Watch and listen as the 2014 BMW M3 (F80) slings around the famous Karussell at the Nurburgring track, sounding thunderous as it accelerates out of the hairpin turn.
Here is a summary of the most up to date facts regarding the F80 M3 / F82 M4:
Lighter than current M3
Faster than current M3
More powerful than current M3
More efficient than current M3
Powered by an inline 6 cylinder turbo engine
Offered with optional or standard manual transmission
Electric Power Steering (completely reworked for precision for M3/M4)
Tires (from prototype) - Michelin Pilot Super Sport: … CONTINUED
We have recently spied the F36 4 Series Gran Coupe (4GC) out testing again and although it wears the same camouflage as before, we get a first look at the F36 against the F30 3 series sedan and the F34 3 Series GT (gran touring).
What’s clearly confirmed by the photos is the expected difference in roofline heights and shapes between the different models, which mirror the differences between the 6 series gran coupe, 5 series sedan and 5 series GT. The 4GC features the lowest and sleekest roofline, followed by the slightly taller F30 sedan, and then the GT. The 4GC will also add some centimeters in its overall length compared to the F30 sedan.
Codenamed as the F36, the 4 Series Gran Coupe will top the … CONTINUED
We’ve spied the production intent BMW i3 interior clearly for the first time. Although it’s still in unfinished pre-production form, we can see some major components and design elements that will come on the production i3 when the first are delivered in late 2013.
The dash and console loses much of the futuristic styled full touch-sensitive and buttonless interior of the i3 concept in favor of a more practical and modern-day style BMW dashboard. It does however retain an LCD instrument screen from the concept. The large navigation / iDrive screen can be seen in the upper center console, still shrouded by the cloth covering. The plastic around the steering column will of course be gone by production and the rest of the lower center console added. … CONTINUED
The FWD 1 Series “Compactive Tourer,” - the first model in BMW’s upcoming lineup of FWD 1 series cars, will be making its world public premiere at the 2012 Paris autoshow in late September, but a purported design diagram of its rear lights has now been revealed. The FWD 1 series models ride on the UKL platform, which it will share with the upcoming MINI models. It will hit the market sometime in 2013.
Its tail lights appear to feature the floating light bar design seen in recent BMW models. The circular hole behind the light bars will house the brake light and the holes at the bottom of the lights are likely indicator and reverse bulbs.
The FWD 1-series models will join the rest of the 1-series … CONTINUED
BMW maintains that the sometimes maligned 5-Series GT is a good seller despite the public perception, so much so that a scaled down 3-Series iteration has been under development for some time. Now it seems the development of this car is nearing the point of public release and so BMW has dropped the typical body cladding and now only covers the car up in a minimal amount of camouflage tape.
While the general shape of this car has been known to follow the 5-Series GT lines, what has not been known until now are the details. First and foremost, this car should not be confused with the upcoming 4-Series Gran Coupe. The 4-Series GC will be a ‘four door coupe’ in a similar fashion to the 6-Series … CONTINUED
A month ago, a new BMW prototype was spied for the first time. At the time, given its fastback shape and substantial similarities to the 3 Series GT (3GT) prototypes we’ve been spying for months, we deemed it to be a 3GT with some camouflage removed or altered. But, the prototype has been spotted again and the additional looks at the prototype have us convinced that it is indeed the F36 4 Series Gran Coupe (4GC) being tested.
Here’s a brief analysis of the clear differences between the two prototype models. The comparison photos below should also be helpful.
The hood and cowl height and hood slope of the 4GC prototype is different than the 3GT.
The shorter front bumper … CONTINUED
A 2014 M3 test prototype resumed testing at the Nurburgring yesterday and the strip tease continued by way of a possible (or intended) camouflage malfunction. Here’s what we see.
Air Curtains
By coincidence (?), the passenger side lower front bumper camouflage was flapped open during the test runs, revealing and confirming the air curtain vents on the F80. Whether the camouflage was peeled back to feed air to the air curtains for testing purposes, resulted from a camouflage malfunction, or was purposely peeled back to tease us, matters not. What’s important is that we get the first clear look at the air curtain vent, which appears very large judging by the amount of space between the air curtain vent outline and the outer edge of the still camouflaged … CONTINUED
The 2014 F80 M3 prototype continues hot climate testing in Spain and we continue getting more live looks and listen at the next generation M3 sedan.
Our new video provides a good listen at the M3 prototype accelerating from a stop, though it’s obviously not a full out acceleration run. For full throttle acceleration at speed, see the previously posted M3 and M4 prototype videos from Nurburgring testing, copied below. We also hear the car’s startup for the first time. One thing’s for sure - there will be no lack of baritone and bass sounds coming from the F80’s exhaust. Its hearty burble is heard throughout the clip.
The F80’s ride and suspension looks planted, with little body roll and suspension travel (check out how stiff the suspension … CONTINUED
BMW continues testing of the 2014 F15 X5 and we’ve just spied a prototype exposing the standard model bumper. The previous model spied (pics below) featured large intakes, likely from the M Sport or X5 M, but this test mule gives us the first look at the standard F15 X5’s front apron design.
It’s also the first time we see that the F15 X5 will feature integrated air curtain vents in its bumper design. Those who are not fans of the hood cutlines (separated from the kidney grilles) on the recent BMW models will appreciate that the 2014 X5’s hood cutline goes up to and traces the tops of the kidney grilles.
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A couple of 2014 X5 (F15) prototypes flashed their grilles for the … CONTINUED
