How’s this for kicking off the racing history for the F30 3 series sedan. South African based ADF Motorsport team successfully took a brand new F30 3 Series racing car [more info/photos] to its first-ever race victory, in its very first race! The victory came at the Killarney race circuit in Cape Town, South Africa, in a WesBank Super Series race which features Bridgestone Production Cars Class A race cars. Congrats to the ADF team!

Ian McLaren of carmagblog provided us this account of the race, along with his experience from being a part of the pit crew.

We’ve previously featured an Atacama Yellow M3 sedan and now here’s the first E93 M3 convertible in Atacama Yellow.

Atacama yellow is currently only available on the Z4 and must be ordered as a BMW Individual color for any other models, including the M3. The yellow looks great against the contrasting carbon fiber and black aero piece and wheels. Check out the full set of photos inside.

Congrats to M5POST member Tupapison who recently took delivery of his new Alpine White F10 M5 in Austria. He’s shared some of his ownership thoughts with us, along with the first photos of his car. Please check it out inside.

The countdown is on: BMW Motorsport completes its final test before the DTM season-opener in Hockenheim. Watch the first extensive footage of the BMW M3 DTM race cars inside, together with interviews with the BMW DTM drivers prior to the first DTM race in 3 weeks.

Munich, 5th April 2012. With three weeks to go until the first race of the 2012 DTM season, BMW Motorsport has officially completed its test programme. From Monday to Thursday the three teams and their six drivers were hard at work at the Hockenheimring (DE), traditionally the venue of the opening round, which this year will get underway on 29th April 2012. This will be BMW’s first DTM race since 11th October 1992.

Over the last few days, all the BMW … CONTINUED

The 2013 M6 coupe and 2012 M6 convertible have now made their world premieres and North American premieres, which brings us to the M6 Gran Coupe as the next M6 variant in the pipeline.

We’ve already seen plenty of the spy photos/videos of the M6 Gran Coupe, which together with the already revealed production 6-series Gran Coupe (photos 1, photos 2), gives us a very accurate idea of what the M6 Gran Coupe will look like. We previously posted some front and rear renders (reposted below) and we now present some side views.

The M6 Gran Coupe will wear the same front and rear end design as the M6 Coupe and Convertible, only with 2 more doors and a longer body. We’ve also included the sporty carbon fiber … CONTINUED

Wagon fans should be smitten over this one. We’ve spied for the first time the F31 3 series touring in M Sport form, in the stunning Estoril Blue II color.

The camouflage remains a formality at this point since the F30 3 series sedan M Sport has already been revealed and the F31 touring will share the same front and rear bumpers/diffusers and sideskirts.

What’s missing from this test car are the M Sport wheels and brakes.

The next 3 series touring / wagon is expected to make its debut at the AMI auto show in Leipzig in early June.

The F31 has been confirmed to be making a return to the North American market. In an interview we had at the 2012 NAIAS with Paul Ferraiolo, Manager, Product Planning … CONTINUED

We’re happy to share the first spyshots of the F33 4 Series Convertible with its top down and in operation. Earlier spyshots suggested that the 4 Series Convertible will retain its folding hard top mechanism, first introduced on the predecessor E93 3 Series Convertible. These spy photos officially confirm this. As far as we can tell, the hard top operation and design is largely similar to the E93’s so we wouldn’t be surprised if this was a takeover from the current car.

That’s where the similarities end in these photos, as the F33 sports unique seat which remind us of the F12/3 6-series seats, and which could signal an upmarket position from the F30 3 series sedan. The exterior is still heavily camouflaged (no, the round rear … CONTINUED

Here’s full options (US) pricing for the 2013 X1:

Options:
xLine: $1,900
Cold Weather Package: $700
M Sport Package: $3,000
Premium (includes panaramic moonroof) Package: $3,950
Technology Package: $2,500
Driver Assistant (rear camera, PDC): $950 (requires ZTP)
Light Package (xenon etc.): $1,200, requires ZPP
Ultimate Package (ZPP, ZTP, ZDA): $6,650

tandard: USB/iPod control, HD radio, alarm, bluetooth, etc.
Other options are along the same line as most other current BMWs.

Here’s a good look at the current F30 3 series against the preceding two generation 3 series - the E90 and E46 sedans. Here’s the tale of the tape:

F30 vs E90 sedan physical specs, F30 is:

3.66 in (93 mm) longer body
1.45 in (37mm) wider track [front]
1.85 in (47 mm) wider track [rear]
0.31 in (8 mm) taller
1.96 in (50 mm) longer wheelbase
0.59 in (15 mm) more legroom for rear passengers
0.31 inches (8mm) more headroom

F30 vs E46 sedan physical specs, F30 is:

6.5 in longer body
2.8 in wider
0.6 in taller