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2014 BMW M235i is your Diet M4

Alongside its big brothers, the M3 and M4, the new M235i was rolled out by BMW at the Detroit Auto Show today as the sportiest member of the 2 Series range. The sharp two-door is the replacement for the current 1 Series, meaning the M235i is more or less the equivalent of the old 135is. Underhood sits BMW's venerable 3.0-liter, turbocharged inline six-cylinder engine, complete with 322 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque. Power is, naturally, sent to the rear wheels via either a six-speed manual or an eight-speed automatic, allowing the M235i to hit 62 miles per hour in 4.8 seconds when optioned with the automatic. Prices start at $43,100, meaning the M235i should give the $47,450 Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG a real challenge in terms of cluck for the buck, provided a second set of doors isn't needed. We've got a full gallery of live images from the floor of the 2014 Detroit Auto Show, along with the stock gallery and BMW's press release from our original post on the 2 Series. Scroll up for the former and down for the latter. The All-New BMW 2 Series Coupe A new dimension for The Ultimate Driving Machine Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – October 24, 2013 – 6:00pm EDT/3:00pm PDT. . . BMW today announced the introduction of an entirely new model series with the introduction of the all-new BMW 2 Series Coupe. This new take on The Ultimate Driving MachineTM will arrive in the US in the first quarter of 2014 as the 228i and the M235i. The BMW M235i, the first M Performance Automobile offered in the US, includes an impressive list of performance enhancing features. This successor to the successful 1 Series Coupe will continue the decades-long tradition of premium sub-compact coupes with impeccable driving dynamics when it makes its world debut at the North American International Auto Show in January 2014. The 2014 BMW 2 Series Coupe will be offered at a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price of $33,025 for the 228i and $44,025 for the M235i, including $925 destination and handling.

2014 BMW 740Ld xDrive does diesel in a big way

Slowly but surely, BMW is expanding its lineup of diesel-powered models here in the United States. In addition to the 328d sedan and wagon, 535d sedan and X5 xDrive35d crossover, we now have this, the BMW 740Ld xDrive (not to mention the refreshed 2015 X3 xDrive28d that also makes its debut here in Chicago). As its name - and the photos above - suggest, this means BMW is offering diesel power in its flagship, long-wheelbase 7 Series sedan, set to directly compete with the likes of the excellent Audi A8 TDI.
Under the hood is BMW's familiar 3.0-liter turbocharged diesel inline-six, delivering 255 horsepower and 413 pound-feet of torque, all of which is sent to the road via the company's xDrive all-wheel-drive system and ZF eight-speed automatic transmission. That torque thrust is available straight away from 1,500 rpm, and BMW says the 740Ld xDrive will sprint to 60 miles per hour in a very respectable 6.1 seconds. Official fuel economy estimates haven't been released yet, but we expect the car to net highway fuel economy ratings in the mid-30 range.
The 740Ld xDrive arrives in BMW showrooms this spring, priced from $82,500, not including $925 for destination. We're pretty stoked to drive it. But in the meantime, have a look at fresh images of the big sedan live from the Chicago Auto Show, above.

BMW, Hyundai score big in JD Power's first Tech Experience Index

While automakers are quick to brag about winning a JD Power Initial Quality Study award, the reality, as we've pointed out before, is that these ratings are somewhat misleading, since IQS doesn't necessarily distinguish genuine quality issues. JD Power's new Tech Experience Index aims to solve that problem. The new metric takes the same 90-day approach as IQS but focuses exclusively on technology – collision protection, comfort and convenience, driving assistance, entertainment and connectivity, navigation, and smartphone mirroring. It splits the industry up into just seven segments, based loosely on size, which is why the Chevrolet Camaro is in the same division (mid-size) as Kia Sorento and the Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class is in the same segment as the Hyundai Genesis (mid-size premium). It makes for some screwy bedfellows, to be sure. Still, splitting tech experience away from initial quality should allow customers to make more informed and intelligent decisions when buying new vehicles. In the inaugural study, respondents listed BMW and Hyundai as the big winners, with two segment awards – the 2 Series for small premium and the 4 Series for compact premium, and the Genesis for mid-size premium and Tucson for small segment. The Chevrolet Camaro (midsize), Kia Forte (compact), and Nissan Maxima (large) scored individual wins. Ford also had a surprising hit with the Lincoln MKC, which ranked third in the compact premium segment behind the 4 Series and Lexus IS. This is a coup for the Blue Oval, whose woeful MyFord Touch systems made the brand a victim of the IQS' flaws in the early 2010s. But Ford and other automakers might not want to celebrate just yet. According to JD Power, there's still a lot of room for improvement – navigation systems were the lowest-rated piece of tech in the study. Instead, customers repeatedly saluted collision-avoidance and safety systems, giving the category the best marks of the study and listing blind-spot monitoring and backup cameras as two must-have features – 96 percent of respondents said they wanted those two systems in their next vehicle. But this isn't really a surprise. Implementation of safety systems from brand to brand is similar, and they don't require any input from users, unlike navigation and infotainment systems which are frustratingly deep.