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2015 BMW M4 Convertible is here to put wind in your sails

Each generation of the BMW M3 has included a convertible model. Even the distant E30, the patriarch of the M3 line, had an ultra-rare (only 787 were built) droptop model. The convertible became more common on the successive generations, with the hardtop-convertible E93 being the most recent. Considering this history, there seemed very little doubt that as the M3 became the M4, a convertible would be in the cards. Now, the new droptop has arrived.
Set for its global debut at the 2014 New York Auto Show, the 2015 BMW M4 Convertible features, like its forbearers, everything that's great about the hardtop variant while adding an unlimited amount of head room. That means the same 3.0-liter, 425-horsepower, 406-pound-foot, twin-turbocharged straight six sits under its domed hood, while either a six-speed stick or a seven-speed M dual-clutch transmission dispatches power to the fat rear tires.
As for specific differences between the hardtop and the new convertible, obviously, the droptop is heavier. A lot heavier. Where an M4 with a six-speed manual tips the scales at 3,530 pounds, the M4 Convertible weighs in at 4,055 pounds. Believe it or not, BMW has actually trimmed 90 pounds from the last-generation M3 convertible, code-named E93. This marginal weight reduction from the third-generation convertible to the fourth is barely half of the 174 pounds BMW was able to subtract when transitioning from M3 Coupe to M4 Coupe.

BMW planning to stretch i3 into i5 family hauler?

If you're sweet on the new BMW i3 but wish it had more space to carry people and stuff, we've got good news for you. According to Autocar, BMW is planning on stretching the platform that underpins the i3 to create a new model, expected to be called i5.
The stretch job would add an extra four inches of legroom in the back and another six inches of rear overhang to the benefit of cargo space. The result would create a vehicle longer than the current Mini Countryman - although the next Countryman is likely to be even larger. As Autocar points out, the process of extending the i3's composte passenger cell likely wouldn't be as difficult or cost-intensive as lengthening a conventional metal chassis, although the rear doors would need to be re-engineered.
Whether the resulting vehicle would more closely resemble a hatchback, wagon, minivan or something in between remains to be seen, however BMW is said to have already registered the nameplates i1 through i8, signalling that the possibility is at least there to add more members to its new EV family.

BMW and Mini shuffle NA management, McDowell to retire

BMW and Mini recently shuffled top personnel in their design departments, and now BMW of North America will reorganize its management to improve customer relations. Peter Miles (pictured), currently the executive vice president of operations, will take a newly created position, vice president of sales channel development and customer relations, while Jim McDowell, vice president of Mini of the Americas, will retire.
Chris Koenders, president of BMW Group Netherlands, will move take Miles' spot as executive vice president of operations. David Duncan, western region vice president, will take McDowell's job as vice president of Mini of the Americas. Finishing off the management switcharoo is Peter Witt, who will move from his current position as Managing Director of BMW Sweden to take Duncan's job as western region vice president.
"We are intensifying our customer-driven focus and these changes will influence the entire organization to continue improving all phases of the customer journey from prospect to purchase and throughout the ownership cycle," says Ludwig Willisch, president and CEO of BMW NA. For more information on the management reorganization, check out the press release below.