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Next BMW 5 Series hits the 'Ring

Here are our latest photos showing the new BMW 5 Series, codenamed G30, testing at the Nurburgring. Based on the fairy door on the left front fender, we'll take this as the purported PHEV version that we caught last time around on German city streets. According to the insiders at BMW Blog, the 5er hybrid will take heavy inspiration from the X5 xDrive40e, including the 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with electric assistance and a combined power rating of about 300 horsepower. The lighter CLAR architecture making its way under the 3, 5, 6, and 7 Series models is expected to remove anywhere from 80 to 100 kilograms in the 5, enabling non-US markets to partake of the 150-hp, turbodiesel three-cylinder engine at the entry-level end. However, the engine symphony will run up the scale through four-, six-, and eight-cylinder registers that include a 400-hp M550 diesel and a 600-hp V8 in the M5. The tech story is 'Go Go Gadget G30,' with rumors of autonomous abilities like being able to overtake other cars on its own – and signaling beforehand – and parking itself. Inductive charging through a floor-mounted plate, as shown at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, a new iDrive layout with a touchscreen and gesture-enabled functions, and over-the-air updates are also expected. We could see it revealed at next year's Geneva Motor Show, or maybe the 2016 Auto China, in Beijing, or sooner.

Formula Drift kicks off 11th season on Streets of Long Beach

The 2014 Formula Drift series kicked off last weekend in Long Beach, and saw Chris Forsberg, who you'll recall went mad and drifted around a warehouse in an Infiniti M, take the title behind the wheel of his Hankook Tire Nissan 370Z (shown above).
Forsberg really ran away with the first round of competition, outscoring his closest opponent, second-place finisher Kenneth Moen and his Bridges Racing Nissan 240SX, by 20 points. Third place was 2013 championship winner Michael Essa and his Yokohama BMW M3, 30.5 points behind Forsberg.
In the manufacturers' title, Nissan took an early lead with 122 points, which isn't a huge surprise considering five of the top ten drifters were piloting either a Z or a product of the brand's S platform. Ford, which had two drivers (Justin Pawlak and Vaughn Gittin, Jr.) in the top ten, took home second place, while BMW is currently third in the manufacturers' standings.

BMW details Concept X5 eDrive ahead of New York debut

Already weighing more than most other types of vehicles and with the space to accommodate the extra equipment, crossovers and SUVs arguably make for one of the more ideal platforms to transform into a hybrid. And there have been a handful of them - like the Audi Q5, Infiniti QX60/Nissan Pathfinder, Porsche Cayenne/Volkswagen Touareg, Lexus RX450h/Toyota Highlander and Cadillac Escalade/Chevy Tahoe/GMC Yukon - but by and large the majority of hybrids on the market are sedans and hatchbacks. BMW, however, looks poised to join the minority with the X5.
The Bavarian automaker showcased the X5 eDrive concept at Frankfurt last year, and as promised, has now revealed the followup it will present at the New York Auto Show in just a few days. The new Concept X5 eDrive, as BMW has now revealed, pairs a 2.0-liter turbo four good for 245 horsepower to a 95-hp electric motor to deliver a combined 340 horsepower. Its lithium-ion battery can power it for up to 20 miles and at speeds up to 75 miles per hour before the gasoline engine needs to kick in. All that without sacrificing the vehicle's utility, maintaining an almost perfectly flat loading floor with 40:20:40 split-folding rear seats, and without sacrificing much on performance, either: with a 0-62 time of seven seconds flat, the X5 eDrive concept is quicker off the line than the production X5 with the 2.5-liter turbodiesel and just a tenth off of the 3.0-liter turbodiesel.
With the full technical details now released (you can delve into it all in the press release below), the only question remains when BMW will actually put the X5 eDrive into production. Given its appearance in New York, though, we gather that whenever it does reach showrooms, it'll reach American ones as well.