2007 - Bmw 7-series on 2040-cars

Auto blog

BMW takes 30th Anniversary Edition M5 out to drift

If you only look at the videos from BMW, it appears that the best way to celebrate the 30th birthday of the M5 is some smoky drifting, and it sure looks like a great way to mark the occasion to us. Now that the Bavarian brand's new 30th anniversary special edition is all set to hit the road, the most powerful M5 ever is getting it own chance to roast its tires on video, as well.
The M5 30th Anniversary Edition shouldn't have any problem hanging its rear end out, really. Under the hood, its twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8 is turned up to 600 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque and can allegedly sprint to 60 miles per hour in a scant 3.7 seconds. That's pretty impressive for any sports car but especially for a sedan that can still carry four passengers comfortably cosseted in leather and Alcantara upholstery.
BMW is making just 300 of these celebratory models worldwide, and appropriately for the anniversary, only 30 of them are going to be available in the US. If the special M5 doesn't make your heart race, the video basks in a little nostalgia, as well, by showing off the original model for some historical context.

BMW Individual gives 760Li a Sterling reputation

Standard chrome too plebeian for your taste? You can order a Rolls-Royce with its Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament made out of just about anything you want: gold, silver, glass... you name it. But if your sense of style is a bit less Anglo and a bit more Saxon, BMW has another option for you.
Feast your eyes on the BMW Individual 760Li Sterling edition. (But don't look directly at it. Don't you dare.) Crafted in partnership between BMW Individual and the silversmiths at Robbe & Berking, the special 7 Series is adorned with hammered sterling silver trim inside and out. The twin-kidney grille, the emblems, the interior trim panels... all hand-made in silver. So you won't want to park this particular Bimmer in the wrong neighborhood, because unlike the Rolls ornament, these don't retract safely under the hood.
The special edition gets a dark grey exterior tint and brown leather interior, the best to highlight the silver brightwork. Otherwise it's mechanically identical to any other 760Li (or so we would presume, as the press release didn't mention specifically), that being the flagship version of BMW's flagship sedan, complete with 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 at the front end of a long wheelbase. Check it out in the gallery above, including the build process at both BMW Individual and Robbe & Berking, and press release below.

BMW i8 headed to Frankfurt

According to Edmunds, BMW will reveal its production i8 hybrid sports car at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month. The i8 is the second vehicle to come from the automaker's new "i" initiative, following the debut of the smaller i3 hatchback last month.
The BMW i8 makes its debut nearly four years after the original Vision EfficientDynamics concept bowed at the Frankfurt expo in 2009. The production car is expected to use a 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine that drives the rear wheels, coupled to an electric motor that drives the front wheels. Combined output is said to be something like 393 horsepower and 406 pound-feet of torque, based on our earlier reports. The i8 is also expected to be very light, with curb weight coming in somewhere around 3,125 pounds. Finally, the i8 is said to have a pure electric range of 20 miles, and should be able to hit 62 miles per hour in just under five seconds.
Other publications had the chance to ride along in the i8 (in prototype form) and came away impressed. We're hoping we'll feel the same when the car officially goes on sale sometime in early 2014. Stay tuned for more at the i8's official unveiling in just a few weeks.