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BMW 1 Series sedan interior revealed

The next BMW 1 Series Sedan has made another appearance following our last peek at it in September, and this time, the gallery of images even reveals part of the new car's interior.
Of course, if these images prove anything, it's that manufacturers take camouflage of the interior just as seriously as they do the exterior. We can see in these images a fairly simple cabin, with what looks like a fixed central display. It's quite small, although the housing itself is rather large, so we could be looking at a more basic form of iDrive rather than the full-featured set. Overall, though, this cabin more or less confirms that the 1 Series Sedan will fit in with the rest of the BMW family quite nicely.
Outside of the interior images, though, there isn't a lot of new stuff revealed by these images. As for when we'll see both the interior and exterior fully undisguised, our spies continue pointing to a 2016 debut with a 2017 on-sale date.

2014 BMW Z4 offers minor refinements with a majorly orange wrapper

The redesigned BMW Z4 was rolled out onto the show floor at the Detroit Auto Show, with the example in question being an sDrive35is variant, with the just-less-than-screaming Hyper Orange Package. The exclusive colorway includes the metallic orange paintjob, as well as trim-specific seats, stitching and accents for the interior. More importantly, the 35is driveline means that you'll find a high-output version of the turbocharged 3.0-liter N54 engine, here outputting 335 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque, and a 7-speed DCT gearbox.
Two slightly less ferociously powered versions of the Z4 will be available for the new model year, too (both familiar). The Z4 sDrive35i is good for 300 hp and 300 lb-ft, while the still-potent sDrive28i features a 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder making 240 hp and 260 lb-ft.
You'll fine some more details about the 2014 BMW Z4 in our original news story about the model here, or by scrolling down to read the full BMW press release.

BMW's Quandt family in hot water over Merkel campaign contributions

The mysterious and elusive Quandt family is in hot water again, nearly two years after its Nazi connections during World War II were exposed. The German family's patriarch, Herbert Quandt, nearly single-handedly saved BMW from being bought out by Daimler-Benz in 1959. Now, three living family members own nearly half of the German brand, and stand accused of buying votes with donations to the party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, mere days ahead of a European Union vote that would cap vehicle emissions.
Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union accepted three donations, one from each shareholding member of the Quandt family.
Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union accepted three donations, one from each shareholding member of the Quandt family, totaling 690,000 euros ($935,000), on October 9. The CDU, for what it's worth, claim the donations weren't related to any political decisions and that the family have been donors for years. A Quandt family spokesperson, meanwhile, said that the family had been waiting for Germany's September 22 elections to pass before making a large contribution to the CDU.