May 6th, 2012
Official Release: BMW can look back at a race weekend with plenty of victories and podiums: At the Lausitzring (DE) Bruno Spengler (CA) celebrated the first BMW victory in the DTM for 20 years in only the second race of BMW’s comeback season. It was not only the BMW DTM teams, however, that experienced a successful race this weekend. The same goes for many BMW customer teams that were on duty in various categories using a variety of models.
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Nov 23rd, 2011
The current 1.6L MINI engine wasn’t quite born out of the strange bed-fellow partnership that the previous power plant was. The Tritec came to MINI from of Chrysler (where it was engineered and designed in Detroit) via Brazil (where it was produced). It just so happened that it turned out to be a robust and characterful power plant that suited the R50 and R53 rather well.
In comparison the Prince family of engines has quite the pedigree. Designed and engineered by key members of the same team that had just finished work on the famed M54 inline six BMW engine, the Prince engines introduced MINI to a number of new technologies. BMW even enlisted the help of the then BMW F1 team and some of their engineers when it came to a few key components within the JCW version.
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Sep 14th, 2011
With BMW readying both its new 3 Series (F30) and the M3 DTM car, folks at BMW PR have decided it’s a good time to take a look back at the racing history of the model.
Official Release: Over the 5 generations since its launch, the BMW 3 Series has enjoyed a most impressive career. This applies to its market success, but also especially to its career in motorsports. During the past 35 years, the 3 Series models with their characteristic compact dimensions, dynamic engines and sporty suspension have contributed considerably towards dynamic performance and the brand’s excellent reputation on the racetrack. With such attributes, BMW’s midrange model is ideally suited for successful use in motorsports in particular. With its return in 2012 to the DTM, a top motorsport category, BMW intends to replicate its earlier successes with the BMW M3 DTM now currently under development.
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Dec 8th, 2010
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The Z4 M Coupe. Is a new one coming? We break down the rumor and talk about engines and timeframe. Then of course we turn to the 1M. Yes we’re tired of the strip tease but we’re not tired of hearing about the car. We talk about the enormous modding potential that the engine and beefy drivetrain make possible as well as the rumored 12.12.10 debut.
We then move onto BMW racing in 2011 and some changes for the driver line-up and the elimination of the WTCC factory team.
Finally we talk about the change at MINI Design with head of BMW exterior design Anders Warming replacing the much love Gert Hildebrand. What does it mean for MINI and BMW? All questions we wonder ourselves.
Nov 17th, 2010
This year’s WTCC was coming down to the wire with BMW and Chevrolet neck and neck in the last two races. As a way to improve the technology in the car BMW had made advantage of the homologated units originally brought in to allow Alex Zanardi to use hand controls for the recent Osaka round last weekend. The controls were submitted for approval and the race stewards approved them. That weekend racked up a ton of points and were poised to take the crown at the final round in Macau. And then things got interesting.
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Sep 6th, 2010
There has been some speculation that BMW was going to withdraw from the World Touring Car Championship with its re-introduction into the DTM. However this Autosport report that BMW is readying a new generation of engines for teams running BMW indicates otherwise. That means that, at least, we’ll see BMW power private teams in the WTCC for 2011. In fact with 2011 the start of the new engine specifications we’d be shocked to see BMW develop the new engine for 2011 (where the bulk of the money is spent) and not simply support the teams in 2012 and beyond when they enter DTM.
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