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BMW Films are on the way back [w/videos]

The BMW Films series caused a stir in 2001 and 2002 by combining top-quality cinematography, Hollywood names and driving excitement to sell its sporty wares in a whole new way. By arriving five years before YouTube, they ranked as some of the earliest viral videos on the internet. By now, these sorts of films are almost commonplace, but back when BMW hit upon the idea, the idea of brand-integrated short films on the internet was still a novelty. Now, for the first time in over a decade, the German automaker is planning on bringing back BMW Films for a new season.
Trudy Hardy, BMW North America Vice President of Marketing, announced the series' return at the 2014 Automotive News World Congress in Detroit, according to Ad Age. However, neither the German brand nor Anonymous Content, the original production company, have been willing to comment further on when the new videos are coming.
The original series of eight films starred Clive Owen as the Driver (back then, Owen was largely unknown to American audiences), a mercenary who would take a variety of jobs and always drive a BMW. David Fincher executive produced the first season and directors included top names like John Frankenheimer, Ang Lee and Guy Ritchie. All of the second season movies had Owen driving a Z4, but in our estimation, the quality had fallen off a bit compared to the outstanding first season.

2015 Green Car Of The Year finalists announced, run alt-fuel gamut

The 2015 edition of the Green Car of the Year award is following right in the footsteps of previous years with a variety of alt-fuel powertrains making the just-announced finalists list. You've got your plug-in vehicle (the BMW i3), your compressed natural gas (the Chevy Impala Bi-Fuel), your high-efficiency diesel (the Audi A3 TDI), your 40+ mile-per-gallon gas engine (the Honda Fit) and, finally, a car that can do a little bit of everything (the VW Golf). The Golf is available – at least in some parts of the US – with three different powertrains: a 2.0-liter diesel, a gasoline engine and all-electric drive. The Impala can burn either natural gas or gasoline in its 3.6-liter engine. The A3 is an efficiency champ, able to get 73.5 mpg on some European tests. The i3 can be a pure electric vehicle or come with a short range extending engine. And the Fit brings 41 miles to the gallon in a practical, affordable package. The GCOY award is announced every year at the Los Angeles Auto Show by Green Car Journal. The committee doesn't just take the fuel-saving technology into account, but also a vehicle's "availability to the mass market." Last year, the Honda Accord Hybrid/Plug-In Hybrid won top honors, following up on wins from the Ford Fusion models (plug-in hybrid and hybrid) for 2013, the Honda Civic Natural Gas for 2012 and the Chevrolet Volt for 2011. FINALISTS ANNOUNCED FOR 2015 "GREEN CAR OF THE YEAR"" Green Car Journal to Reveal Winner of 10th Annual Award at LA Auto Show" Press & Trade Days, November 20 LOS ANGELES, CA (October 21, 2014) – Green Car Journal has announced its five finalists for the magazine's high-profile 2015 Green Car of the Year® program. The 2015 models include the Audi A3 TDI, BMW i3, Chevrolet Impala Bi-Fuel, Honda Fit, and VW Golf. The Green Car of the Year® award, an honor widely recognized as the auto industry's most important environmental accolade, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. An increasing number of vehicle models are considered for the Green Car of the Year® program each year, a reflection of the auto industry's expanding efforts in offering new vehicles with higher efficiency and improved environmental impact. Green Car Journal has been honoring the most important "green" vehicles every year at the LA Auto Show, since its inaugural award announced at the show in 2005.

Reverse-engineering i3 shows BMW profits after 20,000 sales

"This is, without a question of a doubt, the most advanced vehicle on the planet. It's as revolutionary as the Model T was when it came out." That is exceptionally high praise, and it's not even being heaped on one of the million-dollar hybrid hypercars from Ferrari or McLaren. It's not even being attributed to a particularly zealous Tesla fan. Nope, it's coming from a mustachioed man in suburban Detroit, and he's discussing a $42,400 BMW hatchback with Forbes. Of course, said hatchback is the revolutionary i3, and Sandy Munro's statements carry some degree of authority, as his company is tearing apart and analyzing every little nut, washer and bolt on the four-seat EV. Munro's eponymous company performs reverse-engineering analysis, meaning they rip apart brand new cars and sell the information to the world's automakers, saving OEM's both time and money. The most interesting thing it has discovered thus far? That even with the high costs of two of the i3's most important elements – carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic and lithium-ion batteries – his company's analysis shows that BMW need only sell about 20,000 units a year to turn a profit, Forbes reports. While Munro's company is often contracted by automakers, he's gone it alone on the i3 project, dropping about $1 million into in-depth analysis. That's a lot of money, but the company should be able to turn around and sell its findings for about $500,000, with a batch of Chinese automakers already queued up and ready to buy. Analysis of individual i3 components will also be available from a sort of a la carte menu. To see what it is about the i3 that has Munro speaking so highly of it, head over to the Forbes website and check out the feature article and video on the reverse-engineering process. Featured Gallery 2014 BMW i3: First Drive View 33 Photos News Source: ForbesImage Credit: Copyright 2015 Sebastian Blanco / AOL Green BMW Hatchback Electric Sandy Munro