2008 Bmw M6 on 2040-cars

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Dealers mobilize to protect their margins from automaker subscription services

Six individual auto brands — Lincoln, Cadillac, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW and Volvo — have established or are trialing a vehicle subscription service in the U.S. Three third-party companies — Flexdrive, Clutch and Carma — run brand-agnostic subscription services. And three automakers — Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and General Motors — have also launched short-term rental services. Dealers, afraid of how these trends might affect their margins, are building political and lawmaking campaigns to protect their revenue streams. So far, three states are investigating automaker subscriptions, and Indiana has banned any such service until next year. It's certain that those three states are the first fronts in a long political and legal battle. Powerful dealer franchise laws mandate the existence of dealers and restrict how automakers are allowed to interact with customers to sell a vehicle. On top of that, Bob Reisner, CEO of Nassau Business Funding & Services, said, "Dealers and their associations are among the strongest political operators in many states. They as a group are difficult for state politicians to vote against." In California earlier this year, the state Assembly debated a bill with wide-ranging provisions to protect against what the California New Car Dealers Association called "inappropriate treatment of dealers by manufacturers." One of those provisions stipulated that subscription services need to go through dealers, but that item got stripped out when dealers and manufacturers agreed to discuss the matter further. In Indiana, Gov. Eric Holcomb signed a moratorium on all subscription programs by dealers or manufacturers until May 1, 2019, to give legislators more time to investigate. Dealers in New Jersey have taken their campaign to the state capitol, asking that the cars in subscription programs get a different classification for registration purposes. Automakers run the current subscription services and own the vehicles. Sign-ups and financial transactions happen online or through apps, leaving dealers to do little more than act as fulfillment centers to various degrees, with little legal recourse as to compensation amounts when they're called on to deliver or service a car. That's a bad base to build on for business owners who've sunk millions of dollars into their operations.

BMW i8 pitted against M4 in sibling rivalry track battle

We recently watched Auto Bild challenge the BMW i8 against the M4 in a German drag race of decide the quicker of the inter-brand rivals. The hybrid took a commanding victory in that fight. However, Autocar now has a new battle for the two coupes. The siblings are together again on the Castle Combe Circuit to find out which of them offers the more enjoyable experience at the track. Unfortunately, we don't ever get a perfect point of comparison in the video because host Steve Sutcliffe never does a full lap in anger with either of them to set a time. Instead, he focuses more on how the BMWs feel behind the wheel. Sutcliffe also admits midway through the clip that the i8's electric motor is out of juice to power the front axle's electric motor. That only leaves the hybrid with its 228-horsepower and 236-pound-feet-of-torque turbocharged three-cylinder to spin the rear wheels. Still, Sutcliffe spends ample time explaining the benefits and downfalls of driving these coupes. See where his opinion falls between the M4 as the traditional German sports coupe and the i8 as the new-school hybrid in the video, above.

2015 BMW 740Ld xDrive

When it first came stateside in 1978, choosing a BMW 7 Series was a simple process. With one engine and one wheelbase, you could just pick what color you want and be on your merry way. Today there are ten different models, forcing drivers to choose among four engines (plus a hybrid), rear- or all-wheel-drive, and two different wheelbase lengths. As if this isn't tricky enough, the options list has more custom choices than the Taco Bell app. Do you want standard paint and upholstery, or something from the pricey BMW Individual collection? What about the headlights: Do you want LEDs, or are the standard xenons just fine? Need a head-up display? Night vision? Adaptive dampers? The list goes on and on. After a week with a new version of BMW's flagship sedan, we've sorted out which model you actually want, although it's still up to you whether or not to order a ceramic-glazed iDrive knob. Our favorite 7 Series is now the 740Ld Xdrive, a conclusion we came to after a week at the helm of the smooth, torquey land yacht. Driving Notes When the diesel 7 first arrived at the 2014 Chicago Auto Show, its engine was already familiar to American consumers. It's the same 3.0-liter, turbodiesel inline-six found in everything from the E90 3 Series to the past two generations of X5, as well as the current 5 Series. A robust 413 pound-feet of torque lathered across the rev range, with peak twist available between 1,500 and 3,000 rpm, and the corresponding horsepower tops out at 255. 0Í–60 happens in a sedate 6.1 seconds, and for those with autobahn dreams the top speed is a modest 130 mph. While those figures aren't terribly impressive, as is often the case with diesels, the real-world application of the engine's power is far more dramatic. Even small throttle inputs produce a smooth surge of acceleration, making the 740Ld feel a lot quicker than the performance metrics might indicate. Even with the current cheap price of gas, the superior fuel efficiency of a diesel engine is worth noting, especially as this model only costs $1500 more than a 740Li xDrive. The diesel tips the scales at nearly 4,700 pounds, yet it boasts a 31-mile-per-gallon highway rating. It's rated at 23 mpg in the city, while our real-world testing saw returns in the mid-to-high 20s. Simple anecdotes about acceleration and fuel economy figures only convey a small part of the 740Ld's goodness.