1988 Bmw M5 No Reserve on 2040-cars

Auto blog

BMW i Collection puts upscale treehugging in the palm of your hand

If BMW's new i sub-brand sounds more like it belongs to consumer electronics than it does to automobiles, that's probably no mistake. After all, electric vehicles bridge the gap between conventional automobile and electronic gadget - just ask our compatriots over at Engadget that report on them all the time. But to drive the point home even greener, BMW has, together with the new i3, launched a new collection of electronics accessories that make the Bavarian automaker as much a competitor with companies like Belkin or Griffin as it is with Audi or Mercedes-Benz.
The new BMW i Collection includes items like a solar charger for phones and MP3 players, a laptop bag made from felt-like recycled PET plastic and vegetable-tanned leather, and of course the requisite USB dongle. Other items include keyfobs, a shopping bag, notebook and ballpoint pen.
All the items, of course, are designed to extend the i3's upscale tree-hugging image to items you can hold and use while your EV is charging in the driveway. They go on sale starting next month with prices ranging from 15 euros ($20) for the pen or lanyard to 99 euros ($135) for the shopping bag. Details in the press release below and images of the whole collection in the gallery above.

2015 BMW X4 configurator is ready to get personal

The 2015 BMW X4 configurator is ready for your special touch. Starting with the 300-horsepower xDrive35i that starts at $48,925 after destination, our special touch aimed at a luxury cruiser and added $9,250 to proceedings for a final tally of $58,175. That got us the Technology, Lighting and Driver Assistance packages, navigation and enhanced USB and smartphone integration. We were tempted to go for the Dynamic Damping Control for just $1,000 and a set of 20-inch M Double Spoke Wheels, but the configurator didn't want to mix the M Sport Line with our Sparkling Brown metallic exterior hue so we skipped it.
We've covered the details on pricing and the breakdown of the order guide elsewhere, so you can always click through for refreshers. Or you can skip all those words and dive straight into trying to build an X4 that makes you say, "Yeah, now I get it."

BMW X4 hatches its fastback shape in Shanghai

The day has finally come for BMW to pull the covers off its X4 Concept at the Shanghai Motor Show. The machine brings few surprises - we've already seen an official image gallery from the German automaker, so its exterior shape was well known - but at least now we get to see it with our own eyes, and with the lenses of our very own cameras.
You can clearly see the fastback roofline in our high-res image gallery above, along with the jacked-up stance that allows BMW to call this machine a Sports Activity Vehicle, which basically means "Crossover" to our friends in Munich. We've seen similar vehicle shapes before, most notably in the form of the BMW X6, but also as far back as the 1980s from the likes of AMC.
We fully expect the transition from concept to production to be pretty seamless, so what we see here is, for the most part, what we'll see on the showroom floor in 2014. Feel free to peruse the press release below, but first, be sure to browse through our live images from Shanghai and let us know what you think.