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2015 BMW M3 and M4 priced at $62,000 and $64,200

When the BMW M3 and M4 debuted on Monday at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show, it was to much fanfare and excitement. At that time, though, we were missing a big piece of the M3/M4 puzzle - the price.
According to a report from our roundel-obsessed friends at Bimmerfest, the four-door M3 will star at $62,000, while the M4 Coupe is priced at $64,200. Those prices do not include a $925 destination charge. That's a pretty significant jump over the $56,275 starting price of the old M3 Sedan and $59,275 starting price of the last M3 Coupe, although we'd argue that these cars should easily outpace their V8 counterparts in terms of overall performance. In other news, a six-speed manual will come standard, while the seven-speed M DCT will be an optional extra.
Bimmerfest also came up with a timeline for the M3 and M4's arrival. We should expect the official announcement of pricing, along with the full order guides, released near the end of this month or in early February. Production will kick off in March, while customers will be able to begin placing orders in late April. We'll get our first crack at both cars in June, with deliveries beginning later that month.

Finalists for 2014 Green Car of the Year announced

The list of finalists for the 2014 Green Car of the Year has been announced, and in a genuinely bizarre twist, there's only one hybrid and no electric vehicles among the five contestants, despite the arrival of cars like the BMW i3 and Tesla Model S. Taking the place of the EVs are a pair of diesels, repping a technology that last won a Green Car of the Year award in 2009, when the Audi A3 TDI took the title. No diesel was in the running for last year's award.
Naturally, both of the diesel finalists are fielded by the Germans - with BMW's 328d and Audi's A6 TDI getting the nod. In the case of the 3 Series, BMW installed a 2.0-liter, turbodiesel, capable of delivering 180 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, while returning 45 miles per gallon on the highway. Audi and its larger, 3.0-liter, V6 turbodiesel produce quite a bit more grunt, with 240 hp and 428 lb-ft of grunt, but net a very impressive 38 mpg on the highway in the A6.
Finalists for this year's awards include two diesels, three gas-powered cars and a plug-in hybrid.

BMW takes 30th Anniversary Edition M5 out to drift

If you only look at the videos from BMW, it appears that the best way to celebrate the 30th birthday of the M5 is some smoky drifting, and it sure looks like a great way to mark the occasion to us. Now that the Bavarian brand's new 30th anniversary special edition is all set to hit the road, the most powerful M5 ever is getting it own chance to roast its tires on video, as well.
The M5 30th Anniversary Edition shouldn't have any problem hanging its rear end out, really. Under the hood, its twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8 is turned up to 600 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque and can allegedly sprint to 60 miles per hour in a scant 3.7 seconds. That's pretty impressive for any sports car but especially for a sedan that can still carry four passengers comfortably cosseted in leather and Alcantara upholstery.
BMW is making just 300 of these celebratory models worldwide, and appropriately for the anniversary, only 30 of them are going to be available in the US. If the special M5 doesn't make your heart race, the video basks in a little nostalgia, as well, by showing off the original model for some historical context.