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2015 BMW i8: Autoblog Technology of the Year finalist

Traditionally, nominations for the Autoblog Technology of the Year award are earned for specific developments - a new-think powertrain, a uniquely developed material, a groundbreaking smartphone app, or what have you. In the case of BMW's marvelous i8, it so bristles with novel applied sciences and fresh features that we broke with tradition and nominated the entire car.
We just couldn't help ourselves. Oh, we could've focused on the i8's carbon-fiber monocoque, or its well-resolved plug-in-hybrid powertrain that incorporates a tiny 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine and an electric motor, or its seamless through-the-road all-wheel drive. This is a car that will even have frickin' laser beams for headlights - at least it will for our friends in Europe (and it will in the US, should our legislators ever catch up).

BMW brings burlesque, Warhol, M1 and 6 Series Grand Coupe to Paris Photo LA

BMW has worked with Paris Photo for ten years. This year, the photography exposition lands in Paramount Studios in Los Angeles for the first time, and BMW is not only coming with it, the Bavarians are bringing the Art Car that started it all: the 1979 M1 painted by Andy Warhol. For those attending the show, there will also be making-of video of Warhol working on the car - but if you remember the mini lecture that EVO magazine's Henry Catchpole gave on the Art Cars, you'll remember that Warhol finished the car so quickly that the cameraman barely had time to get the film rolling.
With that will also be a series of photos of the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe dropped into noir scenes accompanied by burlesque models, all taken by photographer Uwe Düttmann. It's the first time they'll be exhibited at Paris Photo. You can check out a few of them in the high-res gallery above, and there's a press release below with more info.

BMW shows up-armored X5 concept and we can't get near it

BMW has brought a slightly different concept vehicle to the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show. Rather than something that foreshadows a future product or a new design direction, the Munich-based manufacturer has brought an X5 that's designed to be shot at. It's called the Concept X5 Security Plus. The Concept X5 name is a bit misleading, though. It's based on the 2014 X5, while BMW already builds an armored CUV, called the X5 Security. The concept tag has to do with the "Security Plus" part.
Engineered to be compliant with VR6 security standards - the current X5 Security is for VR4 standards - the Concept X5 will quite happily shrug off direct attacks from an AK-47. Thanks to sealed joints, high-strength steel moldings, high-performance steel body panels and special, polycarbonate-coated security glass, Kalashnikov's finest, whether used as a firearm or as a melee weapon, would be useless against this X5.
Built alongside the standard X5 in BMW's Spartanburg, SC factory, the X5 is shipped to a BMW facility in Toluca, Mexico for installation of the armor and security features. The company claims this delivers a more thoroughly engineered protective solution than aftermarket retrofitting.