Bmw 3-series Coupe on 2040-cars

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2014 BMW 328i xDrive Gran Turismo

"The Ultimate Driving Machine" has been BMW's tagline for nearly 40 years. Launched in the 1970s, the marketing campaign was a stroke of genius by ad firm Ammirati & Puris, as the phrase helped differentiate the imported Bavarian cars from their fellow European rivals by subtly pointing out that Mercedes-Benz and Audi were offering luxury models, while BMW was selling sporty and youthful driving dynamics. The campaign worked - some would argue that stands among the most effective ad campaigns ever - and countless Baby Boomers embraced the brand's fun-to-drive image by taking delivery of the company's new models.
BMW still boasts that its vehicles are "The Ultimate Driving Machine" four decades later, but the brand is very different today. It offered just a few model lines in the mid-1970s, and only a handful of vehicles within. In 2014, the automaker offers an exhaustive range comprised of nearly a dozen lines with almost 50 different models. To survive and thrive, BMW has decided it must massively broaden its appeal.
One of the latest arrivals to BMW's ever-growing stable is the 2014 3 Series Gran Turismo. The five-door hatchback is best thought of as a smaller version of the company's 5 Series Gran Turismo built on stretched 3 Series platform that, in the case of this test car, shares the running gear of the 328i xDrive sedan. On paper, the five-passenger vehicle checks all the proper boxes with regards to performance, utility and economy. But does this family-focused 3 Series still deliver driving dynamics that qualify it for the title of Ultimate Driving Machine?

Monsoon rains disrupt production for Ford, BMW in India

Even modern production techniques can be stymied by Mother Nature. This was demonstrated most recently in India, as torrential, monsoon rains caused a deluge that forced multiple automakers to suspend production. Ford, Renault, and BMW all halted work at their Indian facilities around the southern city of Chennai, also known as Madras. The annual rains disrupted public transport around the city, preventing employees from making the trek into city's factories. According to Automotive News, Chennai saw 48 inches of precipitation last month alone, which is more than Seattle, WA saw in all of 2014. While Ford and BMW closed things down for all of December 1, Renault just cancelled a pair of shifts at its Chennai factory. This is the second time in the past month that automakers in southeast India have been forced to stop production due to severe flooding, and things aren't likely to improve. According to The Weather Channel, forecasts call for thunderstorms over five of the next seven days, while the chance of rain won't fall below 80 percent until December 8. Ford, Renault, and BMW are far from the only automakers that could stand to be impacted by the rains. The city has been nicknamed "The Detroit of India" for its extreme automotive presence. Daimler, Hindustan, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, and Nissan all own factories in the region. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: STR / AFP / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing BMW Ford Renault

2015 BMW M3 Sedan

BMW's all-new M3 Sedan is dynamically nearly identical to its two-door M4 Coupe sibling: a stopwatch reveals that both are sub-four-second cars to 60 miles per hour, a racetrack proves that the mechanical twins are equally as adept on a road course and a full afternoon of driving on public roads demonstrates that each possesses talented everyday adaptability.
Yet after driving both BMW models back-to-back over two full days in Portugal, it's clear there are a few noticeable differences, both objective and subjective, that don't require instrument testing to reveal. All it takes is a few hours behind the wheel of both cars to conclude that one is slightly more agile, and the other a bit more twitchy. One has better outward visibility, while its counterpart is unquestionably more convenient.
It is the little things - subtleties attained through seat-of-the-pants observations - that eventually allow me to choose a favorite.