530i. We find this idea utterly amusing, BMW’s own partner is now using the German’s naming convention…
BMW and Brilliance also recently unveiled a plugin hybrid 5 Series designed for the expansive Chinese market.
Autoexpress has driven the final production form of the 1M and loves it. The review (published in this week’s magazine) is one of the most flattering yet. It starts out with AE asking the question, “Could this be the best M car since the original E30 M3?” By the end of the review you can’t help but think it just may be. Here are a few of our favorite quotes:
Lay eyes on the newcomer for the first time, and you can’t help but be impressed. With a wide front splitter featuring aggressive air intakes, quad exhaust pipes and fat tyres covered by flared wheelarches, it has the look of a lightweight boxer – small and lean, but very muscular.
Rich Steinberg, Manager, Electric Vehicle Operations & Strategy from BMW of North America was on hand yesterday in NYC to give the press a quick look at the ActiveE. One notable point mentioned here for the first time is that the electric engine go box under the hood here is the same one that will power the i3 in two years time.
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This week’s show sees us going from energy effecient to insanely fast. We start talking about the ActiveE and the new US spec four cylinder Z4. More specifically we talk about the new Z4 28i and how it stacks up in terms of performance and effeciency to the old Z4 30i model. And then there’s the 50:50 weight distribution 1 Series based ActiveE. 168hp and 250 nM of torque. Not bad for an electric car.
Yesterday BMW rolled out the new Z4 28i to the press in NYC and gave everyone in attendance a peak into the technology behind the new N20 four cylinder powerplant. Today we bring that to you in video form.
Couldn’t make it to Auto Shanghai this year? No worries because we’re brining it to you with a recap of the MINI press conference and a quick look around the BMW display. Included is the first public look at the BMW 6 Series Coupe. Along with that this is the first official public showing of the new M5 concept. Yes The NYC show has been officially upstaged.
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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.
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