Bmw on 2040-cars

Auto blog

First BMW i8 in US to be auctioned off at Pebble Beach

Snag yourself a BMW i8 at the upcoming Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Weekend and you won't only be the first in the US to own this model, you'll be getting a one-of-a-kind version of BMW's new gas-electric plug-in marvel. The special i8 will come with a special exterior paint color (called Frozen Grey Metallic) as well as a modified Pure Impulse Tera World interior that has "Concours d'Elegance Edition" etched in and comes with "Dalbergia Brown leather upholstery, which is tanned using dye derived from plant extracts." Tell all your treehugger friends. The 2014 BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition also has laser headlights (as long as BMW gets government approval for them in the US) and comes with the first BMW Charging Station, professional edition. The standard i8 starts at $135,700 and Gooding & Company expects the special i8 to bring in between $150,000 and $200,000 at the auction. We'll find out Saturday, August 16. As a bonus, there's no reserve. The Concours d'Elegance is not a complete stranger to electric vehicles, hosting an EV display at the Meadow Brook Concours in suburban Detroit last year. One-of-a-Kind BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition to be Auctioned During Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Weekend 25.07.2014 BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition to be sold at Pebble Beach Auctions presented by Gooding & Company with proceeds benefitting the Pebble Beach Company Foundation and the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – July 25, 2014... In celebration of the US arrival of the BMW i8, the world's most innovative sports car, a one-of-a-kind 2014 BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition will be auctioned during the weekend of the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, ahead of the official fall sale date. The i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition will be distinguished by a unique paint scheme and interior treatment as well as other features that will make it unlike any other BMW i8 in the world. The BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition will be sold by Gooding & Company, the official auction house of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, during the annual Pebble Beach Auctions at Pebble Beach on Saturday, August 16. Proceeds of the sale will go to the Pebble Beach Company Foundation and the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. The 2014 BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition will feature BMW Individual Frozen Grey Metallic exterior paint.

2014 BMW 4 Series Convertible [w/video]

Here it is, the fifth generation of BMW's 3 Series Convertible - only this one begins with a "4," having been rechristened as a droptop version of the new 4 Series Coupe. With thirty years of work on this same recipe and having gotten it so right for much of that time, the Munich compact premium convertible has been a WYSIWYG affair for decades: once you saw its sedan paradigm, you knew what it was going to look like in roofless two-door form, and what you saw is exactly what you got.
It is ridiculous to think that BMW would choose this new model and its new nomenclature to muck things up. The new car has, though, gotten larger and roomier, and even though it's now part of the racier coupe division within the company's compact line, it has gotten more, shall we say, mature. Driving even further away from the days when handsomely tipped bartenders could work their way into one, The Ultimate Tanning Machine had shed even more elan, going instead for elegance and an attitude befitting its $49,675 starting price (including $925 for destination).
It strikes a few odd notes, but what it does best, it still does better than anything else out there in its price range.

Next BMW M5 could go all-wheel drive

Franciscus van Meel had been a part of Audi AG management since 1996, in positions including chassis development and vehicle project director. In 2012 he was named managing director of Quattro GmbH - headquarters for personal favorites like the RS6 Avant and R8 - but he lasted just two years before being sent to lead an R&D division in Beijing. He returned from exile just ten months later but wearing a blue and white roundel, after being named to the top spot at BMW M. So it shouldn't be a surprise that when Auto Express asked van Meel about all-wheel drive on the next M5, he replied, "If we continue the power increases in the future... then probably the next generation M5 and M6 will have so much torque and power that we need to think about those solutions." It would make sense from a competitive standpoint, too - once the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG went 4Matic, that put the two of the three cars in the segment in the AWD column. And there's no "if" about a power increase: a recent report put next generation's output at 600 hp - that's 40 hp more than today - to power a lighter car. That report said there'd be the option of four-wheel drive, but AE takes van Meel's words as a definite sign that we'll see a more complex drive arrangement under the next M5. If so, then truth be told, van Meel is reiterating the thoughts of his predecessor from two years ago. The new M boss doesn't like the phrase "four-wheel drive," however; in clarifying those "solutions" he mentioned, he said that the car would be rear-biased to remain emotional, with the front tires kicking in to aid traction. Related Video: News Source: Auto ExpressImage Credit: BMW BMW Luxury Performance Sedan bmw m