2013 Bmw M5 4dr Sdn 4.4l Alpine White on 2040-cars

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2014 BMW M5 facelift shows up online

Is it that time already? Like its predecessors, the current BMW M5 has been endangering US licenses since it first went on sale here in 2012, but its design became a known quantity back at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. Apparently that also means that the F10 generation has already grown tired enough to the "Must Have Latest Set" who can afford these sorts of super saloons that a facelift is in order.
If these leaked images sourced from Autocar are anything to go by, BMW stylists have used a predictably light hand to rework their hottest 5 Series, with a revised grille that echoes the M6 along with modestly resculpted headlamps. The rear end appears wholly unaltered. Interior changes gleaned from a look at the cabin photos include an updated touchpad-equipped iDrive controller and a new steering wheel cribbed from the M6.
No new word on changes to the 4.4-liter, twin-turbo V8 powertrain, but in late April, we heard that BMW was readying new competition packages for the M5 and M6. The packages are said to include 15 more horsepower, revised suspension and steering, along with new wheels and blackened exhaust tips. Given that BMW is known for habitually underrating its cars' horsepower outputs (particularly its M models) we can't help but wonder if its engineers will need to do anything other than wave a magic wand to corral those extra ponies underhood...

BMW hints at long wait for Tesla Model 3 in new ad

When an automaker takes 373,000 advance reservations for a highly touted electric vehicle, that company can become a big target. A competitor, BMW for example, could then take aim at that target in an ad. As you might suspect from how all this is worded, the German automaker doesn't mention Tesla Motors or its Model 3 by name in the ad, as you can see above. As it gets ready to start selling its 330e iPerformance plug-in hybrid, BMW launched a couple of advertisements during the Summer Olympics this month, Advertising Age says. While talking about the unnamed competition, the tag line says: "You will wait, and wait and wait some more." One ad shows a woman walking by two empty charging stations, which look an awful lot like Tesla Superchargers, on the way to her new BMW. The reference makes sense, as prospective buyers of the Tesla Model 3 will have to, uh, wait until at least late next year to get their new vehicles. The 330e iPerformance PHEV goes on sale this summer and will start at $44,695, about $10,000 more than where the Model 3 is expected to be priced. According to one of the ads, the car gets a 72 miles per gallon-equivalent fuel-efficiency rating and can travel as far as 14 miles on electricity alone thanks to its 7.6-kWh li-ion battery. The car can also go from 0 to 62 miles per hour in about six seconds. You can read our "First Drive" review here. BMW currently sells two plug-in vehicles in the US, both are under the automaker's i sub-brand. Through July, Bimmer has sold almost 4,400 units of its i3 battery-electric vehicle and almost 800 of the i8 plug-in hybrid supercar. In 2015, the two models had sales of 13,289 units, about double the 2014 numbers. Related Video:

All 25 James Bond movies ranked only by their cars

There is no shortage of lists ranking the best James Bond movies. Ditto lists about the best or worst James Bond cars. I know, I've written some of them. As such, why not combine the two ideas into one new list that ranks all 25 official James Bond movies based exclusively on their cars, or more accurately their car content. I would then pull from my 25 years of James Bond nerddom plus the excellent "Bond Cars: The Definitive History" and our interview with long-time Bond special effects supervisor Chris Corbould to provide tidbits and factoids about the cars and their roles in the movies. And yes(!), this list now includes "No Time to Die," which impresses by adding plenty of car content to the series. It's now available on Blu-ray and download. To determine the list, I considered the inherent coolness of the cars as well as their importance to Bond, film and car history. I considered their importance to the story as well as the quality/excitement of the chases and scenes they participated in. Finally, I tried my best to divorce the car content from my opinions about the movies in general. That my personal list of best James movies looks nothing like this shows I was at least partially successful.     25. 'Moonraker' There are virtually no cars in "Moonraker." None. Oh, there's a gondola on wheels that makes a pigeon do a double-take, but that's not the same thing as a car. Neither is a golf cart. Or an ambulance. Or a space shuttle.   24. 'From Russia With Love' The literary James Bond mostly drove an ancient Bentley, and "From Russia with Love" is the only film in which it appears. It stays parked and the coolest thing that happens (by 1962 standards) is 007 answers its car phone. Thereafter, we get some old cars (even by 1962 standards) driving around Istanbul and a yellow truck. So yeah. Classic Bond film, a must-watch, just not for its car content.   23. 'Dr. No' History records that the first "Bond car" is the Sunbeam Alpine in "Dr. No." The car itself was literally borrowed from a Miss Jennifer Jackson of 53 Lady Musgrave Road in Jamaica for 10 pounds per day for two days during filming. Also, the stunt where it drove under an excavator blocking the road was entirely conceived because the filmmakers showed up to the road they intended to film on and discovered an excavator blocking the thing. Sadly, those are really the only two things interesting about the Alpine, which is a pretty small and dainty thing by Bond car standards.