1977 Bmw 530i Base Sedan 4-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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BMW's Quandt family in hot water over Merkel campaign contributions

The mysterious and elusive Quandt family is in hot water again, nearly two years after its Nazi connections during World War II were exposed. The German family's patriarch, Herbert Quandt, nearly single-handedly saved BMW from being bought out by Daimler-Benz in 1959. Now, three living family members own nearly half of the German brand, and stand accused of buying votes with donations to the party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, mere days ahead of a European Union vote that would cap vehicle emissions.
Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union accepted three donations, one from each shareholding member of the Quandt family.
Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union accepted three donations, one from each shareholding member of the Quandt family, totaling 690,000 euros ($935,000), on October 9. The CDU, for what it's worth, claim the donations weren't related to any political decisions and that the family have been donors for years. A Quandt family spokesperson, meanwhile, said that the family had been waiting for Germany's September 22 elections to pass before making a large contribution to the CDU.

Renault Scenic EV takes first place as (European) Car of the Year

The automobile awards season may not be over, but two of the more prestigious annual races came closer to a climax this week. One might need a scorecard to keep track. We’re focused here on two events: the World Car of 2024, now reduced to three finalists in six categories. Then thereÂ’s the Car of the Year, known in some quarters as the European Car of the Year. Except that the car doesnÂ’t have to be European to win, only sold there. Got that? Winners out of the way first: At the Geneva Motor Show on Monday, the Renault Scenic E-Tech all-electric has been voted Car of the Year 2024. The Scenic is a fairly compact, somewhat stylish SUV for Europe only, and is the seventh vehicle from the French brand to win the award. It sells in the United Kingdom for about $47,500. The other six finalists that had made the first cut of voting in November were the BMW 5 Series, BYD Seal, Kia EV9, Peugeot E-3008/3008, Toyota C-HR, and Volvo EX30. The trophy winner was chosen by a jury of 59 motoring journalists from 22 countries. Scenic came in first place with 329 points. The Seal was the first Chinese-made car to make this awardÂ’s shortlist; it finished sixth out of seven, just up from the Toyota. One judge explained his decision to grant the Seal zero votes. Writing in Top Gear, Paul Horrell wrote this entertaining critique: “It looks good and is well specified, so makes a strong market entry. The advanced electric system and cobalt-free battery are commendable too, and it's enjoyable enough to drive quickly. That's undermined by an agitated ride over bumps, and the logic of screens and switches is pretty eccentric.” Recapping the World Car of the Year 2024 update, the sponsors shared the stage at Geneva on Monday with the Europeans as well, although they revealed only the top three finalists in six categories. For the ultimate prize, they are the Kia EV9, the Volvo EX30 and the BYD Seal. The winners will be announced March 27 at the New York International Auto Show. Here's more on the World Car finalists. By the Numbers Geneva Motor Show New York Auto Show BMW Kia Toyota Volvo Peugeot Renault Green Automakers Best Cars

BMW X3 spied with nip and tuck nearly complete

With the style-driven BMW X4 coming along in development, it looks like some of the forthcoming crossover's design could trickle over to its utilitarian sibling, the X3. Captured in these spy shots, it appears that the 2015 BMW X3 is preparing for a minor facelift, and from what we can tell, the biggest change will center on the CUV's headlights.
There is plenty of camouflage on the front and rear fascias to suggest updates will occur there, too, but we can definitely tell that the X3 will be getting LED-equipped headlights - at least as an option, anyway. The halos are slightly different from the current offering and there is also an LED strip above the headlights used as turn signal indicators. Another interesting thing we notice in these pictures is the nub at the bottom of the grille (also visible in recent X4 spy shots). While this could be some sort of test sensor for this prototype, it could also be a front-mounted camera for a possible parking assist system.
We don't expect any changes to the powertrain and we're not sure what updates could be in store for the interior, but we're guessing that that the 2015 X3 will debut shortly after the X4 goes on sale next year.