It seems BMWs Concept ActiveE isnt just a showcar. Following their sucessful MINI-e lease program in the US BMW will start a similar program for the electric 1-series. This means that the car will be available in select cities and you will have to apply to own the car.

The actual number of cars which will be available is unknown. But if history is any guide it wont exactly be easy to get your hands on the car. Looking at the MINI-e program, there are currently 450 of the cars on the roads out of an applicant pool of over 1800.

Whats the long term goal? Well, BMW sees this pilot program, … CONTINUED

Woodcliff Lake, NJ – January 14, 2010… Yesterday, BMW of North America accepted the Ward’s 10 Best Engines award for its groundbreaking 3.0-liter BMW Advanced Diesel engine at the North American International Auto Show. For the 2010 model year and the second year in a row, BMW’s sequential twin-turbo inline-6 diesel engine was elected to the 10 Best Engines list by the Ward’s AutoWorld panel of expert judges. To win a place on the 10 Best Engines list, an engine must score highly in measures of horsepower, torque, refinement, technical relevance, and comparative data.

“When we accepted this award last year for BMW’s then-new Advanced Diesel engine, no one could predict for certain how Americans would adopt BMW Diesel in the coming months,” said Hans Hohenner, General … CONTINUED

Quote:

The BMW Series was a winner in the R. L. Polk & Co.s Automotive Loyalty Awards for the 2009 model year. The 3 Series took top honors in the Luxury Car category. The Polk Automotive Loyalty Awards recognize manufacturers for superior owner loyalty performance. Loyalty is determined when a household that owns a new vehicle returns to market and is so pleased with their vehicle that they purchase or lease another new vehicle of the same model or make.

The N55 is the second turbo engine out of BMWs new push towards EfficientDynamics and increased use of turbos as a replacement for displacement. The unit has been has been reviewed and people are generally happy with it, but whats interesting is that now it seems official: BMW will use the N55 as its main workforce with only a few notable exceptions

According to Autocar magazine, BMW has filed a patent for a hybrid car that actually uses a split engine for its powertrain.

What is this exactly?

Ok, a traditional hybrid car basicly has a gasoline engine mated to an electric motor. The electric motor will either add extra power to the gasoline engine, or actually sometimes take over from the gasoline engine and run the car on its own.

But in BMWs split hybrid setup there would be a traditional gasoline-electric combination and a third regular gasoline engine. The third engine would sit dormant unless even more power was needed and then it turns on and gives more juice.

… CONTINUED

To sum up there were as expected year on year declines in sales because of overall low volumes in 2009, but December itself continues on a trend of a sales recovery. We hope this trend continues in 2010! We know BMW has the best products out there right now..

Here is the official press release below

Quote:

BMW brand sales up 11.5 percent; MINI sales decreased 2.2 percent; MINI achieved second best year ever since launch in the US in 2002

Woodcliff Lake, NJ

This information is as per BMWs inside man Scott26! Here is a summary of whats to come in 2010

BMW Concept Active E NAIAS (01/10)
BMW Active E Production Car (eDrive) Paris (08/10)
BMW Z4 sDrive35is (link) Paris (08/10)
BMW 3-Series Coupe/Cabrio LCI (Life Cycle Impulse aka Facelift) (link) to be revealed early January with official Autoshow debut at Geneva (03/10)
BMW 5-Series Sedan (link) Geneva (03/10) and New York (04/10)
BMW 5-Series Concept ActiveHybrid 5 Geneva (03/10)
BMW 5-Series Li (long wheel base) Shanghai (04/10)
BMW 5-Series Touring (F11) (link) Spring 2010
BMW 5-Series M-Sport Packages Spring 2010
BMW 6-Series (link) to be revealed late November with official Autoshow … CONTINUED

Happy 2010 everyone! Heres a nice little nugget. BMW actually has an M Power App for the iPhone. What does it do? Well, its like a G-Tech, it uses the iPhones sensors in order to calculate:

Speed
Acceleration
Lateral acceleration (Lateral g)
Travel time for a specified distance
Acceleration to a specific speed

The App comes with three different skins: "Sport", "Lava" and "Midnight"

Here is the link to BMWs M Power iPhone App Page: http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicle…9/g_meter.html

Here is the direct link for the App: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/m-per…344494968?mt=8

I sincerely hope this isnt true but Edmunds InsideLine is reporting today that it believes the program is getting some major cuts. Why? BMW is looking to concentrate its engineering resources toward electric and hybrid vehicles. BMWs Hydrogen program has mainly been centered around a highly modified E65 7-Series running on liquid hydrogen fuel.

What is the BMW Hydrogen 7?

BMWs goal in making this car was to produce an alternative fuel vehicle that was not only 100% production ready, but one that still maintained the internal combustion engine. Unlike an electric car, this car still gives you similar power, torque and acceleration characteristics of todays car while running on a fuel supply that has no … CONTINUED