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Berlin demanding costly German recall of 12 million diesel cars

BERLIN - Germany's Transport Ministry is in talks with car manufacturers about updating the engine management software of up to 12 million diesel vehicles, people familiar with the talks told Reuters on Monday. The cost of updating cars could amount to as much as 1.5 billion to 2.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion to $2.8 billion), and the ministry is demanding that vehicles with engines conforming to the euro-4, euro-5 and euro-6 standards be part of the recall, government sources said. The German government has demanded that the auto industry shoulder the costs of the update and is pushing for a solution to be presented before German elections on Sept. 24. The ministry is in talks with German auto industry associations VDA and VDIK as well as representatives from local governments to try and cut nitrogen oxide pollution by about 25 percent, the sources said. The talks come amid growing opposition to diesel in the wake of an emissions cheating scandal at Volkswagen. Several European cities including Stuttgart and Munich have considered banning some diesel vehicles because of emissions of nitrogen oxides, which are blamed for causing respiratory disease. ($1 = 0.8942 euros) Reporting by Markus WacketRelated Video: Government/Legal Green Audi BMW Mercedes-Benz Porsche Volkswagen Emissions Diesel Vehicles dieselgate

This BMW i8 gains Alpina V8 power thanks to tuner

German engineering firm Gabura Racing Technologies will strip out everything that makes a BMW i8 green in an effort to create a much wilder machine. Rather than a plug-in hybrid with a turbocharged three-cylinder, the company will cram in a twin-turbo V8. The firm even intends to produce a limited run of these insane conversions for customers. Gabura hasn't actually built one of these beasts yet, but it provided several glimpses of how it would work at the 2015 Professional MotorSport World Expo in Cologne, Germany. The company stuffs the engine under the front end in what looks like a quite snug fit. In several of the photos, the top of the valve covers even appears to be above the base of the windshield. According to BBC Autos, this mill is the S63 4.4-liter turbocharged V8 from the M5 and M6. Additional tuning with some help from Alpina allegedly pushes output to around 760 horsepower – more than double the i8's stock figure. One of Gabura's own six-speed sequential gearboxes reportedly transfers the power to the wheels. Gabura recently posted on Facebook that the engineers are now ready for the first conversion. They promised to "completely rebuild it inside-out, fueled with racing technology." We're very curious to see how an i8 looks and sounds after such a significant transformation.

2016 BMW M2 First Drive

Don't skip down to the conclusions, because I'll save you the trouble and spell it out for you right here. The 2016 BMW M2 is superb. Lay out your criteria for a contemporary sport coupe. Then check all the boxes. There are gripes. We've gotten good at uncovering the little issues in an age where the difference between the best and worst car in a class is smaller than ever. But they're that: little. It's a small price to pay for a vehicle that delivers so much more to the driver than the M235i – engagement, performance, pleasure – that it seems a bargain at $52,695 to start. Moreover, it's the right-sized M car we've wanted since the M4 burst its chrysalis and turned into an extra-large, if not overweight, butterfly. BMW had us out to Monterey to sample two M2s: a 7-speed DCT on Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, and a six-speed manual on the fog-kissed Pacific Coast Highway. The formula here is old-school – thank heavens. It's a compact sport coupe with swollen wheel arches and a hot-rodded inline-six. The proportions are classic: longish hood, short rear deck, reasonably airy greenhouse in the tradition of sporting BMWs, and plenty of meat on the sticky tires. Long Beach Blue paint provides depth to the sheetmetal scalloping and contrast to the fender flares – and the M2 looked great in this bold color. I can't say the same for the less-exciting grey example parked in the hospitality tent. Like most modern turbocharged BMWs, the torque curve is fatter than an In-N-Out Double Double, Animal Style. The overall rightness of the proportions compensates for the more polarizing details. The dimples in the rear bumper, the "scoops" in the lower secondary air inlets, the obligatory fender vent (which is at least small). They're all intended to communicate aggressive sportiness, and succeed to varying degrees, but it's just jewelry. Inside, BMW's excised some of the cheapness that plagued the 2 Series' predecessors. The blue contrasting stitching looks great, the sport steering wheel is perfectly sized, and the carbon-fiber patterned accents at least provide a little texture to break up an unapologetically black interior. On the other hand, the door pulls are not only cheap-looking, but also so large they're impossible to ignore. It's a baffling misstep in an otherwise simple and classy interior. As a quick aside, the HUD is clear and functional – not a new feature for BMWs, but worth noting.