Germany’s AutoBild magazine came up with a surprise today. Their newest issue features the world premiere of the BMW 1 Series GT.

So far, only one image of the new car is available (alongside an outline if that’s relevant) as the actual magazine will turn up tomorrow.

There’s no word out on exactly how much detail the German magazine has on the new car but if you don’t get a chance at it don’t worry, the car is going to be fully unveiled at the Paris Motor Show.

There are however a few things that have been known about the BMW 1 Series GT, or Active Sports Tourer as it seems to be called in some cases, for quite some time.

It will be somewhere between a hatchback and an MPV, meant to be yet another one of those BMW niche products we keep seeing so many of lately.

It will be a seriously practical car (for a BMW) and it should make mince meat of its main rival, the Mercedes A Class.

More importantly however, it will be the first BMW model ever made with front wheel drive. The platform underneath this car is called UKL1.

That’s a fresh design and though it will premiere in the 1 Series GT, it will eventually underpin the next generations of Mini products.

We’re likely to get a bit of a scoop tomorrow from the Germans that leaked it or from the ones that will present it if patience holds us until the end of the month.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW 1 Series GT leaked in Germany appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

We love it when good and great news comes from BMW but some times some less than good news sneaks through such as this occasion.

The current E70 BMW X5 and its less practical sister car E71 X6 are going to get recalled for a rather serious issue in the near future.

Both cars have some problems with the steering. It probably won’t fail as such but there’s a good chance of it ending up leaking fluids.

There may have been a problem during the manufacturing process and it seems that the aftermath of the issue could be quite burly.

Due to a machining error of the steering gear surface power steering fluids could leak onto the exhaust.

When that’s cold, there’s no potential problem but last we heard, exhausts are usually very hot and there’s a serious fire hazard that results from the equation.

As a result, by the middle of July 2012 some unlucky 2.642 BMW owners will have to make an unscheduled visit to their dealers.

The recall affects only the newest of models, 2012-2013 MY BMW X5 and X6s only, hence the relatively small number of cars that are to be recalled.

Once called in, the BMW mechanics will inspect the steering fixtures and make any necessary replacements to the faulty ones.

As always in such conditions, the BMW X5/X6 recall will cost owners no money and their only inconvenience will be the time spent in the service.

We all know how “expensive” time can be but I’d certainly spend one or two hours in a service than risk the chance of catching fire at one point.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post E70/E71 BMW X5/X6 under a recall appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

There was a bit of a worry regarding BMW’s position on manual gearboxes when they’d (partially) limited the availability of such a thing in the latest M5 and M6 generations.

That worry seems to be fading as, once again, the patent office BMW use started leaking out some more details as to what they’re on about.

This time, the information doesn’t speak of a ton of new models or toys but a single product.

It’s quite the biggie though, it seems BMW is working on a new type of manual gearbox, one that comes with a Porsche approved number of gears; at seven.

Two images were leaked, both of them explaining the process behind BMW’s new gearbox in development. The first is quite easy to understand but the second comes in with too much of a technical incline required.

The first image of the BMW 7 speed manual is of the shifter knob and showcases the final gear being offside, in a rather unusual way.

The second image tries to explain how the system actually works and is basically a simple way in which BMW is telling us that they’ve engineered a solution to keep us from screwing up the shifts.

BMW have designed this gearbox so that you can’t make unfitting gear shifts. Apparently the principle is simpler than we can see on the prints since the new gearbox is based on the 7 speed M-DCT.

Hopefully, now that most of this stuff has been leaked BMW will provide a decent set of releases on the inner workings of the new gearbox or at least help us with what we’re thinking right now.

As seen on e90post

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW is developing a new manual gearbox appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.