Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
BMW Announces Snow and Ice Training Courses, Celebrates 25 Years of AWD Models
Driving in the snow can be a lot of fun if you know what you're doing. But not everyone is an ace behind the wheel and even if they are, there's always room for improvement. Enter BMW's Winter Driving Experience event that offers special training courses all over Europe, in a variety of road conditions.
For starters there's the BMW Snow Intensive Training course in Sölden (Austria), where you can fine tune your braking and steering technique driving the new BMW X3, 5-Series and the M3, on both uphill and downhill routes.
After mastering the basics, you can switch to the BMW Snow Drift Training, also held in Sölden, where you can drift for a half a day in a 420 hp M3, yodeling all the way.
Finally, you can go to the Artic Circle and take part BMW's Ice Fascination Training, held at the famous Arjeplog (Sweden) test facility. M3s with spikes will be at your disposal as you'll try to hone your skills over specially prepared areas of ice. You will learn when to turn into a corner, how to counter-steer and stabilize a rear-wheel drive car. Or maybe not. Maybe you'll crash all day into the snow banks.
Either way, there's lots of fun to be had for four, five or six days, depending on what course you opt for and previous experience. For more information on bookings and prices, you can visit BMW's dedicated website at www.bmw-drivertraining.com.
Now, all this talk about snow and drifting brings us to the second item on our list: the 25th anniversary of all-wheel-drive, or xDrive, as BMW likes to call it.
It all started in 1985, when the Bavarian engineers fitted the E30 BMW 325iX with permanent all-wheel-drive.
Today, xDrive has an important place in the company's portfolio, as one in four BMWs sold are equipped with the AWD system .
Currently there are 45 models which benefit of the variable distribution of drive between the front and rear wheels, from the compact 3 Series all the way up to the luxurious 7 Series.
By Csaba Daradics
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BMW Gains UK Police Approval, Announces 330d Saloon Interceptor
Good news for police officers bad news for tax-payers in the UK; Hyundai (see here) is not the only maker to be approved as a key supplier for all 52 Police forces around the country by the National Policing Improvement Agency. BMW has also received the agency's blessings, which means the Bavarian firm's cars and motorcycles will become standard issue to the UK's Policemen and women as part of the four-year deal.
Crime fighters in blue will be able to get behind the wheel of cars such as BMW 330d Saloon and Touring, 530d Saloon and Touring, all variants of X1, X3 xDrive20d, X5 xDrive30d and xDrive40d, while the R1200 RF-P Police bike is also on the menu.
Aside from the latest 5 Series models, which are an all-new addition to Police fleets, BMW also announced a specially modified 330d Saloon Interceptor as its High Performance Pursuit Vehicle.
In civilian form, the 330d comes with a 3.0-liter turbocharged straight-six diesel delivering 245HP, which accelerates the sedan from 0 to 62mph [100km/h] in 6.1 seconds and on to an electronically limited top speed of 155mph [250km/h].
According to BMW, the UK Police force-spec 330d Saloon Interceptor features special upgrades but the company said it couldn't reveal full technical details of the car "for security reasons".
Tim Abbott, Managing Director of BMW UK, said: "This is excellent news for BMW and shows the breadth of appeal of the products we sell. We have a very strong commitment to the 'Authorities market' throughout the world and have a very close relationship with the UK's Police forces. Orders for BMW Police vehicles started as long ago as the mid 1970s in the UK. This latest news reaffirms our commitment to 21st Century policing."
And just so you know, the Bavarian firm said that some of the BMW police vehicles will be unmarked and perform "less visible policing roles."
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BMW Recalling 151,000 Vehicles in the U.S. to Repair Fuel Pumps
The first recall concerns certain model year BMWs equipped with twin-turbo inline six-cylinder engines, including the MY2007-2010MY 335i, MY2008–2010 135i, 535i and X6 xDrive35i Sports Activity Coupes, and MY2009 – 2010 Z4 Roadster sDrive35i. The Bavarian company said approximately 130,000 vehicles are potentially affected from this recall with about 40,000 expected to require a new high pressure fuel pump.
"Symptoms include long-crank engine starting times along with the illumination of the "Service Engine Soon" light. In certain cases, the driver may experience reduced engine performance in a Safe Mode accompanied by a tone and the illumination of the "Engine Malfunction" light," BMW said in a statement.
According to the company, the recall will entail replacement of the high-pressure fuel pump and/or a software update.
The second recall from BMW affects a total of 20,800 MY 2008 X5 Sports Activity Vehicles equipped with normally-aspirated inline six-cylinder engines to replace the low-pressure fuel pump.
BMW said that in this case, if the fuel-pump experiences a failure, "the engine will stop running and the driver will lose power assist for the steering and brakes although both the steering and the brakes remain operational."
For more information on the recall, owners of the affected models can contact BMW Customer Relations at 1-800-563-4269 or email CustomerRelations [at] bmwusa.com.
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Tuesday, October 19, 2010
EXCLUSIVE INFO: BMW X5 2007 To Be Revealed This Week!
***UPDATED SEE OFFICIAL PICS HERE: 2007 BMW X5
Last week, we saw the unveiling of the Audi S3 quattro (click here: Carscoop). Now its time for one the biggest showstoppers in the forthcoming Paris Motor Show: the 2007 BMW X5 (E70). According to my sources, Bimmer's second generation luxury SUV is going to be revealed in the middle of the upcoming week. Besides that, I learnt some very intresting facts on the all-new Bavarian SUV.
To fit the extra row of seats, the new X5 has grown in length (about 4.850 mm / 191 inches from 4.677 mm / 183.7 inches). In terms of design, as you can also see from the uncovered spy picture that has leaked in the net (via Autoblog.nl) the 2007 X5 retains most style elements of the current model as BMW decided to follow the road of evolution. All around, the X5's exterior design is more stylish than the model it replaces with softer edges blending with Bangle style flame-surface.
In regards to the engine range, the new Bavarian SUV will be presented at the Paris Motor Show with two new petrol engines, the 265 Hp 3.0 6cylinder and the 367 4.8 V8 and one diesel, the highly acclaimed 272 Hp 3.0 twin-turbo 6cylinder. The engine range is expected to grow rapidly after the car starts its career in
EXCLUSIVE: 2007 BMW X5 Official Photos & Info !
UPDATE - SEE THE PROMOTIONAL VIDEOS & READ THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE HERE: 2007 BMW X5
As reported from these pages a few days ago, BMW will reveal it's 2007 X5 model this week. But as I know a lot of you probably don't won't to sit around and wait for them, here they are: the first official pictures of Bimmer's all-new luxury SUV.
Judging from the pictures, BMW avoided "Bangling" up the X5's design which actually looks much better than the model it replaces -that's a first... Design aside, the most important thing on the E70 X5 is the fact that for the first time, BMW is offering an optional third row of seats (probably suitable for two children) which fold into the floor when not in use. With the two extra seats in their position, the X5's boot space is 200 litres (VDA) and while folded, 620 liters. If you want to fold the last two rows then you'll have a whole 1.750 liters of space to do as you please.
To fit the extra row of seats, the new X5 has grown in length and now measures 4.854 mm or 191 inches. In comparision, the previous X5 measured 4.677 mm or 183.7 inches in length. The 2007 E70 X5 is also 61 mm or 2,4 inches wider (1.933 mm or 76,1 inches) than the model it replaces.
In the interior, the 2007 BMW X5 obtains the new 5 Series dashboard which I hope will have better quality materials. The most eye-caching differences concern the double side air vents and the wider lower part of the centre console with the controversial i-Drive system. Rear passengers can get really cozy as BMW offers a DVD entertainment system equipped that come with a standard remote control -popcorn is not included.
Besides the i-Drive system, the all-new X5 also comes equipped with BMW's Active Steering, Head Up Display and a Park Assistant Radar System that includes rear view camera.
Power will be driven to all four wheels through BMW's latest generation xDrive 4wheel drive system. As for driving dynamics, BMW officials promise not only to maintain but to improve the current X5's excellent on-road manners.
UPDATED- In regards to the engine range, the new Bavarian SUV will be presented at the Paris Motor Show with two new petrol engines, the 272 Hp 3.0 6cylinder (0 to 100 km/h in 8,1 sec, top speed 225 km/h) and the 355 Hp 4.8 V8 (0 to 100 km/h in 6,5 sec, top speed 240 km/h) and one diesel, the 231 Hp 3.0 6cylinder (0 to 100 km/h in 8,3 sec, top speed 216 km/h). The engine range is expected to grow rapidly after the car starts its career in
Technorati: BMW+X5, SUV, Paris+Motor+Show, 2007, specifications, auto+news, automobile, autos, vehicles, automotive, cars
