According to our friends from AutoBuild, it seems that BMW are having a little problem deciding between the five different body styles for the new 1 Series. Just one of these five options will be able to go in production.

Some of the ideas include a five-door wagon, a three-door shooting brake, a “Progressive Activity Sedan”, but smaller than the X1, a more traditional sports tourer and a “Sports Activity Coupe” with a glass roof. It sounds great, doesn’t it?
It doesn’t matter which of these models makes the cut, BMW will downsize the displacement of the engines and will try to implement turbocharging and direct injection starting with these 1 Series.

The 116i model will have 136 horsepower, the 1.3-liter turbo will have 177 horsepower, the 120i is going to use a 218 horsepower and the 3.0 will put out about 326 horsepower.
Whichever model is picked for the new 1 Series, it’s expected to hit Europe in 2011.

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Marcus M.

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The post Five different 1 Series appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

BMW X3 was first launched on the market in 2003 and it had a big success since the beginning of its “career”. Although appreciated, the SAV (Sports Activity Vehicle – as presented by the BMW), has suffered along the way some changes. The most important of these changes was the “plastic surgery” back in 2007.

The new BMW X3 design is much more appreciated because of its elegance, but at the same time, the sporty look. This new image makes it look like the little brother of the X5.
The vehicle also has a new and more intelligent driving soft – the XDrive all-wheel. On the exterior you can notice a change in the spoilers and a few other details that give the X3 a much more aggressive look.

The BMW X3 was rewarded with the “Gelber Engel” award (The Yellow Angel) for the most reliable vehicle on Germany.

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Marcus M.

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The post BMW X3 E83 details appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

Even though the BMW designer Chris Bangle is out of the picture, many of the 7 Series models have his mark. For a while now, the rumor of an M7 is wondering, but that rumor may be unfounded. However, a V12 version it appears to be on its way.
Before all this can happen, the tuning company Alpina will have ready the new B7.

Considering the fact that the vehicle is going to be revealed next month at the Geneva Show, we were surprised to discover a BMW Alpina B7 prototype somewhere in Germany.

Comparing the B7 caught on the Germany streets with the sketch we presented to you not so long ago, we can see the small lip spoilers on the lower fascia and on the trunk lid, rounded out by bigger wheels. However, the greatest asset on this new BMW will be the 500 horsepower and the 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8.

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Marcus M.

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The post BMW Alpina B7 spied in traffic appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

After talking about the bad news for those from BMW, I think it’s only fair to talk about some of the good news.

It seems that the high-performance M cars are not having the same problems when it comes to the percentage of sales comparing with the same month, last year. Their success it’s getting bigger and bigger ever day, even with the economy crisis and all.

BMW M GmbH has increased sales by 50% over the last year, becoming the second-best sale in thirty-year since the company has been on the market.

The President of the BMW M GmbH, Ludwig Willisch, thinks that the great percentage the company scored is due to the large emotional appeal their products have for the customer.
Inside sources believe that this year is going to be truly amazing for all the sport model cars BMW has, but especially for the BMW Z4 Roadster and the BMW Z4 M Coupe.

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Marcus M.

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The post Sales up 50% in 2008 for M models appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

An official Press Release announced that the sales of BMW and Mini combined are with 15.5% lower that the same month last year. They sold about 14,500 vehicles this year, compared with over 17,000 they managed to sell last year.

Jim O’Donnell, President of BMW of North America, announced that everyone is trying to find viable solutions for this problem, but that they are positive about the Certified Pre-Owned program and the appearance of the new 7 Series and Z4, sometimes this spring.

He also said that considering the crisis we all have to deal with, he is not that surprised about the lack of interest in purchasing a vehicle. The showroom traffic is down, but apparently the internet website and vehicle configuration have more visitors that last year.

Even with this low percentage, the BMW Company is still ahead of overall market momentum.

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Marcus M.

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The post BMW sales decreased with 15.5% in US appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

The first in introducing the concept of Art Cars was Herve Poulain, a racing driver and auctioneer from France, passionate about the BMW’s and cars in general.

Considering the fact that he loved cars and art in equal percentage, he decided to try and merge those two together. His friend, the renowned artist Alexander Calder, offered to help by painting one of Poulain’s racing cars – his BMW 3.0 CSL – which he planned on driving soon at the Le Mans 24 Hours race.

Thinking about this project as the challenge any artist is expecting, Alexander Calder -which was also and engineer and sculptor – applied powerful colors and wonderful details on wings, hood and roof.

Because the response was so great, BMW decided to put this brilliant idea in practice and came up with the Art Car Collection.

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Marcus M.

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The post Art Cars – BMW 3.0 CSL appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

The next BMW model I was thinking to talk about is the M5 E39. The vehicle is the BMW M-developed version of the E39 5 Series sedan.
It has an M-tuned chassis, M-design interior and exterior cosmetic details and a S62 V8 engine.

BMW M5 E39 was fist introduced to the public in 1998 at the Geneva Motor Show, but the production did not begin until October, same year.
At first, BMW made plans about producing an E39 M5 Touring. Although such a vehicle was made, they decided not to go further with the plans due to financial considerations.

Returning to the common available M5 E39 car, we should mention that all these vehicles are equipped with a Getrag Type D six-speed manual gearbox, a Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) and an Automatic Stability Control (ASC), which can be de-activated with the touch of a button.
Even though the interior has many similarities with the standard E39 5 Series, you can see quite a few items and details that make this car unique.

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Marcus M.

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The post BMW M5 E39 appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

And continuing with the M3 Series, the next car I would like to talk about is the BMW M3 E46 Coupe. The extremely sharp and capable sports car – BMW M3 E46 Convertible – has 343 horsepower to the rear wheals, 3.2-liter inline six-cylinder engine and a six-speed transmission.

BMW managed to keep the first-class chassis dynamics and engine performance and in top of that adding some other amazing details. For example, the top is very quick down, at the touch of a button, without any manual work necessary. The suspension is also very comfortable and the space inside the car is more than enough for four people.

The BMW M3 E46 Coupe is a great, safe car on the back roads or the everyday traffic – it has great reflexes, excellent brakes and an optional automatically-controlled gearbox.
As for the interior design, the leather covers both the firm and comfortable front seats and the specious rear bench.

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Marcus M.

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The post BMW M3 E46 Coupe appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

Since we start talking about the new BMW M3 E92, I was thinking it was a good idea to continue on the same note, so next we are going to talk a little bit about the BMW M3 E30 Convertible.

As our friends at BMWDrives said, the BMW M3 E30 is, in fact, the Motorsport-developed version of the E30 3 Series. It has a S14 four-cylinder, the chassis and the reshaped body – are based on the E30 3 Series as well.
This BMW debuted in the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1985 and it was actually designed as a racecar first, and then the necessary changes for it to become a road car were made. Therefore, the conclusion would be that the E30 M3 racecar version is very similar to the E30 M3 street version.

For example, the competition version of the vehicle has racing rubber on its fenders while the more modest one – the street version – doesn’t need it.

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Marcus M.

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The post BMW M3 E30 Convertible appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

BMW’s new eco supercar has been revealed: BMW Z10 ED – a two-seated vehicle, produced in a restricted number and that will have the starting price at ￡80,000.
The “ED” suffix stands for Efficient Dynamics which is what the latest BMW has: fuel-saving technologies that reduce emissions of carbon also.

Initially BMW Z10 ED was planned as a one-off concept, but soon the plans were changed when the BMW bosses decided to focus on a more eco car. They said that they wanted “to bring the latest technology together in a way that will allow a high level of performance without overburdening the environment”.

Considering the BMW’s carbon fiber expertise and the use of aluminum components, we expect the Z10 not to exceed 1,400 kg.

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Marcus M.

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The post BMW Z10 ED – the german supercar appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.