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AC Schnitzer's hotrod BMW 318ti remembered by MotorWeek

There are plenty of compact luxury cars available in the US today, including the Audi A3, BMW 2 Series, and Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class. In the '90s, the BMW 318ti tried to offer a similar mix of luxury at a reasonable price, but it never quite found much success in America. The 318ti looked like an E36-generation 3 Series in front but featured a stumpy liftback at the rear. The only engine available in the US was a four-cylinder. If you had the money, though, the aftermarket was ready to give you more power and more aggressive looks. AC Schnitzer dropped a bored and stroked 3.0-liter inline-six under the hood to create a pocket-sized hot rod, and MotorWeek took it for a drive. The model in this video was the promo car for AC Schnitzer's US importer, and it had every upgrade possible to show off what the German tuner's produced. Under the hood, the company installed an upgraded engine with 241 horsepower and 228 pound-feet of torque. For comparison, a US-spec M3 of the era had 240 horsepower and either 225 or 236 lb-ft, depending on the model year. AC Schnitzer also sharpened the 318ti with a suspension overhaul and short shifter. According to MotorWeek's tests, the mods got the hatchback to 60 miles per hour in 6 seconds and gave 318ti laudable handling. So much performance wasn't cheap, though. The upgrades on the promo car cost more than twice as much as the 318ti's base price. Watch this Retro Review to find out the massive amount you needed to pay to get M3 performance in a tiny package. Related Video:

Former BMW M boss and Maserati CEO killed in freak motorcycle accident

It's a tragic coincidence that on the same weekend the BMW M4 Coupe Concept was introduced in Monterey, one of the men most integral to BMW's M and Motorsports divisions, Karl-Heinz Kalbfell, was killed in England. Kalbfell, a vintage motorcycle enthusiast, was set to compete in the Lansdowne Classic Series at Brands Hatch and had an accident during a practice session. After going wide at Druids Corner and falling, he was hit by a competitor following close behind and died of his injuries after being transported to hospital.
Kalbfell, an engineer, began his career at BMW in 1977 in the communications department; a decade later he was chairman of BMW M GmbH, overseeing development of some of the cars responsible for the myth of M. In 1994 he was named chairman of BMW Motorsport, and his cap full of feathers includes getting the BMW V12 into the McLaren F1, getting the BMW V8 into two Morgan cars, along with developing BMW's Formula One engine and return to the sport. Not incidentally, he also assumed leadership of Project Rolls-Royce after BMW bought the British marque in 1998, which means he oversaw the Goodwood factory upfit and the creation of the Phantom.
He left Rolls-Royce for a brief stint at Fiat, heading Alfa Romeo and Maserati, then went into consulting for clients like Lotus and Paragon, who built the Artega GT. As Autocar notes, Kalbfell "had an abiding sense that customers needed to be attracted to cars by their aura and reputation, not just their engineering." He will be missed.

Looking back at 84 years of BMW roadsters

Today BMW is a top player in the luxury vehicle market, but it wasn't always so. With origins as an airplane engine builder early in the 20th Century, it broke into the automotive industry when it bought Automobilwerk Eisenach in 1928. That German manufacturer was licensed to build the Austin Seven under the name Dixi DA-1, which could be had in a roadster body style. In 1929, BMW dropped the Dixi name, and by 1936, it was building a car it designed in-house, the 326 sedan. That was followed by the company's first roadster of its own design, the swoopy two-door 327 of 1937.
XCAR picks up there, and gives a history of BMW's iconic roadsters starting with the 327, ending with today's Z4, and covering everything in between - including the beautiful post-war 507 of 1957 and the funky, plastic-bodied 1989 Z1.
The video, which we've included below, is a good history lesson and a great chance to see a bunch of classic BMWs, spanning 84 years, all driven back to back within the safe confines of a racetrack. When you have a spare 20 minutes, go ahead and take some time to watch it.