As the 2011 NAIAS press days have wrapped up, BMW has provided this overview of the 1-series family debuts at the auto show. Most notably, Dr. Kay Segler speaks a bit about the 1M coupe.

Just as BMW officially premieres the all new 6-series cabrio at the 2011 NAIAS this week, we are given the best look yet at the production intent 6-series coupe, which up until now has been clad in heavy camouflage. This vermillion red test car shows off styling that resembles the 6-series convertible, yet draws on styling cues from the stunning Concept Gran Coupe.

The model spied here appears to be a 640i coupe, which should be powered by BMW’s inline 6-cylinder turbo N55 motor. The 6-series coupe is expected to enter production in July of this year.

The 2012 F10 M5 continues cold weather testing and evaluation in Northern Sweden. As with our last F10 M5 photos, this one also wears a set of snow wheels/tires for testing purposes and are not the wheels we’ve come to know as the production wheels (which can be seen here and here). The mirrors you see are the production intent versions.

We were told that the speedometer topped out at 320km/h (199mph)

We have posted some older spy photos below (from the Nurburgring) which shows what the production front bumper and rear bumper will resemble.

The production M5 is expected to premier at the 2011 Frankfurt IAA autoshow in September 2011 (with an internet reveal a few months earlier). Euro deliveries will begin in November 2011 and US deliveries … CONTINUED

We reported earlier about the rumor that BMW was considering to build a fourth model at the US plant in Spartanburg, SC. Ian Robertson, member of the BMW board of management responsible for sales and marketing, now confirmed with FAZ that they were actually looking into this. While there’s no final decision, Robertson said they “would by no means put that off the table.” The US market continues to be the most important market for premium vehicles, so an US production would make sense for either the F10 5-series or the new F30 3-series coming later this year.

BMW currently produces the X3, the X5 and the X6 at the Spartanburg Plant. As Robertson puts it, “the Spartanburg plant still has enough capacity to allow the … CONTINUED

Head of BMW Group Design, Adrian van Hooydonk, provides some insight in this video behind the design philosophy of BMW’s newest top of the line convertible, the all-new 6-series cabrio, which just made its world premiere at the 2011 NAIAS @ Detroit

While others are speculating what to expect from the new BMW M5 coming later this year, the German Autozeitung didn’t waste its time guessing about the future but rather attended to the hottest F10 5er to date, the Alpina B5 Biturbo. Ingredients? To name just a few, 4.4L V8 Biturbo rated at 507hp and 700NM, 8-speed automatic, and limited slip differential (optional).

The outcome? As Autozeitung puts it, the Alpina B5 is the “best and most powerful F10 5er to date.” They praise the “felicitous combination of powerful, yet refined, engine, top notch quality and good comfort.”

As usual with Alpina models, exterior changes over any regular F10 5-series model are limited. An exclusive Alpina blue paint (€ 2.870) and 20 inch Alpina Classic wheels are … CONTINUED

According to C&D, BMW has confirmed that the X1’s release in the US market has been delayed until the Fall of this year due to unexpectedly high demand for the model in Europe. Evidently, the Leipzig, Germany, production plant in which the X1 is built (alongside the 1-series) can barely make enough of them for the European market, and to add the considerable demand of the U.S. market to the production fray is not possible at this point. However, the X1 will come to the Canadian market early this year as originally planned.

BMW recently peeled back some of the heavy cladding on the next generation 1-series hatchback (F20), which has now been spotted again in various colors.

The next generation 1-series lineup (hatchback, coupe, cabrio, and other rumored variants) styling cues will fall in line with the rest of the newest BMW range. The car has a newly sculpted and more upright hood reminiscent of the F10 5-series and F25 X3 with sharp and hyper crisp body sculpting line running from the front fender through the door handles to the rear in an aggressive arc. The front and rear bumpers too follow the current BMW trends of aggressive and angular shapes that were normally reserved for M-Sport variants.

Automobile has just tweeted some interesting news on the base Z4 which corroborates a recent report from a ZPOST member. If these reports are correct, the base BMW Z4 will soon be powered by two turbo 4-cylinder variants (sDrive20i and 28i) instead of the current naturally aspirated inline 6-cylinder. This would not come as a huge surprise as recent rhetoric from BMW has pointed to the likely use of turbo 4-cylinder engines in future BMW base models (i.e. next generation F30 3-series), especially with improvements in forced induction technology and the overall goal of increasing efficiency throughout its entire fleet.

The exact tweet states “BMW new 4-cyl coming this year in Z4 roadster. Replaces nat asp 6, so at least 200 hp” but according to the info … CONTINUED