AC Schnitzer released a press release for some new stuff they’re working off and we’re a little disappointed in the whole thing.

There’s no word of a car from BMW being involved, there’s not even any of their high end motorbikes showing up in the photos or announcement.

Believe it or not, this time they tuned a BMW bike. We wouldn’t have settled for the idea of a scooter but this is a little out of our comfort zone.

Don’t worry though, the BMW M Carbon Bike together with the AC Schnitzer package still has quite a bit of engineering to consider.

Who are we kidding here, the BMW M Carbon Bike is actually impressive for a bike. Just as impressive as the price tag which comes in at $3.579 in the U.S.

Healthy living is one thing but ending up spending thousands of dollars for a bike is a little over the top in cases like this.

The details of the equation sound pretty simple. The original BMW M Carbon Bike weighs in at 12.7 per cent more than this.

In order to achieve the difference AC Schnitzer used carbon fiber for all the bits that weren’t already made of it.

While the percentage of weight savings sounds impressive the actual loss is just 2.2 pounds as the German tuned bike (still can’t wrap it round my head) comes in at 15.2 lbs.

Just to make sure people notice the difference AC Schnitzer cover it up with a special livery that is just covered in the company’s badges.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post AC Schnitzer tunes BMW M… Carbon Bike appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

Here’s an idea for you, the Bavarians at BMW are going to put some effort behind the upcoming 2012 Olymipic games that are going to be held in London.

Being a long way away from the original idea of the Greek Olympics, the new event is getting sponsors and stuff so it’s a great opportunity for marketing.

There is however something about the Olympics that still has a touch of the magic that’s set in history and tradition – the start and the carrying of the torch.

The torch relay will take place in Greece between 10 and 17 of May and it will cover some 40 cities in the old country before being flown over to the UK.

The road trip isn’t over as another ton of cities will be seeing it carried around by more than 700 athletes over a period of 70 days.

Frankly, that doesn’t sound very BMW like but all of this business will be shadowed by the Bavarian company’s support vehicles.

A fleet of no less than 4000 BMW vehicles will be participating, mostly F30 3 Series and F10 5 Series. You’d think that covering 1.800 miles would be all about the comfort but that’s not all.

BMW motorcycles and bikes will also be involved and the cars themselves will be diesels, hybrids and EVs.

The accent stands on average emissions. Each of the vehicles involved in the BMW Olympic fleet will produce less than 120g of CO2 per kilometer.

Things are off to a good start as BMW have already developed 40 of these specially liveried vehicles to the authorities.

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Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post BMW will be involved with 2012 Olympics appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

Yes, the Geneva Motor Show is all about style, presence and looks. Yes, racing cars shouldn’t really be seen there.

Having taken a second look at the 2012 BMW M3 DTM racer I’d like to disagree. Something that looks this menacing and purposeful is beautiful.

I will admit, it doesn’t have very much to do with the actual E92 BMW M3 they claim its based on but who cares. It looks awesome and it even has the right colors.

If you think about it, no matter the sponsor, no matter the livery, it would’ve looked bad to have a BMW M3 racer at the Geneva Motor Show with any other colors than that.

Powering this low monster is a relative of the 4.0 liter V8 engine that powers the E92 M3 only now it develops 480 horsepower.

The grunt is thrown at the rear wheels through a race-spec six-speed sequential gearbox. Team this setup with some racing slicks and the figures chucked out are more than decent.

0 to 62 should take around 3 seconds and the top speed is around 186. A de-restricted E92 M3 can probably hit a higher top speed but it won’t be producing anywhere near the amount of downforce this is.

2012 will be an interesting season to watch in DTM as the big stars this time are the biggest and feistiest of Germans; BMW, Mercedes and Audi.

The start of this year’s season is scheduled to take place at the Nurburgring at the end of next month.

About Post Author

Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post Geneva: 2012 BMW M3 DTM racer appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.

It would seem that BMW’s win at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring and their rejoining to the Le Mans calendar is bringing along quite a few business opportunities for tuner companies.

First there was G-Power and now we have the turn of the Illinois-based tuning house, GTHaus to have a go at giving your BMW M3 a GT2 racer look.

Since it is GT2 inspired you’ll find a pretty similar livery to what the Bavarians ran at Nurburgring, since they couldn’t have done Jeff Koon’s BMW Art Car livery which will be running at Le Mans.

Since the livery is nice in pleasant I’ll leave it at that, GTHaus is also offering the Aero bits gathered together to form a wide body kit for the car. The kit includes massively wide rear fenders, a unique front bumper with splitters, chunky side skirts, new rear bumper with air vents, vented hood and a rear wing the size of an aircraft carrier deck. Well, not exactly but it’s still pretty big. There’s also a very impressive looking set of wheels to match involved.

Looks fine but you’ll be thinking about what’s under the bonnet. Well, disappointingly theres nothing other than the standard BMW M3 engine and all the bits that go with it. Now I’m not going to be an idiot and say that’s not good enough but somehow I was expecting more.

That “more” may come at a later time in the form of a supercharger kit but until then you can get this kit and make your M3 look like you’re driving home from a hard day’s work at… Sebring for just $12,500.

About Post Author

Marcus M.

http://www.bmwcoop.com

The post Le Mans GT2 Racer BMW M3; GTHaus style appeared first on BMWCoop | BMW Blog, BMW News, BMW Reviews.