1998 Bmw Z3 2dr 1.9l Convertible Roadster Automatic on 2040-cars

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Rolls-Royce Cullinan and BMW 8 Series spied south of Death Valley

Recently, we've stumbled upon a number of manufacturer prototypes running around. Usually, spy photographers sit and wait for hours with cameras primed in order to get a few shots of a car. We just got lucky. First, we caught the new Chevy Corvette ZR1 convertible during a Facebook Live video. A week or so later McGraw snapped a video of a ZR1 coupe cruising in his neck of the woods. Today, our ace photographer Drew Phillips caught a BMW test fleet filling up the new Rolls-Royce Cullinan and 8 Series coupe in Baker, Calif. Baker sits along Interstate 15, about halfway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. It's just south of Death Valley, and, being late August, suggests that BMW was doing some hot weather testing. Drew was filling up his car when the fleet rolled in. There were at least two of the new king Rolls and a single 8 Series. Both cars were wearing a full swirl camouflage wrap. It's not an uncommon place to see prototypes. Still, seeing a whole fleet roll in is quite a sight. We've seen official photos of the Cullinan before, but these pictures give us our best view of the profile and rear we've had so far. From a distance, it looks like a high-riding version of the new Phantom with a hatch in place of the trunk. The taillights are obviously just filler units. Expect the final version to look very much like the squared off LED units on the Phantom. Likewise the interior and engine should be straight from the Phantom. That means a twin-turbocharged V12, though power is likely to be sent to all four wheels. We've seen the full BMW 8 Series concept a few times now. The proportions on the production car look the same, with a long hood and even longer wheelbase. The nose isn't quite as aggressive as the concept, but we expected the styling to be toned down to meet crash and safety standards. As for engines, look for six, eight and (hopefully) 12-cylinder power under the hood. A plug-in variant is also expected. Both cars have been in development for a long while, so look for full debuts sometime this auto show season. Maybe we'll happen upon some more test mules between now and then. Related Video:

BMW X6 M said to lap the 'Ring in 8:20

Bimmer Today reports that the German rag Auto Zeitung ran an Audi RS3 and a BMW X6 M around the Nurburgring together, and the hotted-up sports activity vehicle came in just five seconds behind the white-hot hatch. Driven by 'Ring regular Horst von Saurma, the RS3 ran its lap in 8 minutes, 15 seconds, and the X6 M ran an 8:20. If those times are accurate, that makes the X6 M the second fastest production SUV on the lap-time list according to Wikipedia: ahead of it is the 550-hp Range Rover Sport SVR, which ran a time of 8:14. That time puts BMW's 575-horsepower, 5,200-pound SUV four seconds ahead of the time registered by the last-gen, 555-hp X6 M, and well ahead of the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S that Sport Auto clocked an 8:34 with. It would not, however, match the predictions that X6 M project manager Herbert Bayerl made for it in an interview with Sport Auto earlier this year. Bayerl said "The new BMW X6 M moves at the level of M3," speaking of the E92 BMW M3 that Sport Auto ran around the 'Ring in 8:05. It is, though, two seconds faster than the E46 M3, which lapped in 8:22. Bayerl called out the Range Rover Sport SVR directly, saying, "We have been traveling much faster in testing and have undercut the time of Range Rover several times," and "We don't need any special attachments to go faster." Auto Zeitung's report on the lap is only for subscribers so we'll have to wait for more official news. For the apples-to-apples comparison we'll be looking forward to Sport Auto's hot lap, then we'll know if the Range Rover has anything to fear. Related Video:

BMW calls in 50,000 motorbikes over fuel pump leak

If you don't often see motorbikes being recalled, it's probably because there's less to go wrong on a motorcycle. But a problem with the fuel pump on a wide array of BMW Motorrad products has prompted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to issue a recall for over 50,000 of the Bavarian two-wheelers across America.
The issue revolves around the fuel pump flange on R-model, K-model, S 1000 and HP2 motorcycles built as far back, in some cases, to 2005 and as recent as 2012, depending on the model. The flange was found to be prone to crack and leak fuel, which NHTSA evaluated as a fire risk. As a result, precisely 50,184 such motorbikes are being recalled to have their flanges reinforced or, where necessary, to replace the entire fuel pump. If you're the owner of such a Bimmer bike, expect a call from your dealer sometime next month, but you can read the full notice below.