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BMW preparing two concepts for Villa d'Este

Every spring, the finest automobiles ever to grace tarmac gather on the shores of Lake Como for the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. It's a chance for the most beautiful classics to compete for awards and for automakers and design studios to show off their concept cars under the soft light of the Italian sun. But while most of the vehicles old and new that show up for the concours are ones we've seen before, BMW takes things a step further.
As patron of the concorso d'eleganza for the past ten years, BMW regularly cooks up something new for the glamorous extravaganza. Last year it teamed up with Pininfarina for the Gran Lusso Coupé and revealed it alongside the Concept 90 motorcycle. The year before that came the BMW Zagato Coupe, preceded by the 328 Hommage and the M1 Hommage (pictured above) before it.
The theme for this year's event is the Roaring Twenties. BMW may not have been known back then on the same level as Bugatti or Duesenberg, but Rolls-Royce sure was.

2014 BMW 328i xDrive Gran Turismo

"The Ultimate Driving Machine" has been BMW's tagline for nearly 40 years. Launched in the 1970s, the marketing campaign was a stroke of genius by ad firm Ammirati & Puris, as the phrase helped differentiate the imported Bavarian cars from their fellow European rivals by subtly pointing out that Mercedes-Benz and Audi were offering luxury models, while BMW was selling sporty and youthful driving dynamics. The campaign worked - some would argue that stands among the most effective ad campaigns ever - and countless Baby Boomers embraced the brand's fun-to-drive image by taking delivery of the company's new models.
BMW still boasts that its vehicles are "The Ultimate Driving Machine" four decades later, but the brand is very different today. It offered just a few model lines in the mid-1970s, and only a handful of vehicles within. In 2014, the automaker offers an exhaustive range comprised of nearly a dozen lines with almost 50 different models. To survive and thrive, BMW has decided it must massively broaden its appeal.
One of the latest arrivals to BMW's ever-growing stable is the 2014 3 Series Gran Turismo. The five-door hatchback is best thought of as a smaller version of the company's 5 Series Gran Turismo built on stretched 3 Series platform that, in the case of this test car, shares the running gear of the 328i xDrive sedan. On paper, the five-passenger vehicle checks all the proper boxes with regards to performance, utility and economy. But does this family-focused 3 Series still deliver driving dynamics that qualify it for the title of Ultimate Driving Machine?

BMW 7 Series could get M variant alongside Alpina B7

BMW is launching the new 7 Series with a limited engine lineup, but according to Car and Driver, there are more powerful versions on the way – including a potential M Performance model. The new 7 Series is initially being offered with a 320-horsepower turbo six and a 445-hp twin-turbo V8. European customers will also be able to spec a 261-hp diesel or a 320-hp hybrid. There's an M Sport package available as well with enhanced visual cues, but that won't be the extent of the performance choices when all is said and done. Expect a new 760i that will pack BMW's twin-turbo V12, and a new Alpina B7 to feature a more powerful twin-turbo V8 with around 600 horsepower. In parallel to the Alpina, however, C/D reports that an M Performance model could finally be in the works, which would ostensibly offer BMW the opportunity to go after the likes of the Audi S8, Jaguar XJR, and Mercedes S63 AMG, without changing tacks too drastically over the resolute position it's taken in the past against creating a full-on M7. C/D reports that there are more powerful diesels joining the lineup in the future, but those aren't likely to make their way to US showrooms anytime soon.