2004 Bmw 645ci Sport Coupe 2-door 4.4l on 2040-cars

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Recharge Wrap-up: Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Finishes AXCR, Nissan Leafs drive 528 million collective miles

The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV has successfully completed the Asia Cross Country Rally 2014. The plug-in Mitsu finished first in the EV class, and 14th overall, clocking in at 19 hours, 17 minutes and 12 seconds. For its second year in the competition, the Outlander PHEV used a new suspension with more ground clearance to help it tackle the race's treacherous terrain. Besides the glory of taking on the challenging competition, the rally helped Mitsubishi gather valuable data for EV development. The race took place over 1,367 miles of varied terrain from Thailand to Cambodia. Read more at Hybrid Cars, or visit Mitsubishi UK's Facebook page. Nissan Leaf drivers have driven more than 528 million miles worldwide. That accounts for a reduction of 150,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions since the EV's 2010 launch. Nissan projects that Leaf drivers will surpass a collective 1 billion electric kilometers (621 million miles) by January 2015, or perhaps even sooner if sales keep increasing. The mileage data was collected through the car's CarWings telemetry. Read more at Green Car Congress. 40 percent of luxury cars will be powered by some form of electrification by 2030, according to Audi. Whether it's battery-electric, hybrid, or plug-in hybrid, electrons will be doing their share to get the well-heeled from place to place. According to an article at The Sydney Morning Herald, PHEVs are "the most promising option." The BMW i8 is a fine example, as is the Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid, and Audi and Mercedes-Benz have plug-in plans of their own. Lexus, not so much. Read more at The Sydney Morning Herald. PGA golfer Hunter Mahan has taken delivery of a BMW i3 he won by scoring a hole-in-one. BMW offered a free, all-electric i3 to the first player to score a hole-in-one in the 2013 BMW Championship at Conway Farms Golf Club, which Mahan did on the 17th hole. The BMW Championship raised money for Evans Scholars Foundation. BMW Hole-in-One Scholar Melyzjah Smith, who was awarded a full four-year college tuition and housing scholarship in honor of Mahan's slick shot, was on hand to meet the golfer as he received his i3. Read more in the press release below. Uber has hired President Obama's 2008 campaign manager as its senior vice president of policy and strategy. David Plouffe will help the ride-hailing app navigate government policy and relations. The Taxicab, Limousine and Paratransit Association didn't think the move was a good one.

BMW CS reinterpretation proves retro can be sexy [w/video]

Designer David Obendorfer doesn't work for BMW, but perhaps the German automaker should give him a call. His CS Vintage Concept shows a singular ability to understand the brand's classic style and reinterpret it for today. He isn't some amateur, either. Obendorfer has an industrial design degree and has been penning the interiors and exteriors of yachts from the Officina Italiana Design for five years, which counts luxury shipbuilders like Riva and Sanlorenzo among its clients. His website shows a real passion and knack for modernizing '60s and '70s European cars, too.
Obendorfer prefers to reimagine classic automotive styles. "Retro cars are not copies of their predecessors or renovated specimens, rather they are carefully studied reconsiderations, strongly rooted in contemporary style," he tells Autoblog. For the CS Vintage Concept, he worked to update the looks of the seminal BMW 2000CS and its E9 chassis while placing them on a modern platform. Obendorfer's inspiration comes from his belief that the later CS models' design is partially responsible for defining BMW styling, with its shark-nose front and four round headlights.
The CS Vintage Concept's shape starts with a jutting hood and a quartet of LED headlights, but the whole design really comes together in profile. The Hofmeister Kink at the rear pillar with the BMW Roundel is a nice nod to the originals, yet the proportions still find the perfect fusion of classic and modern. The interior is minimalist, with a vast expanse of wood for the dashboard at first glance, but the latter opens to expose the car's infotainment system.

2014 BMW 5 Series starts at $50,425* and gets a new diesel, 5 Series GT starts at $60,925* [w/video]

BMW itself says it is making "Precise modifications to the design" of the facelifted, sixth-generation 5 Series, and this is the result. The 2014 5 Series will come in four flavors - sedan, Touring, Gran Turismo and ActiveHybrid 5 - the biggest news probably the addition of a diesel engine for the US market.
When they go on sale in August, the 528i sedan will start at $50,425, a $1,700 increase over the 2013 model, and if you want xDrive that adds $2,300 to the price across the model range. The 535d employs a 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline six-cylinder diesel with 255 horsepower and 413 pound-feet of torque and starts at $56,025. BMW portends "substantial fuel efficiency gains over its gasoline-fueled counterpart," but the exact numbers won't come until closer to the on-sale date. The $64,825, top-dog 550i holds pat with 4.4-liter, twin turbo V8, with output upped to 445 hp and 480 lb-ft - an increase of 45 hp and 30 lb-ft of torque. The outputs haven't changed on the twin-turbo four-cylinder in the 528 nor the 3.0-liter six-cylinder gasoline engine in the 535, and *all prices include the $925 destination charge. The engines are also fitted with a coasting mode that uncouples the powertrain when rolling downhill.
Outside there are new "contour lines" for the grille and air intakes, slimmer taillights and elements that accentuate the car's width - as if that were necessary. Xenon adaptive headlights will be standard along with side indicator lights on the rearview mirrors, the options list adds LED headlights, the Luxury Line and Modern Line packages. The former package adds chrome trim to certain exterior elements, the latter adds matte chrome trim.