2005 Bmw M3 Base Convertible 2-door 3.2l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe blows the doors back on [w/video]

BMW sure seems to take pleasure in confusing the hell out of us. It used to be pretty simple: if you wanted a compact Bimmer, you had to look no further than the 3 Series. Then it was just a matter of which bodystyle you wanted. But the smaller end of BMW's lineup has gotten more complicated lately. Never mind the 1 Series and 2 Series (in their various iterations) that have slotted in below it - now the 3 Series has been split in two: Want a four-door, get the new 3 Series. Want a two-door, the 4 Series is your address. Right?
Almost. Because now there's a 4 Series Gran Coupe that keeps the two-door's roofline (or some approximation of it) but adds an extra set of doors in the back, thereby bridging the gap between the 3 Series sedan and 4 Series coupe. And it's just made its public debut here at the Geneva Motor Show.
The difference between this and the two-door 4 Series is plain to see: it's got two extra doors. But what's the difference between this and the 3 Series sedan? About two or three grand, to start with - depending on which version (428i Gran Coupe or 435i Gran Coupe) you choose. But it's also sleeker, more muscular and altogether that extra bit sexier. Which is a good trait, as you can see from our gallery of live shots above, to have in your European sports sedan, coupe, or whatever you want to call it.

X1, 3 Series power BMW back into global luxury autos sales lead

BMW managed to eke ahead of Audi for the global luxury sales crown in February. According to Bloomberg, BMW saw deliveries swell by 7 percent in February, besting the 3.2 percent jump enjoyed by Audi and giving BMW a 407-unit delivery lead over its rival last month. Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, continued to falter, with the brand selling some 37,229 fewer machines than BMW, whose factories are running at full capacity to keep up with demand. Models like the X1 (shown above) enjoyed a sales increase of 40 percent in February while the company's bread-and-butter 3 Series jumped by 26 percent.
Mercedes-Benz hopes to stem its continued market share loss with the addition of the entry-level CLA sedan to its portfolio in April. The company is set to roll out an updated version of its cash-cow E-Class at the same time, and a new-generation S-Class will follow along shortly thereafter. Meanwhile, the company is increasing production to meet demand for its A and B-Class models.

BMW Individual gives 760Li a Sterling reputation

Standard chrome too plebeian for your taste? You can order a Rolls-Royce with its Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornament made out of just about anything you want: gold, silver, glass... you name it. But if your sense of style is a bit less Anglo and a bit more Saxon, BMW has another option for you.
Feast your eyes on the BMW Individual 760Li Sterling edition. (But don't look directly at it. Don't you dare.) Crafted in partnership between BMW Individual and the silversmiths at Robbe & Berking, the special 7 Series is adorned with hammered sterling silver trim inside and out. The twin-kidney grille, the emblems, the interior trim panels... all hand-made in silver. So you won't want to park this particular Bimmer in the wrong neighborhood, because unlike the Rolls ornament, these don't retract safely under the hood.
The special edition gets a dark grey exterior tint and brown leather interior, the best to highlight the silver brightwork. Otherwise it's mechanically identical to any other 760Li (or so we would presume, as the press release didn't mention specifically), that being the flagship version of BMW's flagship sedan, complete with 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 at the front end of a long wheelbase. Check it out in the gallery above, including the build process at both BMW Individual and Robbe & Berking, and press release below.