We spend quite a lot of time talking about new cars, new technology, facelifts and concepts around here. In fact, only this week we spoke a lot about spyshots of future models.

Maybe it’s time to take a second look at models that are currently available. Or maybe we should look at a few of the great ideas of the past.

Could we ever mix those two together? It seems that we can, especially considering what a certain owner of a custom E92 BMW M3 has to show us.

He’s done a bit of work on his. At the front end he fitted an IND Sport Evo splitter and he changed the shock absorbers were traded in for ones which change the stance of the car.

Maybe he wanted to make the car less drivable or maybe he really likes scraping speed bumps. Or maybe he wants to eliminate the gaps between the wheels and body to make for a cleaner look.

Inside this custom E92 BMW M3 we find that the seats were replaced by OEM fox red wrapped sportster CS ones and some very interesting details.

White trim covered in droplets of color can be seen spanning across the dashboard, the door panels and somewhere more concealed.

The engine bay also gets a similar appearance straight at the top of the powerplant. The headline here however is the exterior paint.

It’s Techno Violet, a stunning color BMW used to offer back in the 90s when the E36 was out and about and a color which I’d love to see make a comeback.

As seen on M3Post

About Post Author

Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post E92 BMW M3 looks awesome in Techno Violet appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

Bulgarian tuner Vilner are starting to get the hang of messing around with BMW products. They may be one of the newest tuners around, but that doesn’t seem to phase them.

The latest project they got involved with is one of the less familiar BMW products, the F800R motorcycle. The name of the new kit is quite familiar though.

It’s called the Predator which seems justified since it gets a makeover about as aggressive as the alien warrior that used to hunt down Arnie.

Other than making the BMW F800R more of a mean looking bike, they’ve also made it less practical, for the full bad boy effect.

Vilner have shortened the bike by 25 cm (roughly 10 inches) and turned into a single seater one. The seat was swapped out for a wider one.

Even though the number of passengers handled by the Vilner BMW F800R has gone down, it should actually be more comfortable.

That’s something that makes sense since Vilner designed the F800R Predator for a Russian business man who happens to be living in their home country.

He’s the one who wanted the new carbon fiber and chrome plated look and he’s the one who specified the newly designed front end.

Taste and practicality aside, it’s almost heart warming to see young car tuners tackle new projects that really stretches their imagination.

The only thing missing from the Predator BMW F800R is an updated engine output, that still stands at the factory spec 87 horsepower.

About Post Author

Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post Vilner Tuning customize BMW F800R appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

And here we have another one of those BMW M3 E92 last moments, mostly unsubstantiated or valuable but still awesome looking.

It’s a creation from a yet to be determined source, but that’s not exactly relevant. It may be BMW, it may be some enthusiast or a tuning company we’ve never heard of.

Not exactly relevant to the discussion but the new BMW M3 Santorini Blue does show off a great presence thanks to its new look.

As some of you will have noticed so far, very few of the car’s accessories and parts have changed about what’s happening with the E92 Coupe.

The multi-spoke dark alloy wheels have been borrowed from the special edition BMW M3 GTS Concept, the same ones as on the Competition package but apart from that, not much is happening.

Speaking of lack of originality, by some accounts, the new paint shade which is actually the most important aspect of the BMW M3 Santorini Blue, may not be completely original.

Plenty of people have noticed the incredible similarity of the Santorini Blue shade and one from Germany’s previous special edition stable, the Mexico Blue shade we see on rare Porsche models.

Otherwise, the BMW M3 Santorini Blue is just your typical E92 Coupe with 420 horsepower a seven-speed M dual clutch transmission and Drivelogic.

In not exactly typical good M division fashion, the BMW M3 available here comes with a start/stop system, a device which apparently saves fuel.

As seen on M3post

About Post Author

Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW M3 is painted Santorini Blue appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

Going to classic car auctions generally means spinning off quite a lot of money. Going to classic car auctions in search of unique or very rare models generally means your wallet can fill the back of a van.

It’s what tends to happen at these things, but as this unique looking 1948 BMW Veritas is about to demonstrate, it doesn’t really have to be this way.

Soon to hit the auction block in not the best of condition, the 1948 BMW Veritas Convertible is not expected to grab any glamorous amount of money with virtually no hope of it breaking the five figure barrier.

Why is this? Well, while us fans don’t get it, it’s actually pretty simple. There’s no genuine interest in this sort of vehicle, no awareness of its existence and the shoddy condition certainly doesn’t help.

I’m sure most of you will not have heard about the 1949 BMW Veritas convertible we see here and there’s no real shame in it, what is shameful is that now that it’s made it into the public eye, it still isn’t getting any popularity.

Going through the car’s history, we find that under the redesigned body it shares the engine and plenty of the underpinnings with the infamous 328 model of the late 30’s.

It may sound like a drawback to have an engine that small but it is actually a workaround the presiding post World War II regulations that would prevent any German manufacturer from building any new engines that were larger than one liter.

Ernst Loof, Georg Meier and Lorenz Dietrich are the creators of the machine and the latter is actually the intrinsic connection the Veritas has with the Bavarian car maker.

Though Veritas was responsible for some of the first German Formula 1 cars and had become quite the established brand in that period, BMW weren’t very keen on this car wearing their badge.

Quite a downfall in terms of auctioning price, the prodigal child that never returned, but there’s something about this 1949 BMW Veritas that counters it.

Thanks to a custom rebuilt body, it went on to star in a 60s detective TV series called Boston Blacky. Sadly though, pending its retirement off the screen, the custom 1949 BMW Veritas fell into disrepair, only to be rediscovered in 2004.

From that day on, nothing in particular was done to restore or maintain it but it has slowly crept to the public eye and it is finally going to go under the hammer of the prestigious RM Auction House.

About Post Author

Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post Unique 1949 BMW Veritas soon to be auctioned appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

BMW is not content with having the global crown for sales in the luxury department, they want to win over the American market by moving them away from Lexus and in order to achieve this they are pushing their BMW Individual program.

Basically what they want stateside buyers to do is to buy a car with what they want on it in terms of trim levels instead of just buying what the dealer has to offer at a particular time. Since the next car they will be launching in the U.S. is the 2011 BMW X3 that will be the one that they plan on starting this car buying revolution with.

This form of sales helps BMW with their projections and inventory but it also helps you get the car you wanted and it is a system that is successfully applied in Europe where almost 50% of all BMW’s sold are custom ordered.

This isn’t as simple as it sounds since Americans enjoy the idea of hitting a dealer showroom and leaving with a car off that lot the same day so if BMW will want the higher profit margins and the reduction in inventory they’ll have to be innovative here.

So in order to make this a reality the new BMW X3’s production will be moved from Austria to the recently expanded Spartanburg plant in South Carolina. Building the crossovers here will allow BMW to drastically cut delivery times and BMW will also be more heavily promoting its factory delivery program and the driving classes it offers at the nearby Performance Driving School.

About Post Author

Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW wants more people to custom order the X3 appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.