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M-fographic breaks down the history of BMW performance machinery

Few characters carry the kind of clout among performance enthusiasts as the letter M. For 35 years now, that one letter has adorned over 300,000 BMWs, each tuned to deliver a higher degree of performance than the stock models on which they're based.
The M division has worked up nearly 100 different models over the past third of a century, which can leave even the most expert among Bimmer fanatics bewildered. Fortunately British auto loan service Carfinance247 has commissioned this handy infographic to make sense of it all, and you can check it out below to see what the letter M really stands for.

BMW X6 M said to lap the 'Ring in 8:20

Bimmer Today reports that the German rag Auto Zeitung ran an Audi RS3 and a BMW X6 M around the Nurburgring together, and the hotted-up sports activity vehicle came in just five seconds behind the white-hot hatch. Driven by 'Ring regular Horst von Saurma, the RS3 ran its lap in 8 minutes, 15 seconds, and the X6 M ran an 8:20. If those times are accurate, that makes the X6 M the second fastest production SUV on the lap-time list according to Wikipedia: ahead of it is the 550-hp Range Rover Sport SVR, which ran a time of 8:14. That time puts BMW's 575-horsepower, 5,200-pound SUV four seconds ahead of the time registered by the last-gen, 555-hp X6 M, and well ahead of the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S that Sport Auto clocked an 8:34 with. It would not, however, match the predictions that X6 M project manager Herbert Bayerl made for it in an interview with Sport Auto earlier this year. Bayerl said "The new BMW X6 M moves at the level of M3," speaking of the E92 BMW M3 that Sport Auto ran around the 'Ring in 8:05. It is, though, two seconds faster than the E46 M3, which lapped in 8:22. Bayerl called out the Range Rover Sport SVR directly, saying, "We have been traveling much faster in testing and have undercut the time of Range Rover several times," and "We don't need any special attachments to go faster." Auto Zeitung's report on the lap is only for subscribers so we'll have to wait for more official news. For the apples-to-apples comparison we'll be looking forward to Sport Auto's hot lap, then we'll know if the Range Rover has anything to fear. Related Video:

BMW confirms limited i3 Electronaut Edition, says i5* is in development [UPDATE]

Jacob Harb, head of electric vehicle operations and strategy for BMW, is excited these days. He's got a lot to sort out as the company's first large-scale production electric vehicle, the i3. Extending Electronaut leases, arranging tens of thousands of EV test drives and making sure there will be enough of the little city cars in the US when customer deliveries will start in May. Oh, and he's already working on the next BMW EV, which we think is likely to be the i5. During the Detroit Auto Show this week, Harb declined to name the model (surprise) but he did tell AutoblogGreen, "You can probably take an educated guess at the next thought process, something a little bigger, maybe a little more range, relative to the i3. We've got everything trademarked and we're exploring the best, next iteration. It is coming. It's in development now." [See update below.] An i5 has been rumored for years, but Harb said he's flying to Munich next week to "start the discussions further" on BMW's next-gen EVs. The Electronaut Edition i3 is "a thank you to them for being part of this broad journey with us" - BMW's Jacob Harb But there's much more to do, given the upcoming i3 launch. For one thing, leases for the first participants in BMW's Active E electronaut program - which started in January 20121 - will end in the next week or so, and those who want to get an i3 – and an "overwhelming majority" have said they are interested - may get their leases extended so they don't have to revert back to a gas car in the meantime. BMW dealers will be able to start ordering the i3 in "the next few days" and the Active E Electronauts will get the first of those cars off the production line, "as a thank you to them for being part of this broad journey with us," Harb said. There will also be a special Electronaut Edition of the i3, that will be upgraded from the standard i3 at not cost. Harb wouldn't say what's different, just that the "options and features" will serve to identify the car from the outside. It will be "as unique and compelling as possible," he said, with details coming in the next few weeks. The i3 is already on sale in Europe, the company won't start making US-bound vehicles until March. Since there are no official i3 orders in the system yet, Harb didn't know exactly what the split will be between pure EV and the range extender version, but that his estimate is 50/50. He also wouldn't talk about production numbers, but did say that.