Posts Tagged ‘bmw review’

First Drive: BMW X3 xDrive35i

The Ultimate Freeway Machine Isn’t as Happy in Town.

by on Sep.09, 2011

The styling of the BMW X3 is an evolution of the original baby Bimmer sport ute.

It’s not surprising that BMW’s X3 xDrive35i loves to stretch its legs on the freeways and highways. After all, it was bred on Germany’s silky smooth and – in some places – speed limit-free Autobahn.

In that arena, the twin-turbo inline six provides effortless acceleration, there’s plenty of room for everyone and the X3’s many luxury features coddle occupants.

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So why does its personality completely change around town where it feels like a pit bull straining its leash?

The first-generation X3 was roundly criticized for its punishing ride and, in retrospect, the automaker admitted that the interior wasn’t as good as it should have been, either.

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First Drive: 2012 BMW 1-Series M

BMW’s most affordable M model sadly won’t be around long.

by on Jun.06, 2011

The BMW 1M is the smallest - and lowest-priced - model to carry the M designation.

The good news?  BMW has introduced the fastest small car in its line-up — and the most affordable car ever to wear the vaunted M badge.  The bad news?  It won’t be around for long.

More than two years in the making, we got the chance to take the 2011 BMW 1-Series M for a spin on the challenging Willow Springs Raceway, north of Los Angeles, discovering that both on and off the track it more than lives up to admittedly tough expectations.

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At just $47,010, including destination charges, the new 1M will likely have a lot of M aficionados checking their bank accounts hoping to find enough change hidden in the couch to plunk down a deposit.  But if you’re among them you’d better move fast, as the maker has an all-new 1-Series coming later this year.  The current 1M will be pulled from production, with no clear date set for its replacement.  (For more on the new 2012 BMW 1-Series, Click Here.)

Our day with the M started in suburban Los Angeles as we headed north through the back country canyons that can quickly test the mettle of even the most promising performance cars.  It didn’t take long to feel at one with the machine which, like all BMW M models, is clearly more than just muscle.

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BMW’s New 6-Series a High-Visibility No-Show at L.A. Auto Show

We have the pics, the details, but where’s the sheet metal?

by on Nov.19, 2010

BMW pulls a sneak preview for the new 2012 650i Convertible, which goes on sales early in 2011.

The much-anticipated L.A. Auto Show preview of the 2012 BMW 650i Convertible may have happened but no one seems to know where.  Despite a press release suggesting the debut took place, the German maker didn’t show up on the media preview schedule, nor did it pull it off a surprise unveiling by, say, hijacking some other manufacturer’s timeslot.

That said, we’ve got the details and pictures of the 6-Series drop-top and are pleased to pass them along.

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Set to launch next year as a 2012 model, the next-generation cabriolet is a decidedly cleaner and more elegant-looking offering than the old 6-er convertible.  The basic dimensions are classic BMW, with the long hood, rear-set passenger compartment and muscular fenders.  The vehicle is a bit larger than the outgoing convertible in most dimensions, the overall length, for example, growing 2.9 inches, to 192.6 inches.

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First Drive: 2012 BMW 1-Series M Coupe

But is there an M1 to follow?

by on Oct.12, 2010

Partially disguised, we get our first drive of the 2012 BMW 1-Series Coupe. But feel free to call it the M1...unoffiicially.

Other than the transformative 2002tii, few BMW models have been the subject of more lore than the original, hand-built M1 sports car sold between 1978 and 1981.

So, when word got around that a new BMW M coupe was clocking blistering speeds around the Nurburgring race circuit rumors began to circulate that the legendary nameplate was coming back.

Alas, as I learned during a visit to Spain’s Ascari race track, over the summer, BMW’s surprise was really a 1-Series coupe in crafty camouflage.  In the German logic, the name M1 has been permanently set aside, like the number of a baseball Hall-of-Famer.  So, what we’re about to get is the new BMW 1-Series M Coupe.

Once we got past that dance with semantics our next question was simple: when can we go for a drive?  We got our answer, earlier this month, in Munich, at the formal unveiling of the smallest model to emerge from the vaunted M GmbH.

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Surprisingly, even at the 1-Series M Coupe’s unveiling, BMW still was holding back on a number of technical details – and the product I got to drive still wore some camo.

The full and final presentation won’t come until mid-December.  But with a wee bit of seat time and a few subtle questions for spokesperson Stefan Behr and development chief Albert Biermann we were able to get a pretty solid sense of what to come.

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