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BMW rethinks all-wheel-drive M cars

BMW M hasn't been able to decide whether it wants to jump on the all-wheel-drive bandwagon or not (with the exceptions of the X5 M and the X6 M, which are based on AWD architecture). That might be changing though, since M's president Friedrich Nitschke recently realized that 70 to 80 percent of Mercedes-Benz E63 AMGs are ordered with all-wheel drive. Earlier this year, Nitschke said that there were no new AWD M models planned, so this comes as somewhat of a surprise.
"On our cars we are thinking of all-wheel drive, but it won't come before we get the successor of the M5 and M6," Nitschke said in a Motoring report. "That's the timing and it's not practical to react in the current life cycles."
"On our cars we are thinking of all-wheel drive." - Friedrich Nitschke, BMW

BMW i3 EV continues to shed camouflage

As BMW gets closer to introducing the production version of its plug-in i3, we keep seeing the hatchback being tested with lessening degrees of design-obscuring camouflage. Last we heard, BMW is expecting to have the i3 ready by the end of this year, and the swirly, blue camo does little to hide its basic design in these latest spy shots.
We get our first clear look at almost everything above the wavy beltline including the silver roof edges and matching mirror caps, and it can't hide the dip in the beltline behind the B-pillar - matching what we've already seen on the i3 Coupe Concept unveiled at the LA Auto Show last year. Another change we notice is the lower portion of camo removed from the front fascia allowing us to see the air opening and the black, vertical inserts leading up to the fog light bezels. Judging by the "Hybrid Test Vehicle" stickers on the side of this prototype, we can only assume that this is the optional range-extended model.

BMW unleashes new M4 racer on DTM

We may not get to enjoy the fruits of it all, but we're in the midst of a golden age in touring car racing around the world. In Northern Europe, rival local series have amalgamated into the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship. In the UK, the British Touring Car Championship is enjoying the largest and most diverse grid in its long history. In Australia, the V8 Supercars series has grown from a Holden vs. Ford battle to include challengers from Mercedes, Nissan and Volvo. And in Germany, the DTM championship has managed to lure BMW back onto the grid to open up the battle between Mercedes and Audi. All good things, in short.
Since returning to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters in 2012, BMW has won the drivers' title once and the constructors' title twice, proving the Bavarian manufacturer to be not only a suitable challenger to the two-horse race between its star- and ring-emblazoned rivals, but the dominant force in German tin-top racing. Now BMW is set to enter its third season since returning to the DTM, and this is the car with which it intends to do so.
Replacing the M3 DTM that has impressively won half of the DTM races it has contested over the past two years, BMW's latest racing car is made in the mold of the new M4 coupe. Only it's even meaner. While the production version has switched to a turbo six, the DTM version still uses a V8: a 4.0-liter unit with four-valve cylinder heads, mandatory air restrictors and a Bosch ECU to channel 480 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque to the rear set of Hankook racing slicks through a six-speed sequential gearbox. The lightweight chassis is rounded out with competition-level aerodynamics and all the mandatory safety equipment.