BMW Automobiles Blog

In a move reminiscent of Kia, Hyundai snagged a new design chief from a prestigious German automaker. Former BMW designer Christopher Chapman has been named chief designer of the Hyundai Design Center in Irvine, California, and will be responsible for new vehicle and concept design for the Korean automaker. "With ...    Read more

Been away from your computer this week and missed all the automotive news? We’ve gathered a few of the top stories of the past week for your convenience. First Look: 2013 Chevrolet Sonic RS To imbue the compact car with an air of sportiness, Chevrolet will launch the Sonic ...    Read more

If you haven’t noticed lately, there are now a slew of cars that offer in-car restaurant recommendations, and there will now be a slew more: BMW has announced that it will integrate Yelp into its BMW Assist system. While many cars have navigation systems that have databases full of points of ...    Read more

We here at Automobile Magazine love automotive experimentation, and we’ll never shy away from putting a dash of color on our cars, but there are times when we’re left scratching our heads at a custom car. After seeing photos of this green chrome BMW 5 Series surface on the internet, ...    Read more

When the gearheads at BMW’s M GmbH want to send out holiday cards, they do things a little differently. As shown in this short video, BMW hired illustrator Gavin Patterson to draw a Christmas card while riding in a 2012 BMW M5. Patterson rides shotgun in the M5 while BMW ...    Read more

By now we are relatively familiar with the 2012, F30-generation BMW 3 Series, but the car has yet to make an official appearance on American soil. BMW will remedy that in January by unveiling the U.S.-spec 3 Series sedan at the Detroit auto show. First revealed in October, the 2012 ...    Read more

General Motors has a lot riding on the 2013 Cadillac ATS, as proven by the series of videos the automaker has released chronicling its development. Now, it looks like the work is almost done. GM just released the third installment of “ATS: The Journey” ...    Read more

The rumor mill has been hard at work on what’s coming next out of BMW’s high-performance M division. What has been most recently hypothesized has been a diesel-powered M vehicle, and BMW has only helped to fuel the fire with a set of teaser videos showing a blurred-out X6. Earlier this ...    Read more

Last month, sister publication Motor Trend captured the coupe version of the 2012 BMW 3 Series sedan, which is rumored to break with tradition by adopting the 4 Series moniker. Now, our colleagues have snapped images of a 3 Series-based convertible model. Though there’s not much ...    Read more

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety today announced 18 more model-year 2012 vehicles that have received the group’s coveted Top Safety Pick designation. The vehicles recognized include seven Hondas, three Acuras, one Buick, three Toyotas, one Scion, one Subaru, one BMW, and one Mercedes-Benz. To qualify for the Top Safety Pick ...    Read more

China is set to add additional tariffs to U.S.-built vehicles with engines larger than 2.5 liters. The country says the anti-subsidy and anti-dumping duties will be applied to vehicles built by European and Japanese nameplates in the U.S. as well as automakers based in Detroit Duties will range from two to ...    Read more

With the arrival of the 2013 BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe, unveiled on the Web this past weekend, all three major German automakers now have four-door coupes. The other big players in the segment, including the Audi A7 and trendsetting Mercedes-Benz CLS, have already been compared numerous times, ...    Read more

BMW and General Motors may enter an agreement to co-develop new fuel-cell powertrains. According to Reuters, the two companies are “close” to signing an agreement to cooperate on fuel cell development. If BMW and GM do work together to develop a hydrogen-fueled vehicle, it won’t be the first time the two ...    Read more

It’s a good year for gas direct injection and forced induction: both technologies took a sizable share of the wins on the 10 Best Engines list put out by Ward’s Auto. The 10 Best Engines list entered its 18th year this year, and unlike years past, featured only gasoline engines. Previous years had ...    Read more

Diesel vehicles are no longer taboo in the U.S., and The Detroit News reports that consumer interest in the oil-burning alternatives could continue to grow in the coming years. The public’s renewed interest in diesel vehicles was sparked by the reintroduction of diesel cars by German automakers like Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and ...    Read more

We’re plenty familiar with the BMW X6 and its go-fast counterpart, the X6 M, but now the company is teasing a new version of the four-seat SUV. Although the car’s badges and lights are obscured, the video does say that BMW’s M GmbH has a hand in tweaking this new ...    Read more

Nearly all the German carmakers continued to post sales increases this past month, with Porsche being the sole exception. Other German automakers reported a general increase in sales ranging from 3.6 percent (Audi) to a whopping 96 ...    Read more

BMW and Toyota have joined forces in Europe to share diesel engines and develop future lithium-ion battery technology. Under the agreement, BMW will supply Toyota Motor Europe with small diesel engines. From 2014, BMW will supply Toyota with 1.6- and 2.0-liter turbodiesel engines for use in several small Euro-market Toyota products. ...    Read more

It may yet be some time before the next-generation BMW M6 arrives on the scene, but German BMW tuner Alpina may have given us the next best thing when the firm unveiled its B6 Bi-Turbo convertible at this year’s Frankfurt show. Today, Alpina debuted the coupe ...    Read more

BMW pulled the wraps off the hybridized ActiveHybrid 5 at the Tokyo Motor Show today. BMW released details on the ActiveHybrid 5 a few months ago, but the ActiveHybrid 5 display at the Tokyo Motor Show is the first time we’ve seen it in person. The ActiveHybrid 5 is Bimmer’s ...    Read more

A partnership between BMW and Toyota Motor Corp. may be in the works – one that would see both automakers collaborate on lithium-ion batteries for hybrids and EVs. Based on a report from Reuters, it seems the two automakers will tackle the dilemma of making batteries lighter and ...    Read more

It looks like the BMW global portfolio is going to get a little bit more Chinese: the German automaker will export the long-wheelbase 5 Series sedan to other markets by the end of the year, according to reports. China Daily reports that BMW made the announcement just before the Guangzhou auto ...    Read more

I have distinct memories of our Four Seasons 2009 Jaguar XF Supercharged, from the good, to the bad, to the ugly. The leader in the good camp was no doubt the class leading steering and chassis. The XF had a magnificent (and rare) balance of body control, ride quality, and ...    Read more

BMW is ringing in 2012 by increasing the prices on all its models, including a modest jump for the new 2012 BMW 3 Series, so now would be a good time to bite the bullet on that 535i GT you’ve been lusting after if saving a few bucks is high ...    Read more

If you’re a fan of tire-shredding torque and Karl Diesel, perk up your ears: an attendant at a Dutch BMW dealer presentation has leaked some info from the meeting, confirming that BMW will make a hopped-up diesel 5 Series and that it’ll make quite a lot of power. The car will ...    Read more