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Can the government mechanically force you to wear your seatbelt? [w/poll]

The National Highway Traffic Administration is considering the use of ignition interlocks in vehicles that would require the seatbelts of occupied seats to be fastened in order to drive the car, Automotive News reports, four decades after Congress moved to prevent manufacturers from installing them in cars sold in the US market. Following a transportation bill passed last year that lift some of the restrictions on seatbelt interlocks, automakers such as BMW are considering the benefits of using them in future cars. Now, before you go crying about your lost freedom, keep reading.
BMW said in an October 2012 petition that the use of seatbelt interlocks would allow the company to make lighter and more spacious vehicles, if the devices could be used in lieu of unbelted crash tests. The crash test has required the addition of bulky safety features, such as knee bolsters, that aren't as necessary when occupants are buckled up, especially when considering the dizzyng list of safety features that come standard on today's cars. Europe, which has a higher rate of seatbelt use than in the US, doesn't perform unbelted crash tests on cars sold there.

BMW's Mini plant closes for 4 weeks for the Brexit that didn't happen

LONDON — BMW's Mini plant in Britain is closing for four weeks starting Monday in a move planned over a half year ago to help the company deal with any disruption resulting from Brexit, which has since been delayed. The German carmaker, which builds just over 15 percent of Britain's 1.5 million cars, moved its annual summertime shutdown to April to "minimize the risk of any possible short-term parts-supply disruption in the event of a no-deal Brexit." But Britain's departure from the EU has now been pushed back from March 29 until at least April 12 or potentially much later, scuppering the timing of major contingency plans for some carmakers. Shutdowns are organized far in advance so employee holidays can be scheduled and suppliers can adjust volumes, making them hard to move. "This is what our company and our workforce have planned for over many months, and it is fixed into our business planning," said a BMW spokesman. It represents the latest headache for Britain's once roaring car sector which had been on track for record production but since 2017 has posted sharp falls in sales, output and investment. The overwhelmingly foreign-owned industry has become increasingly incredulous as a stable and attractive investment environment descends into one of its deepest political crises, risking the free and frictionless trade the sector relies on. BMW's Rolls-Royce factory in Goodwood will close for two weeks whilst Jaguar Land Rover's (JLR) three car plants and engine facility and Honda's Swindon facility will also shut for a few days this month as part of Brexit contingencies. It has been a turbulent few months for the sector after Nissan canceled plans to build a new sport utility vehicle at its English Sunderland plant and Honda said it would shutter its plant in 2021 in the biggest blow to the sector for years. Toyota provided a rare boost when it announced plans to build cars for Suzuki at its English car plant. BMW, which is also closing its central English Hams Hall engine facility and Swindon press shop and sub-assembly site for four weeks, has said it could move some engine and Mini output out of Britain if there is not an orderly Brexit. Carmakers face a number of risks if there is a disorderly Brexit, including delays to the supply of ports and finished models, new customs bureaucracy, the need to recertify models and an up to 10 percent tariff on finished vehicles.

BMW says current M3 sold out, no new AWD M models planned

Car and Driver asked the head of BMW M, Friedrich Nitschke, a few questions about what the go-fast division had in mind for the future, and was rewarded with some enlightening answers. The best news to purist ears is that Nitschke said customers don't want all-wheel drive on their M cars, so it's the rear wheels alone that will propel new product into the future. If you want both an M badge and four driven wheels, it's the X5 M, X6 M and M Performance models you're looking for in the catalog.
"Mixed bag" is the phrase you're looking for regarding the other answers. Nitschke said that future M engines "at the core of their architecture" would "be closer to BMW AG engines" that are optimized for M cars, instead of following in the line of unique marvels like the V10 and naturally aspirated V8. They will keep the high redlines, however, with Nitschke saying "there is room beyond" the 7,000 rpm mark in BMW's current V8 turbos.
Managing weight will keep the same priority for M that it is for every other brand, so electrically assisted power steering is coming, as is an "unconventional" materials mix. At the smaller end of the M scale, Nitschke described three-cylinder engines as "attractive," saying that the brand can produce more than 310 horsepower from a three-pot.