For months now, some F20 1 Series and F30 3 Series owners have been reporting a rust issue with their front seats. For some, it’s just a nuisance and a bad feeling about the build quality of their BMWs, but for others it’s a serious defect.
One Korean F30 3 Series owner was so fed up with the issue that he has destroyed his F30 in protest. Driving to the BMW offices in Korea, he smashed his front windshield and spray painted his 3 Series with the words “Rust BMW.” BMW Korea offered to replace the rust parts as new, but this particular owner wanted his 320d replaced in full instead.
BMW Korea has issued an information bulletin to its dealer network with the … CONTINUED
This report comes via Autocar and claims that BMW is mulling over plans for a 300hp 1 Series sedan M model to take on the likes of the Mercedes CLA45 AMG and Audi S3 sedan.
Per Autocar:
BMW is hatching plans for a hot entry-level M model based around a new saloon version of the second-generation 1-series.
The compact four-door aims to provide BMW with a direct rival to the upcoming Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG and Audi S3 saloon. The new BMW has already been earmarked to run a highly strung 2.0-litre turbo engine with at least 300bhp.
However, because of the heavy engineering workload facing BMW on existing new model development, the compact M Performance saloon is unlikely to hit the UK until the latter half of 2015 at … CONTINUED
BMW inside Scott26 has posted the following summary of the upcoming 1 series, 2 series, M2, Z1, Z2, and X2 lineup, as plans stand now.
By 2020. BMW hope to have projected sales of over two million units.
The larger majority of this level of sales will be combined MINI/BMW based upon the UKL architecture of around 600,000 units , then you can factor in another large number of dedicated SAV sales before we get to the regular series models. As I have said before welcome to the automobile industry.
It is easy for the question “if I was in charge this what I would do?” But today you have to take in consideration of growing segments , established segments , established markets , new markets and exploiting … CONTINUED
It’s no secret that BMW has aspirations to move into the compact premium FWD car market, having recently debuted its BMW Concept Active Tourer (which will launch as a production model next year). BMW believes that its new FWD architecture, known as the UKL platform (which will be shared with future MINI models), will be key to driving the company’s future growth.
The company projects that the premium small car market will become the fastest-growing segment and it needs to expand aggressively into this market in order to battle for the top spot in luxury car sales over the next decade.
Up to 20 New Models Proposed
So just how expansive will BMW’s FWD lineup be? According to some recent reports, very extensive.
Frank Niederlaender, the company’s product manager … CONTINUED
Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear reviews the BMW M135i in a recent Sunday Times UK issue.
See what amusing and insightful things Mr. Clarkson has to say about the M135i inside.
The BMW M135i and Porsche 911 battle on the track at the hands of Tiff Needell and Steve Sutcliffe for EVO’s car of the year comparisons.
The latest issue of EVO magazine features the EVO Car of the Year feature. The BMW M135i makes the short list of great cars under consideration.
The results are as follows (from best to worst), according to EVO:
1) Pagani Huayra
1) Lotus Exige V6 (tie)
3) Porsche Boxster S
4) Mclaren MP4-12C
5) Porsche 911 Carrera
6) BMW M135i (8 speed auto)
Other contenders that didn’t make the final shootout:
Mercedes C63 AMG Black
Alpina B3 GT3
Morgan 3 Wheeler
Toyota GT 86
The BMW Group continued to perform successfully during the period under report despite difficult market conditions. Sales volume, revenues and earnings figures all constituted new highs to date for a third quarter. Revenues during the three-month period from July to September rose by 13.7% to € 18,817 million (2011: € 16,547 million). The profit before financial result (EBIT) increased by 13.8% to € 2,004 million (2011: € 1,761 million). Third-quarter profit before tax (EBT) improved by 17.6% to € 1,987 million (2011: € 1,689 million). Net profit for the period came in 16.0% higher at € 1,289 million (2011: € 1,111 million). The total number of BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brand vehicles delivered to customers during the third quarter increased by 9.0% to 434,963 units … CONTINUED
The last time we posted photos of the FWD 1 Series GT in testing, it was nearly a year before the debut of the BMW Concept Active Tourer [official info] at the recent 2012 Paris auto show.
Here, we see it with less camouflage than ever and although some fairly heavy and tricky camouflage remains, one can look to the concept model [photos below] for a very good idea of what the production model will look like. BMW has a strong track record of keeping production models very close to the concept versions.
We expect that the 1 Series GT models may come with 3 cylinder, hybrid 3 cylinder, and possibly also a 4 cylinder powertrain options. The plug-in hybrid eDrive system on the concept model pairs … CONTINUED
