This Pristine 2013 560hp M5 Wants You! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

BMW i3 takes to the track, circles it in a way you don't expect

So, who wants to see a BMW i3 race around a track. That's what we thought. It's not a long video, but it is entertaining, and the way the urban EV does a 'loop' at second 25 certainly caught out eye. The i3 is scheduled to go on sale in the US later this year and will start at $41,350. The diminutive electric vehicle has a top speed of 93 miles per hour and can hit 62 mph in 7.2 seconds. We found it a hoot to drive, but we're not sure if hardcore BMW performance fans will totally 'get' this car's performance. The i3 is great at what it does, but it wasn't born to hit the race track. After seeing this video, though, we want a crack at it, skinny wheels and all. You can get a behind-the-scenes glimpse here, where Chris Neff writes, "The i3 basically turns in on itself. This is one sharp turning radius, take a look at 24 seconds into the video. We were actually trying to get the i3 to do doughnuts, but the computer would not let the rear brake loose, still, you can see how it held and how sharp we were turning....about 27 times in a row." Watch all 49 seconds below. And wonder with us if whatever aerial device was used to get the shot that ends at four seconds in was destroyed just after the video cuts away.

As US exports top 2 million, is America becoming the world's source of cheap cars?

North American auto production is booming with 2014 figures just shy of the of the 17.3-million vehicle record set in 2000. With more models being built on the continent, even more are being shipped overseas. Factories in the US exported 2.1 million cars last year – the highest number ever. About half of those went to Canada and Mexico, but more than ever have been heading to places like the Middle East and China. The upswing comes in part from from after-effects from the Great Recession, according to The Wall Street Journal. With a weak dollar and lower production costs after the financial crisis, building vehicles in the US was relatively cheaper and more competitive in the world. At the same time buyers around the world are going crazy for crossovers. According to the WSJ, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are already exporting the majority of their US production of these models overseas. Both automakers have also announced investments to expand production further here to send more vehicles abroad. Even Honda has been shipping more models out of the country than it imported here. There is a concern this international strength could start slowing because the dollar is strengthening against other currencies, though it's too early to know what the actual effect of this could be, according to the WSJ. "Of course, we closely watch currency exchange, but we don't make changes in production or allocation based on temporary fluctuations in the exchange rate," Ford North American boss Joe Hinrichs told the newspaper. Related Video: News Source: The Wall Street Journal - sub. req.Image Credit: BMW Plants/Manufacturing BMW Ford Honda Mercedes-Benz exports us auto production

Junkyard Gem: 1982 BMW 633CSi

The E24 6 Series was one of the best-looking cars ever to grace a BMW showroom, and it was the car for successful Californians with a sense of style— whether boardroom heroes or purveyors of not-so-legal substances— to show off their wealth and taste. The E24 is quite collectible now, but the cost of restoration for a worn-out one is so high that many solid examples end up here. I spotted this '82 in a San Francisco Bay Area self-service yard last week. The 3.2-liter straight-six engine in this car was rated at 181 horsepower, which was quite a bit in a year when a new Cadillac Eldorado had just 120hp and a Datsun 280ZX Turbo a mere 180. There wasn't much serious competition in 1982 for a powerful imported luxury coupe with gangsterish overtones. If you were a bent banker treating your savings-and-loan as a personal cash machine in 1982, your mainstream choices were limited to this car, a Mercedes-Benz 380SLC, or a Jaguar XJ-S. For those who hit the big time, the Ferrari 400i and Rolls-Royce Camargue were available... but you'd see a hundred 633CSis for each of those in the wild. What time is it? Time for The Crusher! Related Video: Featured Gallery 1982 BMW 633CSi in California Junkyard View 17 Photos Auto News BMW Coupe Economy Cars Classics