The driving culture is something that I have been involved in since I can remember, it is part of who I am. I spent much of my youth driving ATVs on frozen lakes, dirt tracks and road shotgun in race cars. That taught me a lot about slip angle, vehicle dynamics and control before I even had a license. These days I prefer a car or a kart but regardless I enjoy honing my craft. The best way I have found to do that outside of track time is in the ice and snow.

If you want to be thrown in the deep end of learning how to handle a car with no traction venture out into a remote location and get to it. Bring a friend to watch from a distance and turn the nannies off. I am never one to condone recklessness, speeding or driving outside of one’s ability level. To me driving slow in a parking lot that is vacant, a cul-de-sac (sorry to all of our French readers for using that term) or in my case a vacant circle around a fountain and some adjacent streets, can provide a safe means of getting acquainted with vehicle dynamics. It is amazing what one can learn to do when friction is limited on cold tires at 5-10 mph (safe speed that should cause no damage to bumpers minus paint).

Tonight was one of those nights that I just wanted to get at it. Germany has been brutally cold of late but we have not had snow (3″ all winter). Tonight it was in the single digits with a nice covering of packed snow on the cobble stones. That surface combination is better than any wet polished concrete slab a driving school can throw out there. It was a blast even though I was going slow. An hour or so later I am back in from the cold (of course the windows needed to be down to aid in vision) and I’m happy to say that unlike on the skid pad there is no tire wear in the winter (another plus). It took a few minutes to shake off the rust but the instincts are still there and hopefully nature will cooperate and I can get back out sooner than later.

I know this post is worthless without video but it is difficult to video in low light in snow with what I am working with.

I hopefully sparked some interest in keeping things safe and learning a bit more about car control…

Usually when I sit down to write an opinion piece I write it six or seven times. Yes, I am a bit nuts (as regulars here can surely attest) but I try my best to be as honest as possible and to not napalm everything. This time this is a first draft stream of thought and it will be as raw as I can get without needing the bleep half of it out.

A person in the business, BMW’s of course, recently told me that I am often a bit negative and I should try to be a more positive when it comes to what BMW has to currently offer. Here comes my candor, I am not some guy stuck in the past that doesn’t embrace technology or progress. I am not bemoaning the demise of the Weber carb and the eight track or the fact the dealer or someone with a specialized computer needs to wrench on my car. What is annoying me at this moment is the softening of BMW at its core and the establishment of BMW Performance and M as the only way to get back what was just there a few years ago, namely handling, feel and sound.

I am an M guy through and through, I love the concept of BMW Performance as an alternative to the aftermarket and the reintroduction of IS models. That said, it seems to me that the marketing folks over in Munich have devised a master plan to wring every last cent out of us BWM nuts OR society as a whole has become softer and thus BMW had to follow the lead to line the coffers a bit more. I am not sure what to believe in my mind but my heart would break if it was the former. Don’t get me wrong here, BMW is an independent company and needs to make some coin so they don’t end up like SAAB but at what cost?

BMW is definitely offering up some fantastic product now, cutting edge navigation systems, the ability to use apps is coming along and the cars drive sensationally compared to the other luxury competitors and I can’t knock that. That last bit, “luxury competitors”, went there and had to. BMW has always been about shear driving pleasure and that is not what I feel when I get behind the wheel of today’s cars in the default “COMFORT” mode. Today’s cars are the “F” codes (check out our handy “cheat sheet”), in some models like the 7 the default to “comfort” setup makes sense but in a car like the new 1er hatch and the soon to launch new 3 Series it just bothers me.

You’d think BMW has gone soft, the throttle response is Passat like, the suspension is just as comfy cozy and the steering is utilitarian Toyota UNTIL you depress that little rocker switch and select SPORT. Once pressed the car morphs into what it should have been from pressing the damn start button! Will BMW Performance come up with a software flash to make the car default to Sport, they better as pushing that button 20 times a day (yeah I get in and out of my car a lot) is getting annoying. Sometimes I forget to push it, and I get mad about half a mile down the road at the Lexus I feel like I am sitting in then push the rocker and let out a sigh of relief.The system is great in other regards but I doubt most people will even get that the car has different personalities or like me hate the need to always use that switch.

They have their market research and I am sure it says that the average buyer felt the cars were too hard to steer and they made too much engine noise, blah blah blah. Then the light goes on in those marketing folks heads’- Those that want what was the typical BMW product of yesteryear will then up buy to M, IS or modify their cars with BMW Performance parts, there isn’t many of those types of people but at least we are giving THEM the option or they can just deal with always putting the car in Sport mode.

I am one of THEM, and yes I have an M although currently that is not my daily driver as it is a continent away but at the same time I don’t always see myself paying the premium to get that M car. Priorities change but at my core I am a driving enthusiast. Having grown up building competition motors with my dad and building cars from the ground up the way we wanted them has jaded me a bit. I laugh at times when people think the shifter throw in the E9X M3 is short and adds performance, please. I’ve had lightly optioned base model sports packaged equipped cars with some light modification several times now but that seems like an after thought these days because those cars I currently couldn’t buy. A car that will see it’s share of HPDE days needs grippy seats and leather without side bolsters just isn’t going to cut it. So if I was in the market for a F30 3 Series sedan I would be out of luck because of the packaging dictated by BMWNA (luckily in Germany there are less restrictions on that).

I can’t blame BMW, I am the minority as are most of you. They need to do what the market dictates in order to make cars like the 1M or the new M5 which really matter to us. If that M5 was being sold right now it would’ve been my car of the year over the 1M. Blasphemy I know, but what they achieved with that car is nothing but astounding and fits the needs of that client to a “t”. Sure, Gabe and I would have had some dialog on that and the 1M would have come out on top as it truly is a rare bird amongst the current state of BMW offerings but the M5 would have made a compelling argument for itself. Is BMW still building the Ultimate Driving Machine? Yes, it is just not that way from the press of the start button.

Rant over. I am sure when model year 2013 comes to the new F30 3er (We anticipate that to occur in July with the M Sport launch) it will be offered up a bit differently as far as packaging goes so my complaints may be short lived in some regard.

Prost!

I need room. Two kids under three means at least one of my cars has to now be able to do some serious family hauling every so often. So my wonderful 2004 330i ZHP has to go. But the problem is, what to replace it with?

Given my need for performance, a hint of efficiency and the desire to feel like I’m driving a sports sedan, the only choice is to go with a wagon.

Since BMWNA axed the 5 Series wagon anyone looking for utility within the BMW range was either forced in the 3 Series wagon or up into the SAV range. The problem is that there are many people that don’t want a crossover and need something a bit larger than the current 3er wagon. And with the larger F31 3 Series wagon at least a year off, the only choice is either a used 5 series wagon or to look at other brands.

The latter is not an option for me. So that leaves an exhaustive search across the country for a decent wagon. Naturally it has to be a 535ix right? 300 hp is hard to argue with (as long as all N54 issues were either dealt with by the owner or BMW. But the big problem in this is the search. Finding a 5er wagon with the combination of the navigation and the sport package has been almost impossible. And trying to find it all with a manual is almost impossible. So I’ve given up on the manual and just resigned myself that my next family car will be an automatic. Perhaps not the worst decision given the kind of car the 535ix is and the ki d of service it’ll be formed into.

Then there are the myriad of options and color choices that give the whole thing a very wild card feel. But being a car guy there in lies the fun. The hunt for something interesting is what we live for. And finding something interesting in the sea of sameness that is the see wagon market should be an interesting challenge.

Look for updates over the next month as I zero in.

Side note: if you’re interested in a loaded 68,000 mile 2004 330i ZHP (aka the performance package) drop me a line via the contact link above or the comment section below. Loaded with Nav, it’s the best all around car I’ve ever owned and it deserves a good home. I’m ready to move it at a very reasonable price to make way for what is coming.

That is a crowded segment when you think about how few are in the market for a car with less function than even a sedan, but crave style enough to trump practicality. These babies are pricey too (excluding the Passat based CC). Look for the Gran Puba to come in over $70k if what we hear turns out to be fact rather than speculation. Just like the X6, how many are going to shell out the cash for what amounts to four seats (X6 now claims to seat 5, well so does the 6GC at least on paper), BMW is betting boatloads of empty nesters, silver hairs and those with cash to burn. They are probably right but I wanted to get that out there.

The only gripe I have with the car from a looks perspective without seeing it undisguised in the flesh is that there still seems to be a bit more wheel gap than there should be considering it’s sporty demeanor. It is a coupe and coupes are sporty, right?

But that aside, why do I like it? It looks great compared to what the others offer and it has more amenities and power than it’s siblings. Another plus, it will more than likely get decent EPA numbers thanks to the N55 and 8 speed auto in the 640i. Did I mention it is low slung, had four doors and a newly tuned up twin turbo V8? It does, and a dead sexy Individual option laden interior.

The lack of practicality I wrote about before- pretend I didn’t as this thing oozes practicality when compared to a comparably equipped Porsche 911, heck it has four doors and the rear seats fit full sized humans in comfort and style. How does one sit in the middle- that’s a provocative situation isn’t it?

The other huge plus, xDrive is coming in the 650 at a later date- what that means is people in the North East US will get to see more BMWs driving in the snow on summer performance tires, always entertaining but extremely dangerous and not recommended. It’s a coupe so it needs performance tires, but people need xDrive in case the weather is bad or did I miss something?

All kidding aside, BMW nailed the design and concept of this thing. M is said to be making tweaks for its own version set to be the top of the totem pole of current BMWs, taking that position away from the M5/M6 duo.

In closing, the previous generation 6er was my arch nemesis, it was the BMW that didn’t drive or act like a BMW. I never had a good thing to say about it (and still can’t find one other than it exited early), with the current crop of sixes that has taken a complete 180. I am sure once I get behind the wheel of the 6GC it will cement my admiration.

I’ve known about this comparo for a few weeks now and have had some time to let it gel in my brain a bit. I learned of these results at a recent event where one of Motor Trend’s regulars was in attendance (great guy). This nameless individual was discussing how both Pobst and Bell came away unhappy with the 1M on the track. He continued on that they BOTH said the brakes in the 1M were horrible and how they warped the rotors. They also BOTH said the car was understeering enormously and wouldn’t turn in. Me being me, I called this out as this differed significantly from my experiences, I tend to express my take on things and opinion quite often (for better or worse).

As I talked with this individual it became very very obvious to me that I couldn’t honestly look at this comparison as something I would put much weight behind in any way. From the description I was presented, in my opinion they didn’t warp the rotors, they glazed them with burned/melted stock pads which happens when you are brake happy. The brakes in the 1M are one of it’s best traits in my opinion, but if tracking regularly you obviously should use better pads. While the 1M is not as neutral as the M3, Pobst also complained the M3 understeered which is hard to understand, it can easily be adapted to by throttle steering and then it is a fly by the seat of your pants beast. Those two points alone didn’t add up- especially the apparent issue with the brakes.

I also learned these guys were mic’d during their testing. After Pobst went through his paces the possibility Bell had heard everything already, including his debrief is a strong possibility (which another journalist in our group also called foul on). It is just tough to digest two people getting into a car and coming away with the same exact view if the vast majority of auto journalists came away with a completely different view. Check out Tiff’s review over at 5th Gear for one and what the vast majority in the industry feel is accurate (below). Bell also seemed to be in the position of getting, for lack of a better term, sloppy seconds. Pobst pushed these cars quite hard out on the track and after he was done with his take it was Bell’s turn- not a great spot to be in when you are getting what’s left in a car and tough to make an accurate review on.

I recently learned a few interesting factoids about Motor Trend in General. These guys are paid by Motor Trend to come in under testing comparisons only and they are prepped on the cars by staff members in cars prepared by staff members, what happens to them prior is the driver’s guess. Motor Trend relies heavily on advertisers to support their enterprise (as do most auto entities including us here) and you will now learn that BMW does not currently advertise in Motor Trend, while many others in the shootout that did well do. Does that impact reviews and comparisons? We have no idea but we’d hope not, so let’s just say it plays no role but the fact that BMW is not an advertiser is still a fact that needs to be out there.

There is some history with BMW not doing as well as others in these sort of comparisons. The most recent time BMW didn’t do as well as they could have was not that long ago. If you look back at the August issue where the X5M lost out to the Cayenne Turbo you’ll see that the performance was similar but the X5M is $28K cheaper. Seems like a better pick to me as with $28K you could buy a boat load of other stuff (E46 Race car?) and still have a beast of vehicle that performs just as well as the Porsche equivalent. What was the reason for this- exhaust note?

I may be wrong, but to me some things are just not adding up. I am not trying to be a BMW apologist or defame these guys or the magazine at all, that’s not my point. In fact I’d go so as to say they’re great in their own right as drivers and I read the magazine regularly. The issue I really had was that I am not in agreement when it comes to their general views with the car, who wins and loses I couldn’t care less about. I don’t understand what is going on with this comparison and I have a personal issue with knowing my view differs on a car so significantly when compared to the big names in the industry.

I’ve driven the 1M a fair amount and I can’t seem to put my finger on what may have happened to get such differing views. Like in my other profession I take pride in what I do. I need to be sure I am as accurate as possible and that I am doing things the best I can. Sometimes things like this happen and I do some investigating to make sure I was not in the wrong (learning should never stop). I’m not so sure what happened here, but one thing I do know is that we at BimmerFile do not agree with their take on the 1M and stand by our original take on the car. What your opinion on the Motor Trend article is and what to take from it is entirely up to you.

It has been nearly a week since BMW took the wraps off the all new 3 Series sedan. I’ve read complaints ranging from the exterior is bland to the interior is too busy. I have yet to be confronted with the issue that iDrive will be standard. Where are all those that gap their own spark plugs and rock out to 8 tracks? Seriously, less than 5 years ago I recall many complaining about how BMW will be ruined if they make iDrive standard as nobody wants that screen and system in their car, a car is for driving and all those electronics are just distracting.

Looks like those detractors were wrong, and I for one am glad that iDrive is standard. Sure it adds complexity to the car, and additional cost but the fact is we live in a society that is more connected and demanding connectivity than even a few years ago. Is it necessary to have a large screen in the car? No probably not, but the easier to use interface with limited options means that driver who is going to make a call is not trying to fiddle with things on a phone while driving.

The recent BlackBerry outage produced one interesting fact to me. While service was disrupted the amount of minor traffic accidents (Read: Rear endings) decreased immensely; coincidence I think not. So to have standard bluetooth and a larger screen is a huge benefit, it also makes accessing infotainment easier. The easier and less distracting the better.

I’d love to see more connectivity options as standard- make BMW Apps included, this would decrease the need for some people to post to Facebook while driving. They are going to do it so why not make it safer/easier than using a phone? I may be in the minority here but I am all for technology as long as the technology doesn’t impede on my ability to drive how I want to.

The screen really looks at hone on the dash now, I can’t picture a car without it.

Before we dig in and let our views on this highly controversial subject fly we need to take a trip in the not-so way back machine. The year is 2009, and we are at Road Atlanta for the X6 ///M launch. The inter webs were full of hate towards this vehicle for taking ///M to turbo charging, SAVs and all wheel drive. These were a lot of things a lot of people wanted to hate but they also didn’t want to learn or look deeper into what M was doing with this and the X5 for the future of performance and the brand.

Taking the X6 ///M on the track, putting it through its paces and being amazed at how well it drove at 10/10ths there was little for journalists to bemoan except the huge weight, the soundtrack that came out of the exhaust and the limited sound that entered the cabin. The X6 M introduced many of us to cylinder deactivation on shifts but that combined with the cross bank manifold and strange firing order of the S63 created less than a harmonious sound. Many including us referred to it less than affectionately as a burp or even worse, a flatuant.

So not only did an ///M have to perform on the track but it needed to be luxurious for day to day driving; quiet and smooth while also still sounding like and performing like a race car when the driver demanded it. You can now see the dilemma, how can a brand be so many things at once? The engineers spent the next few years trying to solve that while developing the most sophisticated, efficient and fastest M5 ever.

In late 2010 I recall my first aural encounter with the F10M on the ‘Ring thanks to some spy video. First thing I noticed was there were no more burps, just a deep wail and it sounded good. As time rolled on I heard more and more of the exhaust from the outside of the car. Our latest experience was at Leguna Seca where we were lucky enough to grab some video. Call me impressed, they did a great job tuning it to be a baritone in a symphony.

Having driven the 550i a good deal, I was aware that the F10 is extremely quiet on the inside, a little too quiet so I wondered how the M team would be able to get the sound into the cabin and not break any laws for sound on the outside. Then came my recent experience at Ascari with the F10M.

Sitting trackside the boom of the exhaust was great, no hiccups, burps or whatever just pure sound from a turbo V8. It sounded good, not the great staccato of the M3 but it sounded like a proper M car. There is no use of cylinder deactivation in the S63tü, the engineers use the Valvetronic system to retard things just enough to lessen the load on shifts so the drive train gets a little less monster to deal with. This helps the sound immensely. When I and a few other journalists asked to have the car put up on a lift to check out the under side (coming soon!) there were only mufflers in the rear. There were no intermediate cans and the catalytic converter is high up in the engine. That creates a smoother flowing system with less restriction but that also means there is nothing to resonate under the passenger compartment. An ideal solution good for quiet.

Driving through a tunnel or windows down, the exhaust music is good and at a good volume for most. Once the windows are up you’d be hard pressed to know you were driving a performance machine unless high in the RPM range and under load. I’d say that most enthusiasts would complain the car is too quiet in this regard and is why the engineers looked at what they could do to pipe in sound. The Indianapolis Colts of the NFL have been accused by visiting teams of piping in extra crowd noise at key points in the game, they do it to win and please their fans- M is doing something similar to please the limited group that likes car exhausts.

Sadly, there are not many people left that like the sound of an internal combustion engine, let alone one that revs high and is free breathing. I hate to say it but we are the minority. Most people are used to the Lexus/Toyota way of life, cars are appliances and they should be quiet. The fact of the matter is that this car really has no place to put another resonator or to move the cat thanks to the base 5 Series design, the buyers of these cars tend to want luxury first and performance second. But M still believes that performance comes first and they can always build in the luxury just sometimes it is more difficult.

The point of all this is, that with Active Sound Design, M has not taken the aural experience of the exhaust away. They are just piping it into the speakers so it is more audible inside more or less when the car is in “Sport” or “Sport Plus”. I have no issue with this as they are not altering anything, they are not making a car with a lousy exhaust sound better (like other brands). They are just bringing the outside in. The other alternative is to make the outside louder and that was just not an option because of EU regs as well as the car would garner more attention and that is not its purpose.

At the end of the day it sounds great and without the press release or journalists discussing it, most would never even know what was going on. It just sounds like an exhaust and the cars real exhaust note- I am a fan. I’d go as far to say that I wish they had this on the M3 so I wouldn’t need to drive with the windows down in sub-zero temps just to hear the full glory!

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.

Obviously, that never happened and things have not changed all that much as far as mobility is concerned. This time around BMW is making a promise they intend to keep rather than just pulling some marketing exercise with concept cars. BMWi is rewriting what we know about cars and how they are built. Gone is the steel, classic styling and seemingly ancient technologies. In just two short years BMWi will bring to market the first mass produced electric car featuring a Carbon Fiber passenger cell (Life Module) while using an all aluminum substructure as a base (Drive Module).

Even a few short years ago, this would have been a pipe dream; as evidenced by Chevy’s Volt and Nissan’s Leaf- future propulsion technology using old school conventional car building techniques. Thanks to some creative engineering and advances made with the help of partners, the carbon fiber BMWi will use can now be mass produced reliably and more cost effectively and change the rules of car building.

When you first look at the style of these concepts they scream futuristic but really they harken back to the days of old where designers dreamed of cars that had increased visibility for passengers and materials were space age. Much of what BMW is doing with the i3 is not that extraordinary, they are just actually following through with their plans and learning from the past. The Life and Drive modules for example are not all that different than trucks that features a cab on frame design. Housing the batteries and drive systems under the flat floor allowing the battery and drive system to not interfere with the passenger space in the i3 is a concept that has been similarly been used by Mercedes Benz for about a decade in the A-Class/B Class electric and fuel cell models (They call it “sandwich”). BMWi is taking what has been successful and expanding upon it; making it better.

Where BMWi really stands on its own is in sustainability and overall cohesion amongst systems and production. Every part, every design element has been examined to be sure it can be made sustainably, that it is as light and as reliable as possible. All of that is to be completed within a cost matrix. The dashboard is made from recycled plastics that have been combined with natural hemp fibers to increase the strength, offer texture while being sustainable and light weight. The fabrics and leathers are died naturally and do not release any volatile compounds. Much of the aluminum structure is recycled from drink cans or is produced using renewable power. The thermoplastic body panels are once again made from recycled materials or sourced from renewable resources and unlike what we in the field noted about the former Saturn brand’s panels- these won’t expand in sunlight and create unsightly panel gap or sag. BMW is also exploring the option of building a wind farm at Leipzig to make production even more environmentally friendly. No stone is being unturned when it comes to building a brand based on sustainability.

Sustainability sounds like it adds a lot of cost and complications to production and it can in some ways but it also can yield more cost effective ways of creating a product. The use of carbon fiber in the BMWi vehicles is just one way sustainability can be advantageous environmentally while also costing less to produce. By producing the carbon fiber in Moses Lake, Washington BMW and partner SGL Carbon SE are able to use zero emissions hydro electric for this electric intense operation,thus reducing greenhouse emissions which would have been created using other forms of energy. The other benefit is that hydro power is one of the most cost effective methods of producing electricity- reducing the overall cost of creating the carbon fiber.

Flying precursor from Japan to Washington State, taking the finished spools of carbon thread and moving them by cargo plane to Germany sounds like it would create a lot of emissions. BMW’s internal studies indicate that the transportation emissions are minute and a small fraction of what the same emissions would have been if the carbon fiber thread was produced in Germany- Carbon fiber being light and compact means a lot of product can fit into a cargo hold. Further reduction in the transportation emissions will be possible when the cargo carrier completes its trials of bio-Jet Fuel and gets approval to use it in real world applications, which is anticipated to occur before BMWi production begins in earnest. The extensive use of carbon fiber also means that the life module doesn’t need to use welders (high energy consumers) to be assembled.

While the final production details of the i3 (and i8) are still being ironed out as the launch is years away, one thing is for sure- BMW is not following the classic recipe for building a car. Thinking outside the box has yielded a new way of thinking about mobility and we can only hope that consumers will approve of what BMWi has to offer. The big question is whether these cars will start a movement in the market place making manufacturers build lighter, more efficient vehicles by leaving the past behind and moving forward with innovation.

What began as a bet with myself turned into one heck of a day, one of the most memorable solo days in a car not on a track in a long time. The “bet” or shall we call it a race- was if I could beat high speed rail back home after picking up an unnamed press demonstrator in Munich. Mind you I was taking the Inter City Express, or ICE for short, Germany’s version of a bullet train. According to the DB schedule and the website’s estimates my trip would be just over 90 minutes including a transfer. ViaMichelin.com estimated my time in the car on the return trip to be 10 minutes longer- hog wash!

I happened to miss the afternoon rush hour escape from Munich thanks to careful planning. This plan centered around my hopes to get on the autobahn when it was after dinner and most Bavarians would be settling down for the night at home after eating a heavy dinner. I’d like to think of my plan as a smart one and smart people tend to think alike (or so people say), so to my surprise I saw some headlights I was not familiar with in my dazzle dipped rear view. These lights were insanely bright, looked very white and LED lit, as the car closed on me I saw squared off Angel Eyes. Could this be my first real life encounter with a moving F30 3 Series?

You bet your lederhosen it was! The test engineer had the same idea of hitting the comparatively empty autobahn. Soon after seeing those headlights I had to slow from my rapid pace because there was road work ahead and we were forcibly filed into congestion. Luckily my press car (powered by an N53 DI inline six) was next to an F10 5 Series that was bred with an E90 3er with some strong E46 genes showing through so I could gawk a bit. While the F30 has grown a in size, it is not all that noticeable and the silhouette is very sporty and attractive. The more aggressive overall look is welcomed. The mule was red, with seemingly large wheels (I’d guess 19s) and a appeared to only have an exhaust out the left rear bumper. From the looks of it, it must have been a 328i with the sports pack (NOT M Sport) and the camo is coming off so more of the car can be made out.

As traffic began to break free we were side by side and as is typical on A9, where there are no limits you put that right foot through the floor. The inline six and all its direct injection glory was no match for…. a four cylinder turbo. We were side by side for a bit then the driver of the mule seemed to have nitrous button because that thing just left me in the dust- at over 200km/h. The N20 turbo four cylinder has more output than the current six (especially the 28i version the US sees) and it sure did show. The funny thing was that I was so fixed on the F30 I missed the E89 Z4 that was the wingman- also in N20 guise by the exhaust pipes. If I were to guess, there may be some software differences between the two cars and power delivery may be a bit different based on the way they took off.

The F30 was easily cruising at 150 mph when it left me in the dust, because I was stuck at the limiter and could go no more. In reality the inline six was just out of its comfort zone of free revving torquelessness. Forced induction a new design, and chassis reigned supreme- which is the way things should be. I have argued that the F30 will have little to offer as far as launching a new feature goes but there are some possibilities outside of standard fixed caliper Brembo brakes on all four corners. With most of the switch gear and interior coming from other stablemates the F30 is going to have to makes its big entrance with some new flashy software and my guess would be weather overlays within the Navigation, or maybe my eyes were just wanting to see things….

Back to that bet…. Anyone that reads this site regularly it is fairly obvious that there is no way that I’d let something with zero road feel beat me. The car won out by 7 minutes, but the real trick will be to see if I earned myself some tickets for the spots on A9 that are not limitless. Great day in car land, stay tuned for that review and some impressive news on BMWi.

Packed restaurant, large elegant wooden farmers table with a nicely fabricated German menus. Ambiance and decor are upscale Bavarian in nature and the 4.25 of us (Max does not eat all that much) are expecting an amazing meal.

The restaurant where we sat was pricey by Bavarian standards although it originated a now popular Bavarian dish. One would think the original should be the best; especially with the price they were asking but it wasn’t. I’ve had better at half the price, utterly disappointing. Of course the dinner conversation revolved around the lackluster meal and me being me found a way to get BMW into the conversation (group of car buffs). The following is the gist of the conversation.

In some ways the aforementioned restaurant is not all that different than BMW. BMW originated a recipe of rear wheel drive with performance and luxury that has been successful. Other manufacturers saw the success and imitated. The BMW recipe continues to be imitated today. When the restaurant was smaller, with a small menu it produced amazing food and could garner the high asking price with people coming back for more. Now that its size and menu have grown this once fabled eatery has turned into a place that is a one shot deal and repeat customers are few and far between, you couldn’t pay me to go back (seriously).

I am not saying BMW is in the same boat now, but they are venturing into uncharted waters. They seem dead set on selling more vehicles, offering more models and entering new segments. If they are successful at making great products, fantastic but with so many BMWs on the road how will they be able to ask a premium- supply and demand (watering down of a brand by going front wheel drive!). The biggest hurdle will whether they will successfully master so many niches because as we have seen with replacing the 5 wagon with an even more niche vehicle didn’t really work. The competition on the other hand is more focussed on BMWs core models and they want to take the top spot in terms of performance and luxury rather just volume. The competition is getting closer to the magic recipe and BMW seems set on creating a new one rather than making the original perfect.

I am not dwelling on the distant past but the more recent incarnation of BMW. In 2004, there were the 3,5,7, X5 models as staples and the 1 and X3 were just introduced. Totaling 6 models and a few variants. Fast Forward-> 2014.

There will be the following models: 1001 (FWD), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5GT, 6, 6 GC, 7, X1, X3, X5, X6, i3, i8. 16 and countless variants (14 models if you discredit the 2/4 since they are really just new badges). So in a mere ten years BMW has added more models than were even available for the better part of the brands existence. I am all for global domination but at some point you can have too much of a good thing and end up stretching too far. There really can’t be that many good engineers out there to work on all these models, can there?

///M may have approximated its roots (near perfection) with the recently launched 1M but what is going to get BMW back to its? I just hope the menu doesn’t get too full of choices and the quality falls off but sometimes the original is no longer the best especially for the premium charged. Hopefully, BMW will not follow the path of the unnamed restaurant, keeping a course that keeps us enthusiasts loyal patrons.

We have been the pondering that headlining question amongst ourselves here at BF for sometime. In the past, the 3 series has introduced new engines and technology but this go around we are a bit mystified as to what the new F30, destined to debut this coming fall as the E90 fades into oblivion, will introduce. When the E90 came to market it really used a lot of the items that the E81/2 1 Series had debuted years before- suspension, steering wheel, seats, switch gear and a whole lot more BUT it brought along with it an entirely new engine family. The N52 was and still is in many ways revolutionary- it used magnesium and aluminum to decrease its mass and to better handle thermal loads, thanks in part to an electric coolant pump. The engine increased efficiency and performance through technology over the outgoing engines and its free revving nature was positively reviewed throughout the automotive press.

Fast forward from yesteryear and rehashing the past to today- we already know that much of the F30 architecture, electronics and creature comforts will be shared between it, the newly revealed F20 1 series and recently redesigned F25 X3. What does that leave us to think about as being new and revolutionary? Not much considering the N20 twin turbo four cylinder has been revealed as coming to the US this fall in the E89 Z4 and will subsequently move to other models in the range. The N55 Twin Power inline 6 is too new to be replaced as well so we are left with no new power plants for the all new 3 series.

However, we know all too well, BMW ALWAYS introduces a new technology or something new with each model they launch and then use it in other models as time goes on. Will it be increased use of aluminum in the structure of the car, will it be increased use of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers throughout or simply will it be some new fangled software for iDrive? We are really not too sure at this point. On the other hand, there may be little in the form of groundbreaking news and the volume seller of the BMW line just gets the bits from other cars in hopes of squeezing every last bit of profit out of the model. The interwebs and sources have been overly quiet about the F30 3 Series- is it because things are so top secret and advanced few know about it or is there nothing really to talk about. The F30 will be a mini 5 series in looks with the guts of the X3 so it is anyones guess but as this fall approaches expect to see and hear more about what to expect in this next generation of the 3er.

Image: Compliments to Our Friends at Kilometer Magazine/>

Once upon a time there was a car, it was a fast car. This car went around, what is considered by many sports car aficionados the most demanding race track in the world, the fastest out of any car in its class (7:55). Is it a big deal? To some it is. No, I am not trying to rehash the lousy script from Pixar’s Cars 2 here. We are discussing the most recent car to lap the ‘Ring as the fastest sedan (unofficially mind you). That car is the all new BMW ///M5 super sedan.

Lapping the Nürburgring Nordschleife is no small feat at any decent speed as those that have tackled the course will tell you. At just shy of 13 miles and over 150 turns it is demanding to say the least (it truly is the “Green Hell”.) Only the top driver’s in racing who are familiar with the turns, changes in tarmac (concrete to asphalt), and overly harsh conditions have a chance at a “perfect” lap. That is in part why I have such a tough time digesting claims as the fastest car, or even that the lap times matter in the grand scheme of what a car represents, more specifically an ///M car. There is so much more to a lap on such a track than just the car. The driver, tires, weather and track conditions (if it hasn’t rained in a while, the track is greasy from all the build up) are just a few of the many extraneous variables that impact the overall outcome and time of a lap.

BMW has never officially come out and announced an “official” time of a production car around the ‘Ring (that I am aware of), because in reality they could care less about the actual time as a marketing element. BMW and ///M (even more so) use the ‘Ring as something to compete with- they want to build the best car they can to consistently and reliably tackle the demands of the course while at the same time make speed and handling improvements along the way. They essentially race against themselves internally.

The new ///M5 has had significant modifications made under the hood (S63Tü- technically updated) when compared to the sister engine the base S63 ///M engine found in the X5/X6 ///Ms. What is interesting is that these new tweaks did not produce all that more horsepower or torque but increased efficiency. That’s right folks, BMW ///M opted to improve efficiency rather than all out performance around a race track. If lapping a track the fastest meant so much to them, the engineers surely would have used all that newly found breathing capacity to improve top speed and torque to get around that track as fast as possible. Since the numbers stay in house and are not used for marketing (at least not yet) it is not hard to believe that the famed track in Germany is really just a tool to develop some of the best cars in the world that also happen to be some of the fastest.

On the other hand there is Cadillac. While I will give the CTS-V some serious credit as being an all around great car, they flashed around the “Ring King” title for a long while (even after the Porsche Panamera beat it). So much so that every faster time will just put the CTS-V down another peg. That is why lap times really don’t matter. Cars get faster and what was once the king is now just a pauper. In the end the ///M5 will be a more refined car, a car with more feel and a car with the ability to change roles- sedate sedan to menacing marvel at the press of a steering wheel button. It also happens to be faster than the competition. Does it get better than that? I doubt it, but I just hope that BMW and ///M continue to design cars to be the best rather than just the fastest as there is a lot more to building a great car than speed. So don’t get caught up in the lap time hype as it takes over the web even though it is easy to do.

What makes BMW special in the end is that no matter what is under the hood (be it a 16d or a 30i) the handling composure and the enjoyment of the drive will still be there even though the lap times will be in different realms. To me that is what it is all about.

We have read the tea leaves and have come to the realization that BMW’s internationally acclaimed twin turbo inline six is nearing its end of days. The N54 was slow to be received by most enthusiasts as it seemingly changed BMW’s recipe for success by passing on natural aspiration for forced induction- something BMW had only really been doing with their diesels up to the engine’s launch in 2007.

People initially complained that there would be lag, but there wasn’t anything all that noticeable. Then they moaned that turbos were unreliable, that has yet to be an issue on the grand scale. What soon came to light was that this engine over achieved its stated output and was getting great fuel economy to go along with all that power. Sure there have been hiccups, mainly the dreaded high pressure fuel pump (which BMW has issued recalls and extended warranties for). All in all the engine has been an overwhelming success and has the awards to prove it.

The N54 has also shown what the latest developments in engine technology can do for performance and efficiency. It has been key paving the way for BMW to use turbos and other sophisticated systems to get the most performance and miles per gallon out of its engines.

All cars and engines have life cycles and it is obvious to us that the N54 may have seen its last model year in production. It currently remains in only a handful of models, the mainstays being the “IS” models is BMW’s lineup. With our recent announcement of the BMW Performance Power Kit for the N55 (the serial replacement for the N54) we can see the “IS” cars and others taking on the N55. The 640i will be on US shores in the not so distant future using a tuned N55 and the X6 is destined for a Life Cycle Impulse so it is only a matter of time before BMW says the plug has been pulled on the enthusiasts favorite engine for tuning.

Progress means we need to get more from less and that is what the N55 does, so it really is time to say goodbye to the beloved N54 twin turbo inline six…. Although it will have its final hurrah in one heck of a machine- the 1M Coupe’.

We all know that over the last few weeks there has been a lot of debate on the weight and packaging with the 1M, that got me thinking about the M3 and the competition package. Currently the Competition Package features 19″ wheels, an updated Electronic Damper Control (with a slight drop) and M Dynamic Mode. It is a pretty basic package with a sub-$3k price point. We have said countless times that there is no reason to buy an M3 without the Competition Pack in its current form as it looks great, adds some handling and is not that expensive.

Let’s be honest; it is mundane and boring to call a set of wheels, suspension and software a Competition Package.

When I hear competition, I think racing. Racing equates to more aggressiveness in all aspects of driving so why not make the package more aggressive? While the sky is the limit when you dream of the “ultimate”, I am keeping it within reason from the perspective of the manufacturer (BMW) and the consumer.

I would keep the current package and add in a Titanium or Incanel (lighter than titanium) exhaust to add some more sound to an already great soundtrack and to lessen the fat (You might see this exhaust in the not so distant future). The brakes are fine on the track with some quality pads so why not include a set of higher performance pads and a few swap outs at the dealer? Even better, why not as part of the package include track use wear and tear on certain items like brake pads, rotors and wheel bearings (with a cap at 2 sets) instead of many dealers policy of not cover track wear and tear. I am not asking for more power as the car really is quick enough if you drive it the right way. Driving the right way – 1 Day M school should be included so drivers can handle the car if they are new to the track. The other key feature of the Competition Package – a short throw shift kit for those that still row their own gears – DCT drivers you’re out of luck there!

In a nutshell that is what I would see as the Ultimate Competition package of substance and not to just add Carbon Fiber and badges everywhere. What are your thought?