Popular Mechanics has chosen the new BMW M3 as the winner of the 2008 Automotive Excellence Award in the category of Performance.

One of the deciding factors for the M3’s victory was its versatility both on and off the track as well as its “mastery of refining and redefining the entire performance envelope.” In case you forgot, the M3 is propelled by a 4.0L V8 that produces 414 horses. A feat of engineering mastery in itself, this engine gets over 100hp/L of displacement, something that once upon a time was only achieved by the likes of Ferarri.

Other categories included design, which was won by the Nissan GTR, luxury, won by the Cadillac CTS, Versatility, won by the Chrysler Town & Country/Dodge Caravan.

Congrats to all the winners. We’re sure you deserve it. Maybe not as much as Driver’s Life deserves to win Blog of the year, or its author (yours truly) deserves to win “most eligible bachelor” but probably pretty close.
[Source: Popular Mechanics]

Our friends over at Winding Road got a chance to take the BMW X6 for a spin not too long ago.
BMW execs are calling it a “Sports Activity Coupe” because not only will it be very ballsy, but because it will still be very utilitarian. With a steeply raked windshield, wide, sporting, and aggressive stance, and sporty profile, the X6 supposedly behaves quite well on a track.
We won’t go into too much more detail. Instead, go to Winding Road and read their review on the X6, which should hit sales floors in mid 2008.

Lets all play the speculation game for a moment, shall we? Motor Authority just revealed spy photos of a BMW X5 without any badging whatsoever on a transport truck. But this ain’t no ordinary X5. The test mule seen in these snapshots indicate a few things have changed, namely the quad exhausts on the rear. This suggests that the displacement has been bumped up. Inside the vehicle, there was a handwritten message reminding the driver that running the engine for more than 30 minutes will cause damage to the engine. Could that mean BMW is developing a new powertrain? Isn’t the speculation game fun? Make the jump for 3 more pictures and some additional information.

[Source: Motor Authority]
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A man with hawkeyes spotted this BMW 1 series on the 201 in L.A. as he was driving his son home from a baseball game. He managed to snap a number of pictures as he passed the Bimmer, and then proceeded to upload his pictures onto a 1 Series forum for the world to see! According to other forum members, this car has been spotted all over the place lately, so we doubt this will be the last we hear about it.

The car will be powered by BMW’s 3.0-liter, 230 horsepower I6 engine generating 200 lb-ft of torque. If we’re lucky, we might even see some spy photos snapped of the 1 series convertible in the coming weeks!

[Source: 1Series]

What you’re seeing here is a spy photo of the BMW M5. At first, you might be thinking “Hmmm… doesn’t look too different from the 5 series…” but if you look closer, you’ll notice 2 extra air intakes on the front fascia. Why would the M5 possibly need any more air intakes? It appears that the competition may have BMW shaken. You see, Mercedes now offers models with over 600hp on tap, and Audi is offering a twin-turbo V10 in the RS6. If you believe rumors on the interweb, this has led BMW to consider producing a twin-turbo M5.

According to our source, the car in the photos is not your ordinary M5. What you’re staring is likely the M5 ‘upgrade’, which extracts 575bhp from the high-tech M-Sport V10. Up until very recently, BMW has preferred powering their engines through natural aspiration, but it looks like the success of the twin-turbocharged 335i may have helped them change their minds on the subject. The M5’s biggest weakness could be their ‘Sequential Manual Gearbox’, as it may not be durable enough to withstand all the torque a turbo v10 can churn out. It is suggested that BMW might switch to a twin-clutch ‘Direct Shift Gearbox’ instead, which should also improve the speed of shifts.

Are we on the cusp of a German horsepower war? If there is a God, the answer is yes!

[Source: MSN Autos]

You may recall a week ago we posted about the M3 Coupe getting tossed around by Fifth Gear. Pretty impressive right? Well BMW recently released an official video advertisement of the four door M3, and what can we say? It’s downright drool-worthy! The sedan seems to behave just as well as its 2 door counterpart on a track, thanks to BMW engineering prowess. While the sedan tips the scales at over 3,500 lbs. thanks in part to 2 extra doors and a steel roof, (as opposed to the coupe’s carbon fiber roof,) it can still shred up a track with its beefy 4.0L v8 engine which produces 414 bhp and 295 lb-ft. of torque. Mated to a 6 speed transmission of course!
Make the jump to watch BMW’s offical video and see a few high resolution images of the M3 sedan. It looks like they hired the Stig and some of his buddies to help make the commercial.

[Source: BMW]
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The word “diesel” still seems to conjure up images of thick black smoke pouring out of a loud, noisy, smelly, slow moving work truck. Why would anyone wanna power their car with the stuff, let alone an expensive luxury vehicle? Well, just ask Audi how it worked out for them, when they entered a diesel powered car into the 2006 24 hour Le Mans. And won. Diesel ain’t what it used to be, thats for sure. Its incredibly torquey, delivering the majority of its power to the wheels far before nearing the redline. It also gets better mileage than regular petroleum fueled vehicles.
The North American market has been deprived of high end diesel vehicles, and BMW is looking to capitalize. There is no official word on when they will arrive here, but BMW will likely use their 286 HP, 427 lb.-ft. of torque 3.0-liter twin turbo engine under the hood of various models throughout throughout their lineup. Just like in Europe, you can expect a “d” to be appended to the end of the numeric nomenclature. If things play out here the way they are overseas, the diesel models should be cheaper then their gasoline gulping stalemates, and capable of getting 35mpg.

Now for the good stuff! Make the jump to watch Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear toss the diesel 5 around a track.
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BMW’s new entry level car, the 1 series has shed its top. Whats more, it is said to be heading stateside by 2008. While there has been no information released yet on pricing, we can tell you that the convertible baby Bimmer, like its hard-top sibling, will come in a 128i trim. This means the car will be powered by BMW’s 3.0-liter, 230 horsepower I6 engine generating 200 lb-ft of torque. A twin-turbo 135i model will be released a few months after, boasting 300 horses and 300 lb-ft of torque.

BMW engineers tell us that the soft top can be electronically lifted in 22 seconds, and at up to speeds of 25 mph. Despite being a convertible, there is still going to be 8.48 cubic-feet of trunk space. Two golf bags will fit in the trunk of the new 1 Series Convertible - even with the top down!

BMW’s press release and more pictures after the jump.

[Sources: Autovisie and Winding Road ]

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Fifth Gear, another brilliant British television show revolving around cars, has gotten their hands on the latest offering from BMW’s M division. Tiff Needell, host for the show, and retired race car driver puts the Bimmer through its paces in a brilliantly filmed piece of automotive pornography. Enjoy!