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Your guide to vehicle subscription services

They might be extremely limited in scope because of location availability, but vehicle subscription services are a growing trend that most luxury manufacturers are jumping on. Plans are expensive, but you're paying for much more than just the car typically. We highlighted four of the larger plans with a few more listed at the end. Care by Volvo Volvo launched its subscription service last year with its brand-new XC40. It was the only vehicle available for a time, but subscribers can now get an S60 sedan as well. Subscriptions are for two years, with the monthly price including insurance, a concierge service, wear-and-tear item replacements and all maintenance. You'll be able to drive 15,000 miles per year with whichever Volvo you choose, and although there are no options to extend that mileage, you can swap cars after a year. Pricing for the XC40 is $650 per month in base trim, while an S60 can be as expensive as $850 for the R-Design. Volvo's plan is to offer more cars soon through the service, but it's relatively limited compared to others right now. Porsche Passport Porsche has two levels in its subscription service: Launch and Accelerate. Launch will cost $2,000 per month and give you access to the Cayman, Boxster, Macan and Cayenne. All of those but the Cayenne can be had in "S" trim as well. Accelerate is where the fun really starts. For $3,000 per month you can choose from a fleet of 911s, including the S, 4S, Cabriolet and Cabriolet S. If those aren't enough, you can also get the Panamera 4S, Macan GTS and Cayenne S. There are no mileage limits and you can change vehicles as often as you'd like. Also included in the price is insurance, repairs, detailing and any maintenance. It might be extremely expensive and limited to Atlanta only, but this subscription service is second-to-none for what you get. Audi Select Audi just launched its subscription car service, and it's offered in one version for a flat fee of $1,395 per month. For that you'll have access to five different cars including the A4, S5 Coupe, A5 Cabriolet, Q5, and Q7. Not a bad range of vehicles, but it would've been neat to see the recently updated A7 in there too. Maybe in time. Like the others, insurance and maintenance are wrapped up in the price. Audi is allowing for unlimited miles and two car swaps per month here. In addition to that, you'll get two days of free rentals through Audi's Silvercar rental agency should you go on a trip.

2014 BMW 5 Series starts at $50,425* and gets a new diesel, 5 Series GT starts at $60,925* [w/video]

BMW itself says it is making "Precise modifications to the design" of the facelifted, sixth-generation 5 Series, and this is the result. The 2014 5 Series will come in four flavors - sedan, Touring, Gran Turismo and ActiveHybrid 5 - the biggest news probably the addition of a diesel engine for the US market.
When they go on sale in August, the 528i sedan will start at $50,425, a $1,700 increase over the 2013 model, and if you want xDrive that adds $2,300 to the price across the model range. The 535d employs a 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline six-cylinder diesel with 255 horsepower and 413 pound-feet of torque and starts at $56,025. BMW portends "substantial fuel efficiency gains over its gasoline-fueled counterpart," but the exact numbers won't come until closer to the on-sale date. The $64,825, top-dog 550i holds pat with 4.4-liter, twin turbo V8, with output upped to 445 hp and 480 lb-ft - an increase of 45 hp and 30 lb-ft of torque. The outputs haven't changed on the twin-turbo four-cylinder in the 528 nor the 3.0-liter six-cylinder gasoline engine in the 535, and *all prices include the $925 destination charge. The engines are also fitted with a coasting mode that uncouples the powertrain when rolling downhill.
Outside there are new "contour lines" for the grille and air intakes, slimmer taillights and elements that accentuate the car's width - as if that were necessary. Xenon adaptive headlights will be standard along with side indicator lights on the rearview mirrors, the options list adds LED headlights, the Luxury Line and Modern Line packages. The former package adds chrome trim to certain exterior elements, the latter adds matte chrome trim.

2015 BMW M4 Coupe ditches some doors, gains some grunt

If you saw our earlier post about the hot new BMW M3 Sedan and were about to call blasphemy for no coupe version, just settle down, silly. Remember: BMW now badges its two-door 3 Series models with the number four, and thus, meet the 2015 M4 Coupe. Looks hot, right?
So yeah, it's pretty much just the M3 with two less doors, but that doesn't make it any less important - or potent. Power comes from a turbocharged, 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine, sending 425 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque to the rear wheels via either a six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. You know, the usual.
Not only is the M4 more powerful than the M3 Coupe it replaces, it's a good deal lighter, too. BMW has managed to cut 176 pounds of weight out of the M4, and that means, with the increased output numbers, that the M4 will scoot to 60 miles per hour in 3.9 seconds with the DCT or 4.1 seconds with the do-it-yourself tranny. Either way, that's not what we'd call slow.