2000 Bmw 5-series M5 on 2040-cars

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2013 BMW M3 Coupe Lime Rock Park Edition

Sic Transit Gloria
I like difficult cars. I like turbo "moments," dramatic weight distribution, low-grip, peaky power delivery, and overly quick steering, along with ultra-short wheelbases and any number of other non-racecar-perfect dynamic foibles. I love the newest generation of BMW cars and engines - all turbo'd up with tons of torque and power everywhere in the rev range, too. But what I think the enthusiast community will miss when this 2013 M3 Coupe becomes the 2014 M4 Coupe - replacing its idiosyncratic, small-displacement, revvy V8 for something like a triple-turbo, directly injected, inline six-cylinder powerhouse in the process - is the work it takes to drive the car fast and perfectly. Sometimes small flaws just make things better; my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun, and all that.
The idea of this E92 M3 going away then, magnified by the loss of the M3 badge for the coupe, is at best bittersweet for me. This generation of M car is already surpassed in terms of raw thrills by the better-than-ever Mercedes-Benz C63, a car that doesn't ask its driver to sacrifice low-end grunt or the very latest in amenities in return for stellar backroad performance. Yet any time I've been lucky enough to lap a track in the M3, it has quickly become clear that the Bimmer is the better on-edge tool. With the freedom to wring the neck of the 4.0-liter V8 and room to exercise the lovely balance of the car, the E92 is hard to match (even six years after its debut).

Thanks to smaller engines, vehicle dependability falls for first time in 16 years

As automakers have made engines smaller and smaller to improve fuel economy, problems in those vehicles have gotten bigger and bigger. That's the synopsis of a J.D. Power vehicle-dependability study, which found that dependability dropped for the first time in 16 years, largely because the proliferation of four-cylinder engines is causing the vehicles to be less reliable. Specifically, the number of problems per 100 vehicles (or what J.D. Power calls PP100) during the past 12 months for 2011 model-year vehicles rose six percent from the year-earlier figures for 2010 model-year cars. Singling out four-cylinder vehicles revealed about a 10-percent increase in problems during the past year. This issues largely related to engine hesitation, rough transmission shifting and lack of power, signaling the inability of vehicle makers to iron out some of the problems in their smaller engines as they strove for better fuel economy. Six- and five-cylinder engines proved far more reliable. Among car brands, BMW's Mini sub-brand came out as least reliable, with 185 problems per 100 vehicles during the past year. Toyota's Lexus badge was easily the most reliable, with just 68 problems per 100 vehicles. Coming in second place was Mercedes-Benz. The overall average was 133. Check out J.D. Power's press release below. J.D. Power Reports: Increased Engine and Transmission Problems Contribute to Decline in Vehicle Dependability for The First Time in More Than 15 Years General Motors Company Receives Eight Segment Awards, While Toyota Motor Corporation Garners Seven and Honda Motor Company Earns Six WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.: o Owners of 3-year-old vehicles (2011 model year) report more problems than did owners of 3-year-old vehicles last year, according to the J.D. Power 2014 U.S. Vehicle Dependability StudySM (VDS) released today. The study, now in its 25th year, examines problems experienced during the past 12 months by original owners of 2011 model-year vehicles. Overall dependability is determined by the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower score reflecting higher quality. The study finds that overall vehicle dependability averages 133 PP100, a 6 percent increase in problems from 126 PP100 in 2013. This marks the first time since the 1998 study that the average number of problems has increased. "Until this year, we have seen a continual improvement in vehicle dependability," said David Sargent, vice president of global automotive at J.D.

BMW i3, i8 sales strong enough to reach almost 17,800 in 2014

BMW makes its futuristic i brand vehicles – the i3 and i8 – at a plant in Leipzig, Germany. But the customers most willing to buy one of these plug-in cars live in the country where the lightweight carbon fiber used in the body structure is made: the United States. Speaking at the Detroit Auto Show this week, Ian Robertson, member of the Board of Management at BMW AG, said, "The US is already our largest market for our electric vehicles, the BMW i3 and BMW i8. Worldwide, we sold close to 18,000 BMW i models last year. Nearly three-quarters of these sales occurred in the second half of the year, when the global rollout – including the US – really got underway. Demand for these vehicles continues to be high and I'm delighted that we've been able to increase production to meet that demand." That sounds great, but the numbers aren't huge. BMW sold 6,092 i3s and 555 i8s (for a total of 6,647 i vehicles) in the US last year. Globally, BMW sold over two million vehicles in 2014, and 17,793 of those were plug-in i vehicles (16,052 of the i3 and 1,741 i8s). The production increase wasn't huge. BMW was making just 10 i8 vehicles a day at the beginning, but doubled that to 20 last fall. Since last spring (around April or May), the company has been making over 100 i3s a day, BMW spokesperson Verena Von L'estocq tells AutoblogGreen. Getting production right this first year has meant slow going, but "We're comfortable now," she said, adding that BMW expects more production increases in the future. Related Video: