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Next BMW M3 sedan to be plug-in hybrid?

BMW has a lot in mind for the next-generation 3 Series and 4 Series cars, and we're hearing about it now even though they're not expected for another three or four years. The sedan is expected to be lighter, wider, with a longer wheelbase and a lower center of gravity. Rumored tech updates include the water injection system debuted in production on the BMW 1 Series, and the 4 Series convertible might go back to a fabric top. Now The Detroit Bureau reports BMW insiders have revealed that the next M3 will get a plug-in hybrid drivetrain. We've heard about plug-in variants in the mix for the G20 3 Series using a small displacement four-cylinder, but not on the M3 and possibly M4. The goal is familiar, according to the "several senior company officials:" to improve the performance while reducing the emissions footprint. Apparently, the power unit being worked on uses a "similar engine" to the 425-horsepower, 3.0-liter inline six employed at the moment, with power sent to the rear wheels. Electric assistance would come from a KERS-like unit that would also - and only - send power to the rear wheels. Torque is said to go up at least 73 pound-feet from the 406 lb-ft available currently, and all-electric range might be as much as 20 miles. Plenty of carbon fiber will help offset the weight of the lithium-ion batteries. Despite company obfuscations, we know BMW is working on a hybrid powertrain for a vehicle rumored to be called either i5 or i7, and would use one or two electric motors to drive the front wheels while the traditional ICE drives the rear wheels. This potential M3 and M4 powertrain would be an offshoot of that engineering. Automobile speculates there will be electric turbochargers and a horsepower number around 500. Related Video:

There's no substitution for BMW's E30 Mmmmm3

If you told someone that you had a friend with a four-cylinder BMW who "would let me wash the car," and in exchange for the privilege then let you drive that clean BMW once around the block, your first question would probably be "What kind of BMW is this?" There's a chance you wouldn't be surprised once you found out the coupe in question was the E30 M3, a car our own Zach Bowman dubbed the "Mmmmm3."
Petrolicious talks to Gabor Mester about the car he fell in love with, a black version of the original "Munich mauler" that was owned by the parents of a high-school friend - oh, and Mester was also in high school when this washing and driving took place. When the original owners were ready to sell, Mestor was ready to buy, and he hasn't had a single regret about it since.
You can enjoy his story in his words in the video below.

Poor headlights cause 40 cars to miss IIHS Top Safety Pick rating

Over the past few months, we've noticed a number of cars and SUVs that have come incredibly close to earning one of the IIHS's highest accolades, the Top Safety Pick rating. They have great crash test scores and solid automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems. What trips them up is headlights. That got us wondering, how many vehicles are there that are coming up short because they don't have headlights that meet the organization's criteria for an "Acceptable" or "Good" rating. This is a revision made after 2017, a year in which headlights weren't factored in for this specific award. This is also why why some vehicles, such as the Ford F-150, might have had the award last year, but have lost it for this year. We reached out to someone at IIHS to find out. He responded with the following car models. Depending on how you count, a whopping 40 models crash well enough to receive the rating, but don't get it because their headlights are either "Poor" or "Marginal." We say depending on how you count because the IIHS actual counts truck body styles differently, and the Infiniti Q70 is a special case. Apparently the version of the Q70 that has good headlights doesn't have adequate forward collision prevention technology. And the one that has good forward collision tech doesn't have good enough headlights. We've provided the entire list of vehicles below in alphabetical order. Interestingly, it seems the Volkswagen Group is having the most difficulty providing good headlights with its otherwise safe cars. It had the most models on the list at 9 split between Audi and Volkswagen. GM is next in line with 7 models. It is worth noting again that though these vehicles have subpar headlights and don't quite earn Top Safety Pick awards, that doesn't mean they're unsafe. They all score well enough in crash testing and forward collision prevention that they would get the coveted award if the lights were better.