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2015 BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe

It's hard to say what a coupe is anymore. Is it merely a car with two doors? Does it have to have an arching roofline? Do frameless windows count for anything? Can a five-door hatchback or even an SUV be a coupe? At some point in the last few years, nearly everything we thought made a coupe a coupe has been challenged by something that calls itself a coupe, but to most people isn't. Our friends at BMW have led most of this line of questioning.
The new 2015 BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe is one of the latest Bimmers to challenge the moniker (which also challenges the idea of "Gran," for that matter), and unlike some of its other "coupe" variations - we're looking at you, X6 - this one is a pretty one. The 4 Series Gran Coupe is essentially a four-door version of the 4 Series, which is itself a two-door version of the 3 Series. Huh? Wouldn't that simply make it another 3 Series? Of course, but this one is prettier, as it uses the 4's sexier body styling, with its lower nose, wider-looking stance and edgier lighting graphics. It is also technically a five-door hatchback, not a sedan per se, and it utilizes frameless side door glass, which apparently does count for something in BMW coupe-land. Significantly, the 4 Gran Coupe's wheelbase is identical to the two-door; if it was longer - as is the case with the 3 Series and 5 Series hatchbacks - that might make it a "Gran Turismo." Confused yet?
We recently got our first chance to drive the 4 Series Gran Coupe at a press launch in Spain, and while the only version we were given was a rear-drive 428i Gran Coupe with the M Sport contents, the harrowing roads around Bilbao gave us a good idea of what this car is all about from a driving dynamics standpoint. Here's some of what we found:

BMW i3 with range extender won't get all the EV tax benefits in NJ

Everyone loves that new-car smell, but not everyone loves that new-car tax. And whoever in New Jersey thought the extended-range version of the BMW i3 plug-in would be exempt from said tax was sorely mistaken, Green Car Reports says. To paraphrase the Garden State's favorite son, Bruce Springsteen, the first kick those drivers will take is when they hit the ground. BMW said last year that the BMW REx would qualify for new-car tax exemptions in New Jersey and in Washington State. The car's all-electric range was recently estimated at 72 miles and it has another 87 miles of gas-powered range-extended capability. Unfortunately, the range extender not only tacks on $3,850 to the car's sticker price but adds on almost that much again because New Jersey's seven-percent sales tax applies to all cars with any sort of gas-powered engine. BMW didn't respond to a request for comment about the New Jersey situation from AutoblogGreen. In other New Jersey electric vehicle news, the Consumer Affairs Committee of the New Jersey State Assembly will discuss the legality of Tesla selling directly to consumbers tomorrow. The extended-range i3 is involved in a different issue on the other side of the country. BMW said earlier this year that the REx would qualify for California's white zero-emission vehicle stickers that allow for solo access to high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. These unlimited white stickers can go on any EV, but the REx version only qualifies for the green stickers, which are designated for plug-in hybrids and extended-range plug-ins and the state has run out of those.

BMW suing Saab Automobile Parts for $3.2M

Saab might be all but dead, but that's not stopping automakers that were once involved with the Swedish brand from attempting to reclaim losses. According to a Fox Business report, BMW has filed a 2.6 million Euro suit ($3.2 million USD) with a Swedish district court against Saab Automobile Parts for deliveries that went unpaid.
In 2012, Saab Automobile AB signed an agreement BMW that would see the German automaker deliver four-cylinder gas engines for its 9-3 range.
The suit also asserts that Saab ordered a large number of spare parts, and no payments were made to BMW. At the time, Saab was far from liquid, and filed for bankruptcy in December of last year.