F32 BMW 4 Series M Performance Parts.

For those of you who have already ordered the BMW 435i Coupe with M Sport package I have great news for you! BMW 4 Series M Performance parts has just been unveiled and here is what we know so far. For the Show, The M Performance Aero parts include the carbon fiber front splitter, rear spoiler, rear diffuser, and mirror caps. It also includes black sides skirt blades and kidney grilles. The sides of the car feature M Performance stripes. Like the F30, the front splitter and rear diffusers require the M Sport Package bumpers. The interior includes an alcantara dashboard, carbon interior trim with alcantara, M Performance alcantara steering wheel with race display, carbon fiber trim and contrast stitching, carbon fiber gearshift lever with alcantara gaiter, stainless steel pedal covers / footrest, carbon fiber hand brake lever with alcantara gaiter, and M Performance floor mats. And here is for the go bit, an optional limited slip differential (LSD) as part of the M Performance Parts catalog. The LSD will be a clutch type unit and feature a 30% lockup.

Source

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Report: i3 Price To Be Announced on July 22nd

According to the French website, La Tribune, BMW will announce the retail price of the i3 on Monday, July 22nd, one week before the official introduction of the production i3. From the report(translated by Google):

"The urban electric BMW i3 will be launched in late November while the i8 plug-in hybrid will be launched it in the spring of 2014. But it is already possible to pre-book these unreleased vehicles. Access to bookings made via this link. Once the form is submitted, a priority on the production line is provided to the user. The customer who pre-booked their vehicle will then finalize its configuration agent "BMW i".
Trendy, BMW! The price of this new new range of "green" vehicles should be released on July 22, just before the presentation of the i3 29 simultaneously in London, New York and China, during a global event extravaganza. Pre-production of the i3 started in February-March. Series production begins in September."

i3 designer Benoit Jacob sits in an i3

There's no way confirm the validity of this report as BMW isn't talking, but the other information in the story is correct, giving reason to believe they have this right also. This is the first report that I've come across that has offered to give the date BMW will release the price. 

I've fluctuated on what I expect BMW to charge a bit the past couple years but I've always been around the $40,000 to $45,000 range. With the imminent release of the actual price upon us I'm pretty confident we'll see a base MSRP of about $41,000 and $43,000(before incentives) and if my feet were put to the fire I'd say $41,995. It looks like we'll know soon enough. What price do you expect?

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BMW i3 Countdown Has Begun

The BMW i website was recently updated with a countdown to July 29th at 8:30am. That's when BMW will formally introduce the production version of the i3. Once you click on this lead page, you enter the regular BMW i website which doesn't seem to have had any other new updates. You can jump directly to the site by clicking on the BMW i logo on the right side banner of this blog.

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BMW i3 Wheels: Efficient & Effective or Skinny & Skidding?

You get a better view of just how tall and thin the tires on the i3 without the body in place.

One of the features on the i3 that have had many BMW loyalists cringe when see them is the tires. They are tall and thin, and look more like you would expect them on a Toyota econo-box, than from the engineers in München.  The standard rubber on the i3 will be custom made for the car, low-rolling resistance 19-inch Bridgestone Ecopia tires, sized 155/70 R19. They are mounted on  featherweight 19" x 5" wheels, weighing only 15lbs. There will also be a 20" wheel option, but BMW hasn't disclosed the exact size of that wheel of the tires that they will mount on them. 

The stock 19" wheels

I suspect many potential i3 buyers will get past the thin, underwhelming look of the tires as long as they perform admirably. After all, they only look bad from the from or rear; when looking at them from the side it's difficult to see how thin they actually are. But what do I mean by perform admirably? That may be different for different people. Low rolling resistance tires typically aren't good for the "ultimate driving experience" the rubber is hard and doesn't usually offer premium grip for cornering. Sticky high performance tires usually deliver bad fuel economy because the rolling resistance is high. I suspect many i3 buyers will be most concerned with efficiency and range in which they would probably favor efficiency slightly over performance. But let's face it they still expect it to perform like a true BMW, and that's something BMW has promised will be the case with the i3. 

What may be the 20" optional wheels

When discussing the tall, narrow tires with Georg Kacher of Car Magazine, Ulrich Kranz of BMW said "It’s not rocket science. All that matters is the size of the contact patch. The 19-inch tires may be skinny, but their tall height generates the same contact patch as a low-section 16-inch MINI tire"  Kacher then went for a ride in a pre-production i3 and wrote this about the handling: "This is extraordinary. The i3’s most awesome dynamic talent is its incredible grip. The made to measure tires are about as narrow as those of a 125cc motorbike, yet they hang on almost as tenaciously as BMW’s latest DTM racer... The car zooms towards the apex, kisses the cobbles and flies out onto the short straight. There is very little lean considering the considerable pace, and I don’t recollect more than a faint trace of front end pitch and no yaw at all. This i3 appears to handle like the best BMWs."
 

The original i3 concept wheels

Then Michael Specht from the Automotive News wrote this after driving an i3 a couple days ago: 
"BMW's i3 electric car looks set to be a winner. I drove it recently and I can only say: Wow! Whoever drives this car will want one immediately. I can't remember when I was more surprised by a car's driving dynamics. One of BMW's marketing slogans is "sheer driving pleasure." BMW was keen that this should apply to the automaker's new electric vehicles sold under the "i" subbrand and the company has succeeded with the i3."

The i3 concept coupe's 20" wheels

However Autoblog had less than total praise for the i3's handling: "The test cars were fitted with skinny, rock-hard and low-rolling resistance 19-inch Bridgestone Ecopia tires, sized 155/70 R19. After just a single spirited lap of the set course in 93-mph v-max Comfort mode, it was clear that we were driving the i3 in a style for which it was never designed. If you try to make the i3 live up to the well-honed definition of "Ultimate Driving Machine," you are categorically missing the entire point of the i3." That's not what the majority of potential i3 buyers want to hear - me included. Don't tell me I'm missing the point if I buy a BMW and expect it to handle like a real BMW! I don't care what type of fuel it uses or whether it's a hatchback or sedan, it's a BMW!  However this is the only article I've seen that criticizes the handling and I've probably read about a dozen that have said they were impressed. The final verdict for me will be when I get behind the wheel of on myself and I urge everyone else to do the same thing. It's nice to see car reviews but let yourself be the judge when you are purchasing a car. After all, it's your money and you'll be driving it!

BMW has done everything they reasonably could to cut the weight of the i3. This allowed them to use a smaller battery and still get their tareted range of 80 to 100 miles with the i3.With the battery being the most expensive component of an EV by far, it's not surprising they are so obsessed with weight savings. However what is the perfect balance of efficiency and performance? No doubt the car would handle even better with wider, stickier tires on there which would need wider wheels, which would then weigh considerably more. Finding the perfect balance was BMW's task, it's just up to us to drive and enjoy the car. I hope they got this one right because the i3 won't be the Ultimate Driving EV if it isn't fun.

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F15 2014 BMW X5 50i M-Sport Uncovered

Recently photos of the F15 2014 BMW X5 50i M-Sport with covered badges surfaced on the internet, and here are the exact same shots of BMW's new M-Sport X5 completely uncovered.

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BMW i3 Color Choices

Unfortunately the blue and white swirly camouflage cover will not be a factory option but owners are welcome to custom paint their i3 like this if they've grown fond of looking at it on the car for two years now! I'll pass.

There has been no official confirmation on what color options will be available on the i3 but rumors have been swirling lately as journalists have been given access to pre-production i3's to test drive on closed courses.

We've seen what I've identified as six different colors so far; two slivers, two grays, a white and a new color specifically made for the i3 identified by BMW as Solar Metallic Orange. That's not much of a wide variety but it's not to say BMW is holding back some for the launch.

Update 8/1/13: I was correct and these are the six color offerings for the i3. I updated the names to the reflect the correct names BMW has designated.

Laurel Gray

Andesite Silver

Ionic Silver

Solar Metallic Orange - Made specifically for the i3

Capparis White

I don't know the official names of the colors for any of these except for Solar Metallic Orange that BMW announced recently. What's your favorite color here and do you expect BMW is holding back on different color options?

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2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe at Town+Country BMW

The 2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe is new available here at Town+Country BMW, we have a few pictures of it after the jump. This exquisite 2014 BMW M6 Gran Coupe boasts 560hp at 500 lb/ft of torque, the photographed car comes with the Gold Calipered $6750 (CAD) M Carbon Ceramic Brake Package, and bespoke 20" BMW M6 Gran Coupe Alloy wheels (Style 433M).

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Was Giving the i3 Only 4 Seats an "Unforced Error"?

This i3 spy shot clearly shows a plastic tray separating the two rear seats.

The i3 is going to only have 4 seats. That was something that has pretty much been an accepted fact since BMW first announced the "Megacity" vehicle would go into production. However now that we are on the verge of the official unveiling later this month some people are starting to ask why not make it seat five?

The i3 concept coupe rear seats

I've seen both the original i3 concept and the i3 concept coupe in person and they both appear wide enough to accommodate three people back there. Add the fact that there is no transmission tunnel to get in the way of the middle passengers feet and one does start to wonder about it. Over in the Facebook i3 group, Anton Wahlman, a contributor to The Street likened BMW's decision to make the i3 only seat four an "unforced error" since it would appear the car could accommodate three in the rear seat if only BMW had wanted it to. Anton said:
"If you can't fit 3 people in the rear seat, it will significantly reduce the propensity of a Volt owner to switch. If this is true, it would be an unforced error in terms of understanding the (American) consumer." He also said:
"The #1 reason I hear people aren't buying the Volt is the lack of seating for 5. Not the ONLY reason, but the single most frequent one. GM knows this, so the Volt 2.0 (2015 model, launched in 2014) will fit 3 people in the back seat."
Anton is speaking from experience, he drives a Volt. He makes a very good point about a Volt owner switching to an i3. 

Both the Chevy Volt and the Nissan LEAF launched in December of 2010. So anyone that was an early adopter and rushed out to get one of the first Volts or LEAFs took delivery in the end of 2010 to the beginning of 2011. Many of these people took the attractive 3 year lease options offered and guess when all those leases are expiring? Yep, pretty much exactly when the i3 will be launching. The i3 is the perfect next step for existing Volt and LEAF owners because it offers more electric range plus a range extender, a combination no other EV does. I have personally received dozens of messages and emails from people in this position wanting to know if I had inside information about the exact launch date because they want to transition directly from their LEAF or Volt into an i3 but don't know if the i3 will be available when their lease expires. 

The original concept had rear bucket seats

As Anton mentioned, it's rumored that Chevy is going to make a 5 seat Volt for the 2015 model. If so, they will sell both a 4 seat Volt and a 5 Seat Volt when the redesigned Volt 2.0 is released later next year. So apparently the Volts lack of a 5th seat was a significant issue, enough for GM to redesign the battery tunnel to allow for a center rear seat. Since the i3 doesn't have a battery tunnel in the first place, and appears to be about as wide as a Volt there must be other reasons BMW elected to make the back seat only for two passengers. Weight considerations could be the main culprit I suspect but regulatory issues and crash test ratings could be possible reasons also. We know how hard BMW worked to keep the i3 weight as low as possible, shedding every pound that wasn't absolutely essential. A lot more goes into adding the third seat than simply adding an extra seatbelt. The suspension would also need to be modified which would add weight and make for a stiffer ride. I wonder if BMW will do what they did with the MINI Countryman and offer a third seat option at a later date if this becomes a bigger issue than they expect. 

Taking all that into consideration, BMW still hasn't revealed the exact width of the production i3. They did reveal the length in the recent press release which surprisingly will be 6 inches longer than the original i3 concept was. The original concept was 151.4" and the production i3 will be 157.4". It will be interesting to see what the width actually is. If it's wider than 67" (which is about what a 5 passenger Honda Fit is at 66.7") then I may agree with Anton about it being an unforced error unless BMW gives a proper explanation why adding the fifth seat would not have been a good idea. I'm sure offering the i3 as a 5 passenger vehicle compared to a 4 passenger vehicle would open it up to a much broader audience of perspective buyers. After all, virtually all of the top selling passenger cars in the US are 5 passenger vehicles for a reason. 

This is probably the best interior picture of an i3 available. You can see it appears there is plenty of rear legroom

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Sunroof/Moonroof Follow Up

After coming across some more pictures that show the interior roof, I'm pretty sure the sunroof option will have the two individual openings as seen above, separated by a structural support in the center of the roof and each opening will have independent interior shades to slide forward and close one half at a time. However the whole glass top will open as one piece as seen in the video of the previous post. Pretty cool design. I really like that you can close the shade screen on your side if the sun is bothering you and your passenger can leave it open if they prefer it that way. Sunroof solved!

Edit: Some new pictures that show the sunroof openings:

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A Sunroof and a Moonroof Option?

After examining some of the latest i3 photographs, I've noticed something unusual. It seems there may be a sunroof and a moonroof option. One, as seen in the above video below of the i3 driving on the Autobahn, shows a normal looking large sunroof that opens and slides towards the rear of the car as most sunroofs do.

Look at the roof above the front seats. It's clear there are two different openings divided by a section of roof and the glass is covered with the same material on the side window of the rear door the woman has open

However the second, as seen in these two pictures seems to be two separate glass sections divided by a stationary section of the roof. It's hard to tell, but it seems these may not open, and just be there to let light in, like a classic moonroof. The interesting thing is there are two distinct separated panels, not one large piece of glass. I suppose this would allow one passenger to close their moonroof section if the sunlight was bothering them while the other front seat occupant could leave the one on their side open. Unless of course it is one large glass panel that opens and slides back above the section of roof that divides the opening into two spaces. Perhaps they needed that section to increase the strength of the CFRP passenger module. Take a look at the pictures and let me know what you think is going on there.

It's harder to see here but you can see the divider sticking down between the two openings.

For those that don't know the difference in sunroofs and moonroofs, basically a sunroof opens and pops up and slides back to allow air in the car while a moonroof is sealed and just allows light in. Click here for a thorough explanation.

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2014 BMW i3 Updated Rendering and Spyshots (Updated)

Here is an updated rendering of the BMW i3 Plug-in City car based on the latest spyshots. The BMW i3 will be an all electric vehicle with an optional range extender gas engine. The BMW i3 is due later this year and will be the first for the all new BMW i Brand, the BMW i8 is to follow. Have a look at the gallery of very clear spyshots inside. (Updated Render with Production Headlights revealed through patent drawings) 

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BMW Active Tourer Production Render

Based on the BMW Concept Active Tourer Outdoor we present to you how the Production model may look like. This will be BMW's first Front Wheel Drive model, created for an active family lifestyle.

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