11 128i Convertible, Premium & Sport Pkg, Black Wheels, Free Shipping! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Watch a trio of Santas ride up Mulholland Drive

Santa Claus might have his eight reindeer - or nine, when it's foggy - to help him deliver presents in most parts of the world, but in southern California, it looks like he's traded up from Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and company to BMW, Yamaha and Ducati. RNickeyMouse is usually the place to check out spectacular motorcycle crashes on video along LA's Mulholland Drive, but a recent video caught a trio of Santas carving up the iconic, twisty road.
The three Santas are together, riding what appears to be a BMW S1000RR, Yamaha R1 and a hard-to-tell custom bike that could be a Ducati 1098. The video, which is posted below, also catches a bonus Santa riding solo on another S1000RR. Happy Christmas to all, and to all a cool bike!

BMW pondering hardcore M4 to celebrate 100 years?

2013 is the year for Lamborghini, Aston Martin and the Porsche 911, but 2016 will be the year for BMW. That's when the Munich-based maker of the Ultimate Driving Machine will celebrate its 100th birthday, with what will probably be a year-long celebration. Part of that 365-day party will, reportedly, be an even hotter version of the new BMW M4, which is set to debut in January at the Detroit Auto Show.
Yes, according to Australia's Car Sales, the über-M4 has been hinted at by higher-ups at BMW's M division, who claim the rear seats will be removed, much like the M3 GTS, while other weight-saving measures will be used to try and bring the M4's weight below 3,000 pounds. There's no mention of engine mods, but if the M4's biturbocharged six is as good as we think it'll be, that's not a deal-breaker for us.
The lightening process on the so-called M4 GTS would involve replacing the hood and front fenders with parts made of carbon fiber, while the doors would switch from steel to aluminum. Besides the deletion of the rear seats, Car Sales is predicting lightweight racing buckets, with a carbon-fiber shell and a minimal amount of padding. Expect lots and lots of Alcantara, in place of leather.

2014 BMW i3

We can only imagine the challenges BMW is going to have explaining the i3 electric vehicle to the world. It's got a new powertain (all-electric, with optional range extender), a new production method (carbon fiber reinforced plastic!), a new brand (the 'i' line) and a new vehicle type (it's a city car). Despite everything that's different, BMW is still trying to talk about the i3 as if it fits in with the rest of the company's vehicles. But it doesn't. Not really. And that's going to make the marketing and salespeoples' jobs quite difficult.
Which is a shame, really, since the i3 is amazing. If it didn't carry the BMW 'heritage' baggage, people would be falling over each other to sing its praises. This is one of the smoothest, roomiest and slickest electric vehicles we've ever driven, with a lot of hidden surprises. It is a wonderful city car, and well designed for the car-sharing, emissions-aware drivers of the near future. But since the i3 carries the BMW name, everyone we ran into while cruising the narrow streets of and flat countryside around Amsterdam in a Euro-spec i3 recently wanted to know one thing: is it "a BMW" as well as being an electric car? During one photo shoot, a police car pulled up next to us, totally stopping traffic. While my co-driver and I instantly thought we were going to be asked to move, the officer simply wanted to know what the scoop was about all the i3s he had seen that day. Oh, and does it drive like a BMW?
We'll answer that question in detail below. The most important thing to remember is that the BMW i3 comes from the new "i" sub-brand within BMW. Like Mini, the i line really is a different beast, despite the roundel's presence. So, what makes a BMW a BMW? The answer is as easy as ABC. Or, in this case, as simple as Bayerische Motoren Werke, or Bavarian Motor Works.