At a breakfast meeting with MINI USA VP Jim McDowell this morning he was asked to elaborate on recently announced plans for a battery powered MINI. McDowell acknowledged that the US branch was caught somewhat by surprise with the announcement. Plans have not been finalized at this point as to whether the cars will be leased or sold, or how many will be built. What McDowell did say for certain is that electric MINIs will be on the road in the hands of regular customers in the summer of 2009, one year from now. He could not say if all those customers would be in California or if they would be made available nationwide. No specifications such as range are available at this time either.

Update: After the presentation, we talked to McDowell for a few more minutes and although he couldn't say what type of battery will be in the cars, he did say that MINI will make a further announcement later this year, possibly around the time of the Los Angeles Auto Show.

via autobloggreen 

BMW’s 3 Series gets a diesel powertrain and a number of detailed midlife changes in an attempt to increase its visual boldness, provide it with the latest in entertainment and communication technology, improve its environmental credentials and further enhance its reputation as being the most dynamically adept car in the toughly fought junior-luxury-car class.

The new sedan and wagon models, due to go on sale across North America in October following the 3 Series’ world premiere at the Paris motor show, are distinguished from today’s 3 Series by fresh front and rear styling that picks up on the themes established on BMW’s recently unveiled fifth-generation 7 Series. The common styling is seen as proof that the German carmaker has abandoned plans to give each model a distinctive appearance and is instead getting back to a more stylistically harmonized lineup.

Up front, the facelifted 3 Series receives a series of styling changes that BMW design boss Adrian van Hooydonk says are aimed at emphasizing its width, including a heavily profiled bumper, newly contoured hood and reworked headlamps with altered graphics.

Farther back are new exterior mirror housings and changes to the design of the doorsills. At the rear, the BMW design team has provided the 3 Series with altered taillights. The fender taillight sections retain the same shape, but are joined by a newly developed section on the trunk lid of the sedan. At the same time, the taillights have been given redesigned lenses and more striking graphics. Further enhancing the widened look at the rear is reworked bumper and rear track that on upper-end models has been extended by nearly an inch.

BMW has also brought detailed improvements to the interior of the 3 Series, including new trim combinations, a revised armrest for the driver’s door that makes the electric window controls more accessible and an updated iDrive controller that gets four selection buttons in a move aimed at reducing the complexity of its operation. The iDrive controller is also linked to a new high-resolution, 8.8-inch color monitor. Among the long list of options is an 80-gigabyte hard disc used to store satellite navigation software and MP3 music files.

Powertrains include two carryovers: the 328i with a 3.0-liter, 230-hp inline-six and the 335i with a 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged, 300-hp inline-six.

New to the lineup, arriving in showrooms in November, is the 335d, with a 3.0-liter twin-turbo, 265-hp, inline-six diesel, which uses a urea-injection system to meet U.S. emissions standards. The diesel will be offered only in the sedan.

Transmissions include a standard six-speed manual and an optional six-speed automatic. The diesel comes with the automatic as its only transmission.

via autoweek

It has been officially confirmed this morning for those in Australia on the 335i coupe with September production for 2009 model year. While we do not have confirmation for the US as of yet we hope to see a release on it soon (though we do not anticipate it). It will eventually happen as our sources have indicated, we are just feeling the US may take some time to make official announcements for this coming fall.

The Australian guide can be seen here

EDIT: For more information on the premise of the BMW DCT system as currently in the //M models you can find the March press release here which covers the system exhaustively.

The 3 series will have essentially the same transmission but with changes in the software as compared to the //M system.

BMW Australia via E90Post.com

BMWAG

via bimmerfile 

Hill climb races are extreme events that require extreme machinery - check out this video of the famous Billings event if you need any confirmation on exactly how crazy these guys are. And while BMW is hardly known for its extreme bikes, they’ve put together a ripper of a factory bike for this year’s international events.

The bike is powered by the engine from an F800, in a custom frame with an extended swingarm, dirtbike ergonomics, and a paddle-style rear tyre. The front wheel is driven from the countershaft sprocket, and it’s unclear exactly how this is managed.The bike saw its first taste of competition at the recent Obersaxen round of the European Hillclimb Championships in Switzerland, attacking the famous Karitscha Hill. The course is only 235 metres long, but in this distance it climbs a massive 115 metres, and has sections so steep it would be extremely difficult on your hands and knees, let alone on a 100+ horsepower motorcycle.

Champion enduro rider, legendary stuntman and all-around nice guy Chris Pfeiffer was due to give the 2WD F800 its first outing - he’s taken HP2 Enduros to the podium at this event before - but injured himself in a backflip attempt, leaving the bike’s creator Silvio Scholzel to compete against Europe’s best climbers.

The bike acquitted itself very well, finishing 4th in its first outing. “It’s a very nice bike,” said Scholzel, “much lighter than I anticipated it would be – and it has a lot of power, which is one of the most important attributes a bike can have in hillclimbing. But most importantly, it covers up any little rider errors from me!”

BMW say they have no plans to take the 2WD bike towards production, but with Yamaha already a fair way down the track with their 2-trac 2WD, and other interesting aftermarket 2WD kits like this very effective unit from Christini popping up and apparently proving extremely effective on loose ground, theres still hope that the offroad market might undergo the same AWD revolution that’s happened in the car world.

via thebikergene 

Ready to have your gray matter softly stroked? Perhaps you should take a trip to BMW's recently opened museum in Munich, where a kinetic sculpture comprising 714 metallic balls suspended in air will soothe your weary mind. It's one of those things that's better seen than described, but if you can imagine a wave of undulating orbs that appear to weightlessly float, you'll start to get the idea. Can't afford the flight? Check out the video -- which features some serious easy listening jams -- after the break and see the installation in action.

via engadget 

The next generation of the BMW 5-Series will sport an advanced version of the iDrive system and more cues to bring its interior closer to those found in Audis.

TheCarConnection.com's spy photographer ring has nabbed these new photos of the next BMW 5-Series, including the first interior photos. The cabin shot shows a relocated iDrive controller with satellite buttons, which may provide shortcuts like the buttons that surround Audi's MMI controller. A joystick-style shifter is also found inside, as is a button for an electronic parking brake.

The new 5-Series also has a redesigned cockpit; the steering wheel has roller-type controls again like those in Audis. On the equipment list: keyless start/stop, an active suspension, a night-vision system, a head-up display, and a navigation system with a larger display.

The body styles for the new BMW 5-Series will include a Sedan, a Touring wagon, and a fastback version along the lines of the new X6. All-wheel drive will be offered across the lineup. A debut at the 2009 Frankfurt auto show might be in the cards for the new 5-Series, which likely will make it to the

via blogs.thecarconnection 

The euphoria currently surrounding the fifth generation new 2009 BMW 7 Series will go unchecked for a while to come, at least until the car is launched. In the UK this will be 15th November 2008. Still a while off, but if you cannot wait, read on.
7 Series as the epitome of BMW excellence, is meant to be the height of dynamic driving tool mashed with comfort levels associated with this competitive segment, as well as environment-friendly propositions. With all this in mind, BMW has created the 730D, which with its new engine, aims to overthrow any and every other rival of this level. The 3.0-litre turbo diesel has shed 5kg compared to its predecessor, thanks to all-aluminium construction. Yet it produces class-leading figures of 245 hp/180kW and 540Nm of torque, spread from 1,750 rpm to 3,000rpm. The 730D spits 192 g/km of CO2 , sprints to 62mph from naught in 7.2 seconds and tops off at 153 mph.

More stunning are figures delivered by the 740i/L and 750i/L. The former misleadingly uses the multi-award-winning 3.0-litre straight six engine (mated to a standard 6-speed automatic gearbox) famous for its two turbos to crank out 326 hp/ 240kW and a stump-pulling 450Nm. For the current range-topper (we are still a while away from 760i and at least a year and half away from the M7) the 750i/L, down was the way to go, from 4.8 to 4.4-litre V8. But this time again, two turbos assist in conjuring 407hp/ 300kW and a boat-hauling 600Nm in torque. Unlike the previous car with its gear stalk located behind the steering wheel, the use of X5/ X6/ 5 Series centrally-located gearlever ensures driver will be able to change gears too in semi-auto mode.

To help harness all this potency is Drive Dynamic Control, a system that lets the driver customize his/ her preferred suspension and other settings relating to driving style and comfort levels. A host of other technological marvels will accompany each new 7 Series, depending on options taken. For instance, the lane departure will be available as well as Integral Active Steering which allows the rear wheels to turn by up to 3 degrees for optimum parking ability and other advantages. iDrive has been simplified even further than what we saw in the facelift version of the car and features a ‘return’ function to take you back one step if you wish. Graphically it is advanced as well, and offers 3D visualisation. Just as one or four others in the market today, the 7 Series offers an internal 8G hard drive that can store up to 100 CDs – I guess depending on whether you have Jim Reeves or speeches by Margaret Thatcher in them – and can be accessed easily through iDrive.

Because I don’t have the whole Internet to explain the new BMW 7 Series I’ll stop here. But before I go, check out the video presentation of the car and enjoy motionally what it can do.

via worldcarfans