BMW 5-Series News
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As we first reported several months ago, BMW and its Chinese partner Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. has developed a new plug-in hybrid version of its 5-Series, revealed today ahead of its debut in just a few weeks at the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show. The vehicle is classed as a prototype and is based on the long-wheelbase BMW 5-Series developed exclusively for the Chinese market. You may recall BMW and Brilliance are tied in a joint-venture that builds the 5-Series sedan and its long-wheelbase variant in China. The new prototype features a parallel hybrid system that combines a...
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BMW Concept M5: 2011 Shanghai Auto Show Preview
Following this past weekend’s leak, BMW has released the first official images of its new Concept M5 ahead of its world debut later this month at the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show. Like previous concept cars from the hallowed M division, the design you see here is pretty much what will be used for...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2012 BMW M5 F10 Concept Leaked
The good folks at BMW are not going to be happy about this, but leaked photos of the BMW Concept M5, the "concept" that presages the coming 2012 M5, based on the F10 5-Series, have emerged on an enthusiast forum. The images appear to come from behind the wall of an embargoed event currently...
Nelson Ireson -
Report: U.S.-Spec 2012 BMW M5 Will Get Manual Transmission
With the introduction of its new 2012 BMW 6-Series Coupe, the German automaker made the surprise move of offering it with a manual transmission option here in the U.S. but only an eight-speed auto for its home market. It appears BMW is set to do the same with the next-gen M5, which is expected to...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
BMW CEO Reithofer Teases 5-Series New Energy Vehicle For China
Next month's Shanghai Motor Show will host the debut of a new BMW: the 5-Series "New Energy Vehicle," a plug-in hybrid that BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer is "from China for China." Early word of the New Energy Vehicle first emerged from unofficial channels in January, but Reithofer confirmed the car in...
Nelson Ireson -
Video: 2012 BMW M5 Teaser
It didn’t make this week’s 2011 Geneva Motor Show but a brand new 2012 BMW M5 is just around the corner, at least in concept form, and in the lead up to its arrival BMW’s hallowed M Division has released an extended version of the original teaser video from a couple of days ago...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Update: The official details on the 2012 BMW M5 are out. Click here to view our latest post. BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer has previously revealed that future BMW powertrains will be downsized in an effort to improve fuel-efficiency and reduce emissions, and that even the hallowed ‘M’ division could also be affected by the new wave of environmental consciousness sweeping the automaker. The standard 2011 BMW 5-Series was unveiled last year, and MotorAuthority was there to test the car at Estoril, but the new M5 remains in testing as these latest shots reveal. BMW has always stood by...
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2011 Geneva Motor Show Preview: De Tomaso SLC Concept
The last we heard of legendary Italian marque De Tomaso, reports were claiming that a former Fiat exec by the name of Gian Mario Rossignolo was trying to resurrect it and was seeking a production facility in Italy to build a new range of sports cars under the brand. It appears those previous...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Next BMW M5 To Be Automatic Only?
Performance cars are all about performance, except when they're not. In the case of luxury-performance sedans like BMW's M5, there are numerous concessions made to comfort and civility that cost ultimate speed and handling. But the next M5 may make a big concession: no manual transmission, not even...
Nelson Ireson -
Report: BMW M5 Concept Headed To 2011 Shanghai Auto Show
Just as the BMW M3 was originally displayed in concept form back at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show, and then again in production trim at the following Frankfurt Auto Show that same year, BMW is expected to do the same with the new-generation M5 due out later this year. However, while the original M3...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Lexus To Showcase Performance at Chicago Auto Show
Luxurious, sumptuous, comfortable, precise, high-quality. All are words used to describe Lexus cars. But "fun" and "sporty" aren't usually in the mix, and for good reason. For all their qualities, the company hasn't ever really hit its performance stride. Or has it? Lexus promises to showcase its...
Keith Buglewicz -
Report: BMW Working On New Electric Car For China Based On 5-Series
BMW is set to launch a hybrid version of its 5-Series sedan, the production version of the ActiveHybrid 5 concept, later this year, but according to a new report the automaker is also working on an all-electric model based on the same platform. According to a report out of the Beijing Youth Daily...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
The all-new 2011 Saab 9-5 sedan has been well received by critics since its debut last year. With styling based on the 2006 Saab Aero-X concept car, the new 9-5 looks clean and muscular and recognizable as a Saab from the first glance. Inside it's much the same, with a smartly organized interior layout that's both modern and familiar, right up to the pushbutton ignition nestled between the front seats. Under the hood is either a 300-horsepower turbocharged V-6 coupled to the company's excellent all-wheel-drive system, or a 2.0-liter turbo that drives the front wheels. Competitively priced to...
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First Four-Cylinder BMW TwinPower Turbo Engine Debuts In X1 xDrive28i
Future BMW models wearing the number "28" on their bootlid will no longer be fitted with six-cylinder engines but rather a new generation of four-cylinder gasoline engines complete with BMW TwinPower Turbo technology. The first of these models is the newly revealed BMW X1 xDrive28i, which has just...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
BMW Considering Building 3- And 5-Series In U.S.?
BMW currently builds the X3, X5 and X6 models at its plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina but in the future we could see even more of the German luxury autos built in the U.S. According to a report coming out of Germany, BMW is considering building its staple 3- and 5-Series models in the U.S. as...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2012 Ford C-Max: Smart Tailgate Opens At the Wave of a Foot
With the 2012 Ford C-Max, the automaker wants minivans to get small and get friendlier--and now they're getting your feet involved. Following up on the first use of the technology in the European version of the 2011 BMW 5-Series, the U.S.-bound 2012 C-Max gets foot-gesture capability--meaning, with...
Martin Padgett -
Spy Shots: 2012 BMW ActiveHybrid 5-Series
Plugging an existing hybrid system into an existing car isn't quite as easy as plugging into an outlet, but the team at BMW is making it look that way, with the recently-unveiled BMW ActiveHybrid 5 already moving from concept car to testing prototype. As these spy photos show, the car is not...
Nelson Ireson -
BMW Driver Busted With Bricks Of Pot In Airbag Compartment
Ahh, Florida, how can we thank you enough for providing the weird and wacky happenings you so often deliver? The latest to come from the Sunshine State: a BMW driver busted for equipping his vehicle--what looks to be an early-2000s 5-series from the very brief video--with an option definitely not...
Nelson Ireson -
The 14-odd miles of the Nurburgring Nordschleife is nicknamed the “Green Hell” and for good reason. The renowned race track is surrounded by pristine hills covered in green forests but the course itself is one of the toughest and most intensive of its kind anywhere in the world. One person, who probably knows the track better than anyone else in the world, is Sabine Schmitz, a former race car driver and now the driver of the BMW "Ring Taxi," an experience where you can sit shotgun in a BMW M5 as Schmitz takes you around the Nurburgring at breakneck speeds. Born to the local hotel...
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UK Criminals Delight: New BMW Police Cars Unveiled
If you're up to no good in the United Kingdom, you may get the chance to experience BMW's latest variations on the X3, X5, 3-Series, and 5-Series first hand. BMW's U.K. arm has just unveiled a slew of new police vehicles for both marked and unmarked use. The latest 5-Series headlines the new Police...
Nelson Ireson -
BMW On Demand Rental Scheme Means Almost Anyone Can Drive In Luxury
BMW is now making it easier than ever to slide behind the wheel of a luxury car by launching a new rental program that allows customers to drive away in one of any BMW model currently on sale. Dubbed BMW On Demand, the pilot program is being run out of the BMW Welt In Munich, Germany and will...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Wiesmann Confirms BMW Twin-Turbo V-8 Engines For MF4 And MF5 GTs
When the Wiesmann MF5 went into production back in 2008, the world took notice, as the latest iteration of the potent and wildly styled coupe is definitely the sort of car that commands attention. Powered by the same 507 horsepower V-10 engine as the outgoing BMW M5, the Wiesmann MF5 is capable of...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Spy Shots: Wiesmann GT Testing New Twin-Turbo BMW V-8
When the Wiesmann MF5 went into production back in 2008, the world took notice as the latest iteration of the potent and wildly styled coupe is definitely the sort of car that commands attention. Powered by the same 507 horsepower V-10 engine as the outgoing BMW M5, the Wiesmann MF5 is capable of...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2011 BMW 5-Series, Hyundai Sonata Only 5-Star Cars In New NHTSA Ratings
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released a new, more stringent rating system for 2011 model-year cars. So far the only two cars to get top marks of five stars are the 2011 BMW 5-Series and the 2011 Hyundai Sonata. Many 2011 models have not yet been released or...
Nelson Ireson