Archive for August 2011
Aug 31st, 2011
BMW has been testing automated driving vehicles for some time. A few weeks ago we even got a test “ride” in an automated 3 Series around Laguna Seca. To call the experience bizarre would be an understatement. Now they are taking to the streets and testing in real world applications.
Official Release: Motorway A9 from Munich to Nuremberg – and as usual – there is a high volume of traffic. But despite the stress of the situation, the driver sits calm and relaxed behind the wheel. Why? Because the car is highly automated, i.e. it brakes, accelerates and passes other vehicles on its own, while also monitoring and adapting to the prevailing traffic conditions. And the second reason why? Because Dr. Nico Kämpchen, Project Manager of Highly Automated Driving at BMW Group Research and Technology, has already completed nearly 5,000 test kilometres with his team. In order to offer drivers comfortable and safe vehicles in the future, equipped with the most modern assistance systems available, the engineers at BMW Group Research and Technology have been working for many years on the development of electronic co-pilots to support automated driving in specific situations – for example the BMW TrackTrainer tested on the race track, as well as adaptive cruise control (ACC) and the Emergency Stop Assistant. To further understand the potential offered by these systems, as well as their limitations, researchers are ready to take their next major step: developing advanced driver assistance systems for the motorway.
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Aug 30th, 2011
When BMWi revealed the i3 and i8 Concept cars last month in Frankfurt they introduced the world to the future of production automobiles. In a way paralleling a future that was proposed by American brands to come many decades sooner than now. During the 1950s and 1960s concept cars were used to drive interest to individual brands and pique the interest of consumers that were intrigued by all the advances in technology- space travel, and atomic energy rather than to tout a specific model. Flying cars, atomic cars, electric cars and lightweight cars made out of inexpensive aluminum with large glass domes were all the rage.
The promise of the Detroit brands was that by the 1980s Americans would be taking their seats in self propelled (coincidently the i3 will be able to drive itself in traffic!) or flying cars that were fast, luxurious, efficient and required little maintenance. The style of these concepts was straight out of the eras designer’s dreamed up future; one we should be living in now if progress was how these visionaries intended, the Jetson’s era should be upon us.
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Aug 30th, 2011
Official Release: Even the most efficient internal combustion engine can only convert about one-third of the energy derived from fossil fuels into the mechanical kinetic energy needed to power a motor vehicle. Over the past few years BMW EfficientDynamics has made great improvements in engine efficiency, for example with technologies such as direct fuel injection, variable valve timing, exhaust-driven turbochargers, brake energy regeneration and the Auto Start Stop function. However, about 60 percent of the generated energy is still lost, half of it being exhaust heat, with the remaining half as heat absorbed by the engine cooling system. Finding ways of recovering this lost heat energy is one of the major goals being pursued by engineers working on BMW EfficientDynamics for the future. That is why the BMW Group is involved in several projects, each with different approaches to utilising dissipated heat energy, and at various levels – in research, pre-production and series development. Among the most promising innovations are the turbosteamer, thermoelectric generator, engine encapsulation and a waste heat exchanger for oil heating.
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Aug 28th, 2011
The wait has stretched for years. And now it’s over. Last Monday, with an impromptu crowd of customer and employees looking on, I drove my 1M out of the dealer showroom.
Last week we published our full review of the 1 Series M Coupe. And as you likely remember, we loved it. Now it’s time for us to walk the talk a bit and actually live with one. And that starts with paperwork and something called a break-in period.
After being on the waiting list for many years it was almost anti-climatic as I signed the paperwork and took procession of the keys fobs. That said there’s something entirely satisfying about buying a new car and the 1M is obviously no exception. (Full gallery after the break)
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Aug 28th, 2011
Once each year, 200 pieces of rolling art roll onto the 18th green at Pebble Beach golf course. And every year we see distance images of perfect classic cars being presented by (normally) wealthy car enthusiasts in hopes of winning it all. But what about all the work and build-up to the moment?
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Aug 26th, 2011
Official Release: BMW of North America today announced the naming of MDC Partners’ Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + partners (kbs+p) of New York City as its lead agency for national brand creative and regional and dealer creative work in the U.S.
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Aug 26th, 2011
Over the past year we’ve brought you many different rumors on the 1M. But over time each of those rumors have either been confirmed (manual only) or officially dispelled. In last week’s BimmerCast we had a chance to speak with Brian Watts – the man in charge of the M Divisions Sales and Marketing worldwide. As you may have heard in the BimmerCast, we asked Mr. Watts point blank about two of the most persistent rumors over the past six months:
- Will there be a 2012 model year?
- Will M create a special version of the 1M?
They’re rumors we’ve labelled on our own as highly unlikely but we wanted to hear from the man himself.
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Aug 26th, 2011
It comes no surprise to us here at BimmerFile that the F25 X3 recently scored 5 Stars in the difficult Euro NCAP crash testing. BMW has made a commitment to safety and building vehicles that in the event of an accident have the ability to protect the occupants at an industry best.
There are some differences between the Euro NCAP test and the tests used in the US; in Europe pedestrian safety as well as the safety of child occupants is considered as significance in the testing.
Full release and detailed PDF after the break.
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