2007 - Bmw 3-series on 2040-cars

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Alpina B3 Bi-Turbo burns all the midnight oil

We've got good news and bad news for you, boys and girls, from the floor of the Frankfurt Motor Show. The good news is that the BMW M3 has come early, with a diesel, in wagon form - albeit with a different name. The bad news is that it will in all likelihood never make it to America. Which is a shame, because it's awesome.
What we're talking about, of course, is the new Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo. BMW's wickedly talented but lesser know stepchild has created a 3 Series with a 3.0-liter twin-turbo diesel six packing 345 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. You - and by "you," we mean overseas buyers - can choose between sedan or wagon, as well as rear- or all-wheel drive. But the bottom line is a 4.6-second 0-62 time and a 173-mph top speed... from a diesel.
We scoped out the rear-drive wagon Alpina brought to the show, decked out in its signature blue. And you can, too, in the gallery of live shots above, along with the freshly assembled stock photos of both sedan and wagon versions in the gallery below.

Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400 priced at $48,855, AWD at $50,855

Infiniti's most powerful production model, the new Q50 Red Sport 400, now has a starting price. You'll need at least $48,855 for the rear-drive model or $50,855 for all-wheel drive. (Both figures include the $905 destination charge.) A fully loaded, rear-drive Q50 RS400 with Direct Adaptive Steering, navigation, adaptive cruise control, a heated steering wheel, and Infiniti's entire alphabet soup of safety equipment, tops out at $57,045. (Again, add $2,000 for AWD). When it comes to rear-drive competition, the closest base price to the Q50 is the 320-hp BMW 340i. This German undercuts the Infiniti by two grand, $46,795 to $48,855. But the BMW outprices the Q50 as soon as you start selecting options. A 340i with similar equipment to a loaded Q50 Red Sport 400 costs just under $60,000. All-wheel-drive German competitors also lose out in the price war. Like with the rear-drive models, the BMW 340i xDrive undercuts the Q50 RS400 by around $2,000. Add the options, and the Infiniti becomes a better value. The other two big German rivals, the Audi S4 and Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG start at a higher price and only get more expensive. Technically the S4 starts cheaper than the Q50, but only with the standard manual transmission. Selecting the S-Tronic dual-clutch model kicks the price from $50,125 to $51,125, and going for the top-end Prestige trim will bump potential Audi owners up to $57,025. Throw on must-have S4 options, including adaptive cruise control, adaptive dampers, and a sport differential and you'll be shell out $64,425 for the Audi. The Mercedes-Benz C450 AMG is the priciest choice in this group, starting at $51,725, or roughly $900 more than a base Q50 RS400 with AWD. Options, again, are the downfall here. Building a C450 to match a loaded Infiniti will drive the Mercedes' price up to $64,315. While it occupies something of a weird space relative to these vehicles, it's also worth mentioning the Cadillac CTS VSport. It's the only car in this impromptu pricing comparo that can outgun the Q50, with its 3.6-liter, twin-turbo V6 good for 420 hp and 430 lb-ft of torque. It also starts at $60,950, although that includes plenty of standard equipment. All this means that the Q50 Red Sport 400 represents a relative value. It packs more power than the Germans – 80 more than the 340i, 67 more than the S4, and 38 more than the C450 – and a more comprehensive list of options, too.

She's just a girl... who's an E28 fanatic

Ashley Rodriguez has a thing for the BMW E28. The amateur train photographer has owned over 15 of the cars in her brief lifetime, and says she's attracted to the old 5 Series because of how rare they are. All told, she's owned every variation of the E28 with the exception of the 2.4td, and the crew from Petrolicious recently stopped by to train their lenses on her most recent acquisition: a lovely M535i. The site's latest video, Rare Things, takes a closer look at just what draws Rodriguez to the E28 and how her passion for the cars has evolved over the years.
As usual, Petrolicious serves up plenty of gorgeous footage of the vintage German sedan, and anyone who's ever harbored an obsession over any one particular model can certainly hear a few chords ring true in Rodriguez's words. Check out the clip below to see what we mean.