First Drive: 2012 BMW 650i Convertible – The Real Grand Tourer

BMWBLOG Author: Horatiu Boeriu

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico – To launch the third-generation 6 Series Convertible, BMW chose Mexico’s most luxurious and famous resort town: Cabo San Lucas. Cabo is a city at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, known for the sandy beaches, world-class scuba diving locations, glamorous life and high-class resorts. In a nutshell, the kind of habitat where the new BMW 650i Convertible would feel at home.

But Cabo is simply an oasis of luxury in the middle of a world where poverty, livestock and unexpected speed bumps contrast heavily with the luxurious image of the new 6er. Despite all of these apparent shortcomings, truth is that this area offers a variety of amazing scenery and twisty roads, combined with plenty of straight lines where the car can be pushed to its limits. And you can certainly bet on the fact that we took the new 650i Convertible to its limits.

First Drive: 2012 BMW 118i

BMWBLOG Author: Horatiu Boeriu

BMW has launched their new F20 1 series 5 door hatch-back in the artistic and cosmopolitan city of Berlin, and BMWBLOG is reporting live from location to bring you our first driving impressions of the car. Curious how it handles? Wondering what it feels like behind the wheel? Read on…

Approaching the new 118i Sport, the bold, provocative lines make sense. Whereas in photos most readers have found the new 1er to have polarizing looks, in person it is a different story. Among the international body of journalists here, everyone seemed to have positive conclusions on the exterior styling – including myself. Frankly, it’s hot from certain angles (front 3/4 for example) and clean from other angles at worst. We will bring you a styling analysis shortly, but first, let’s get down to business: how does BMW’s new F20 1 series perform?

BMW M3 CRT Highlights + PRESS RELEASE

Intelligent lightweight design paves the way for even higher performance: the BMW M3 CRT.

Carbon Racing Technology: BMW M GmbH factory produces a limited-edition high-performance sports car based on the BMW M3 Saloon – Innovative use of carbon-fibre reinforced plastic minimises weight – Weight-to-power ratio: 3.5 kilograms per horsepower.

Munich/Nürburg. BMW M GmbH will use the M Night event in the lead-up to the Nürburgring 24-hour race to unveil a spectacular new addition to its model range. The BMW M3 CRT (Carbon Racing Technology) embodies a concentrated blend of state-of-the-art development expertise – inspired directly by motor sport – in the areas of drive system and chassis technology and intelligent lightweight design. It also represents the worldwide debut of a new production process for carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) components in the automotive industry. This process allows CFRP to be introduced widely in the construction of the high-performance BMW M3 Saloon-based sports car created by the BMW M GmbH factory. And that helps it achieve a weight-to-power ratio of 3.5 kilograms per horsepower. A V8 engine with customary M high-revving characteristics and maximum output of 331 kW/450 hp accelerates the BMW M3 CRT from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.4 seconds. The BMW M3 CRT will be produced by the BMW M GmbH factory in a limited run of 67 units. Following in the tyre tracks of the BMW M3 GTS – of which 135 examples were produced – this is the second small-series, high-performance M3 off-shoot to be bred for the race track but registered for the road. The exclusive character of the Saloon is emphasised by bespoke lightweight design components manufactured as part of an innovative production process. The bonnet of the BMW M3 CRT and the bucket seats for the driver and front passenger are made from a cellular carbon honeycomb, which is produced in a globally unique process pioneered for the manufacture of body components for the BMW i3 and BMW i8 models.

More about the BMW M3 CRT (E90) special edition

Here are some extra details about the newest special edition dedicated to the current-generation BMW M3. We previously talked on this subject but today we will get deeper into the details as the new “Carbon Racing Technology” package brings a little bit more than the previous special editions revealed by BMW, mainly for the Chinese market. Another interesting decision was to bring these advanced improvements to the Sedan version of the current M3, a right move if we consider the feedback of the fans.

"Fit for a Tycoon" Hamann’s 670-hp Tycoon Evo M takes the already outrageous X6 M totally over the top.

By Ian Kuah   Photos by The Author

In today’s global economy, some business leaders have more power than heads of state. The Russians call them “oligarchs,” a term with negative connotations rather like “robber barons” in the U.S.

In the Far East, top businessmen are sometimes called “tycoons,” a much more positive word that came into English from Japanese, which itself borrowed the title, meaning “great prince,” from Chinese.

Tycoon is indeed a fitting name for Hamann’s X6 M-based Tycoon Evo M, a car that Americans would say has serious attitude. By virtue of its sheer presence, dominating performance and plush interior appointments, the Tycoon could lord it over almost any other vehicle it might encounter on a public highway.

This particular Tycoon Evo M’s Russian owner, whose very successful business imports luxury designer brands into a neighboring country in the former Eastern Bloc, is not only a car enthusiast and longstanding Hamann customer, he’s also a big fan of the X6 M. In fact, he has two.

This time, however, he wanted a design statement as well as a car he could enjoy driving to work and play. Being in the fashion business, he had a lot of input into how he wanted this car to turn out.

One thing he did not want was a loud exterior color. In his world, dark exterior colors are best, and BMW M’s Carbon Black metallic is ideal. Carbon Black gives the Tycoon an undeniable menace even as it plays down the impact of the Hamann body styling kit.

"Dark Knight" The latest supercharged M3 from VF Engineering and Vorsteiner may be styled upon a military theme, but it’s not exactly a stealth fighter.

By Zachary Mayne   Photos by The Author

Like most cars from BMW tuning companies, this matte-finished widebody E92 M3 was built to garner as much attention as possible for its makers. After spending a few hours with this green beast in urban Los Angeles, I’d have to say that VF Engineering and Vorsteiner pretty much nailed it.

Not only did the BMW, called the GT3RS, draw stares of disbelief from other drivers and pedestrians, it also seemed to attract the laser-focused attention of every security guard and police officer in the vicinity. While shooting and driving the M3, we were questioned no fewer than four times about what we were doing. Hmmm…must have had something to do with the camouflage paint and the military insignias displayed prominently on the Bimmer’s flanks.

(Note to self: The next time you’re shooting a military-themed vehicle, choose a location a little less heavily patrolled than an airport perimeter.)

According to VF owner Nik Saran, the inspiration for this M3 came from a pair of different sources. First, Saran needed an appropriate showcase for the company’s new supercharger kit for the E9X-gen M3, whose launch coincided with VF’s 10th anniversary in 2010.

Secondly, Saran had noticed that a fair number of the company’s clients were employed with the U.S. military, and he thought a military-themed show car would be a nice tip of the hat.

“From our interaction with these individuals, we noticed that they all seemed to be no-nonsense people, and this is how we perceive our product,” Saran reveals.

"Gray & Green" A collaboration between Active Autowerke and Martino Auto Concepts yields a pair of M3s that combine outrageous performance with stunning good looks.

By Klaus Schnitzer   Photos by The Author

When Jenny Holzer was commissioned to create an Art Car out of a BMW V12 LMR in 1999, she emblazoned the top of the racing prototype with one of her signature truisms: “Protect me from what I want.”

Omar Murray needs no protection from his desires; at just 26 years of age, he’s fully capable of fulfilling them. The general sales manager at Miami supertuner Active Autowerke, Murray has already built seven fully-realized project cars, the first an 800-hp turbocharged Lexus IS300 and the latest the matte gray 2011 M3 you see here. This stunning car is Murray’s third E92 project, and it’s one of a pair, built alongside the green M3 owned by Joe LaPadula, whose Martino Auto Concepts (MAC) in Glen Cove, New York has been collaborating with Active Autowerke for about a year.

“I have always wanted to work with another company on a build,” Murray says. “We had been thinking about something like this for about a year, but it was actually Derek [Pasch] and Joe from Martino Auto Concepts who had the idea about building two M3s. It took off after that.”

As a luxury automotive restyling facility and authorized BMW collision repair shop, MAC has plenty of experience with Lamborghinis, and it was only natural that these two M3s be painted in the striking colors of the cars from Sant’Agata Bolognese. Murray’s car wears Reventón matte gray, while LaPadula’s is painted Verde Ithaca pearl green.