2011 Bmw 128i Cv S M Package on 2040-cars

Auto blog

More automakers working to turn your smartphone into a shareable digital car key

The smartphone killed the phone book, audio player, the pocket digital camera, handheld GPS devices and voice recorders. Now that addictive, transistor-filled candy bar is coming for your car keys. The Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) announced that it's unveiled Digital Key Release 1.0 Specification for its member companies, which is the first step in standardizing protocols. As of now, the potential is there for drivers to download a digital key that can lock and unlock the car, start it, and transfer the key to another operator in order to share the car. The CCC's aim is to save development costs, stave off a glut of similar-yet-competing technologies, and create keys that reflect the expanded use cases for cars, i.e., car-sharing services and to-your-car delivery. Next year's Release 2.0 Specification will standardize an authentication protocol between the phone and the vehicle — how a digital key is generated on a secure server and transmitted to the car and the device — and "promise more interoperability between cars and mobile devices." The CCC says that "NFC distance bounding and a direct link to the secure element of the device" will assure security. We take that to mean the phone will need to be in direct contact with the vehicle, at least to open the door. Carmakers and suppliers have been working on digital keys for years now, and the ecosystem for individual owners to open individual cars is growing. Audi showed off its Mobile Key at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show, and now calls it Audi Connect Key, but we haven't seen much of it in the field. That same year, Volvo said it expected to sell cars with digital keys only by 2017, which clearly didn't happen. Last year, the head of sales at BMW asked, "Honestly, how many people really need [keys]? They never take it out of their pocket, so why do I need to carry it around?" Even though a digital key offers an owner more convenience and long-distance control over their vehicle, car sharing is the target — and that can even include traditional rental cars. In 2013, Continental began testing a digital key in France, aimed at integrating and simplifying the electric-car-sharing business; everything from finding a free vehicle to driving it and charging it could be done on a phone. A key could be programmed with the driver's information, so that any car the driver gets in will be automatically updated with that driver's preferences, say for audio or seating position.

BMW plans range-topping M760i

The rumors have come from several different places throughout the year and they all point to the same thing: we can expect a BMW M760i in 2016 to sit at the top of the 7 Series range. One of the latest scraps of evidence comes from a forum member at Bimmerpost last month who wrote that an M760i would arrive for model year 2017, and it would be the only regular-wheelbase version with a 12-cylinder engine even if a 760i model joins the lineup. The long-wheelbase 760Li, however, would also get a 12-cylinder motor. This week, BMW Blog published what it says is an accidentally leaked image from the German BMW configurator (pictured) that shows an M760i badge. The actual model doesn't appear, but the configurator places the badge over the 7 Series model you choose to configure. This will be the second 7 series to wear an M badge, and whenever we see it, we're told it will get the M Sport Package and Ferric Grey accents. The first M-badged 7 Series was a limited edition for the Middle East sold two years ago. Both the M760Li and 760Li are tipped to use the 6.6-liter V12 found in the Rolls-Royce Ghost and Wraith - that engine being an evolution of the V12 that powered the last-generation 760Li - but their outputs will vary. The long-wheelbase 7 is expected to get 600 horsepower. The M760i is said to get 624 hp, matching the output of the Wraith, and maybe some handling refinements to make it a proper competitor for counterparts from Mercedes-AMG, Audi, and Jaguar. On top of all that there will still be an Alpina B7, rumored to have 600 horses of its own. Introduction of the range could take place at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show. Related Video: X The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. News Source: BMW Blog, BimmerpostImage Credit: BMW Blog Rumormill BMW Luxury Performance Sedan m performance bmw 760li bmw m760i bmw 760i

BMW reacquires original factory as classic center

BMW was barely two years old when it started manufacturing airplane engines in a factory on Moosacher Strasse in Munich. Two years after that, it sold the factory to Knorr-Bremse AG, a leading manufacturer of brakes for trains and commercial vehicles, and BMW moved into a new facility on Lerchenauer Strasse. There it expanded into the industrial giant we know today, building engines for cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats and planes. It's taken the better part of a century to get that original factory back, but that's exactly what BMW has done, reacquiring the expanded facility from Knorr-Bremse this month.
The factory on Moonsacher Strasse will now serve as the headquarters for BMW Group Classic, the division that handles archives and historical vehicles for BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce. From there, just a stone's throw from corporate headquarters and its main plant (as well as BMW Welt and the BMW Museum), the classic division's operations will include a restoration workshop, vintage parts store, the company's archives, administration as well as a place to hold events. In addition, there will be an exhibition space for historical vehicles from the company's considerable collection.
At the heart of the new/old campus is the gatehouse, which is a protected heritage site and will serve as a gateway into the company's history. Read the full details in the press release below.