A BMW Driving Academy event was recently held at the famous Autodromo Nazionale Monza (Monza Track) which is located near the town of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. The circuit’s biggest event is the Formula One Italian Grand Prix, but a fleet of BMWs recently took over the track for the BMW Driving Academy.

Available for the driving experience at the academy were many F30 3 series (with E90/E92 3 series for comparison), the F10 M5, the F12 M6 convertible, M550d xDrive 5 Series sedan, X5 M, and refreshed X6 Ms.

Check out some photos from the event inside.

The F10 M5 has hit BMW’s Spartanburg Performance Center in force. There are now at least 15 new M5s being prepped for duty at the BMW M School in Spartanburg!

Among this fleet is the very first Sakhir Orange F10 M5 we have seen. Sakhir Orange is a new color available for 2013 M5s. You can see photos of all the other available M5 colors in our photo threads compilation.

All the M School M5s will be equipped with M Carbon Ceramic Brakes, an option which is actually being delayed for customer cars until next year.

Thanks to Philip for the photos.

Earlier this month, BMW Car Club of America (BMW CCA) of Seattle held the annual Triple XXX Rootbeer BMW Event. Hundreds of BMWs were in attendance, of all models, years, and varieties.

We bring you some event photos inside.

A couple of production level F10 M5 sedans have been spotted for the first time with M carbon ceramic brakes, which we previously announced as being delayed until the 2013 calendar year sometime.

The gold ceramic brakes look great paired with the Alpine White M5!

Alpina recently debuted at the Geneva auto show, the improved BMW Alpina B5 Biturbo with 540 HP. We’ve reposted below the B5’s official specs and information, as well as a gallery from the Geneva show. Alpina has just released the following official video promo for the B5. Unfortunately, the B5 is not available in North America currently.

We post inside the first videos of the 2013 BMW X1 (LCI facelift model) in action, starting with a summary video from BMW.

The sDrive28i RWD model starts in the US at $30,650, the xDrive28i at $32,350 and the xDrive35i at $38,450. Production of the 2013 X1 will begin in July.

Specs:

sDrive28i / xDrive28i

2.0L TwinPower Turbo inline 4-cylinder engine (N20), with direct injection, double-vanos, valvetronic
240hp @ 5000 rpm
260lb-ft torque @ 1250 rpm - 4800 rpm
8 speed steptronic automatic transmission
0-60 in 6.2s (sDrive28i) and 6.3s (xDrive28i)
24 mpg city / 33 mpg highway / 27 mpg combined (sDrive28i) *preliminary EPA estimates*… CONTINUED

Today, BMW announced updates to the second generation of the successful BMW ALPINA B7 super-high performance luxury sedan with more performance, fresh design features, and improved efficiency. The new B7 is slated for a North American debut at the historic Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August and will go on-sale immediately thereafter. Pricing will be $127,600 (B7 Standard Wheelbase), $130,600 (B7 SWB with xDrive), $131,500 (B7 Long Wheelbase), and $134,500 (B7 LWB with xDrive).

The new BMW ALPINA B7 has been enhanced in-line with updates to the 2013 BMW 7 Series Sedans including more power, more performance, and more efficiency. The new B7 features 40 additional horsepower (now rated 540 hp) and 22 lb-ft more torque (up to 538 from 516 lb-ft) thanks to the addition of … CONTINUED

The 2012 BMW M Power Experience is coming October 7th and this year’s event will take place in Abu Dhabi, where the program will be principally held at the Yas Marina Formula 1 race track! Last year’s M Power Experience in Spain (report 1, report 2) focused on the F10 M5, and this year’s Abu Dhabi event will feature the new M6 coupe and M6 convertible. Here is the intinerary and some event information:

Programme.

Day 1.

After your arrival at Abu Dhabi airport, you will be brought directly to the 5* Yas Viceroy Hotel, where you will be welcomed by us.

After some spare time, the new BMW M6 will be presented to you in the evening. In the course of the presentation enjoy a fancy gala dinner in … CONTINUED

As announced yesterday, BMW’s N20, N54, S65, N18 engines have each picked a best engine award at the 2012 International Engine of the Year Awards [Full Award Results].

Here’s a brief overview of two of the technologies featured in most of the BMW engines available today - TwinPower Turbo and VALVETRONIC (variable valve timing) technology. Valvetronic was first introduced by BMW on the 316ti compact in 2001, and has since often been coupled with BMW’s double-VANOS.

Until 2012, no M model used Valvetronic, but instead continued to feature multiple throttle-bodied designs. The 2012 F10 M5 with its S63 engine is the first M model engine to utilize Valvetronic technology in lieu of the individual throttles found on its equivalents in the BMW X5 M and X6 M. The … CONTINUED