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BMW bringing special Horse Edition 7 Series to Beijing

The Beijing Motor Show is just a couple of weeks away, and BMW wouldn't miss out on the opportunity to show off its latest wares to one of its most vital markets. So when the doors open in Beijing, BMW will showcase the new 2 Series Active Tourer, 2 Series Coupe, M3 and M4, 4 Series Gran Coupe and X4. It will also introduce the i3 and i8 to China for the first time. But those are all models we've seen already. What's new is... wait for it... the 7 Series Horse Edition.
Not celebrating horses so much as the Year of the Horse, this special edition 7 Series is based on the long-wheelbase model and comes with all manner of M equipment packages, a special paint job from BMW Individual and unique touches inside and out. BMW isn't saying which engine it features, but it sells the series in China in 730Li, 740Li, 750Li, 760Li and ActiveHybrid forms, with rear- or all-wheel drive. Given that the one pictured is wearing an xDrive badge, it would have to be either the 740Li or 750Li, but buyers will presumably be able to order it in whichever spec they desire.
While it may not be as exciting as the 9 Series concept BMW is rumored to have lined up for the Beijing show as well, you can bet that the Bavarian automaker will find plenty of buyers for this extra-special, extra-Chinese, extra-equestrian luxury sedan, and command a healthy premium from each and every one of them.

BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition is so cool it's Frozen

The new, one-of-a-kind BMW i8 Concours d'Elegance Edition made a ritzy debut last night at BMW's private villa, giving the media its first chance to look at the ultra-exclusive hybrid.
As we said in our previous post, the most notable feature of the Concours d'Elegance i8 is its matte grey paint, known as Frozen Grey Metallic in BMW parlance. This isn't the first time we've seen this shade on an exclusive BMW, as it was last used for the Frozen Grey M3 from 2010.
Contrasting quite nicely with the i8's flat paint are its blue and white accents, and its Dalbergia Brown leather upholstery. Blue contrast stitching complements the interior aesthetic, as do the embossed BMW roundels in the headrests.

Researchers halfway to cutting carbon fiber costs by 90%

Carbon fiber has been utilized for decades to build racecars, as a means to cut weight while maintaining strength. But until recently, the space-age material has been largely absent from the street on anything but supercars because of the expense to use it. Recently, BMW signaled a major shift in that trend when it starting using carbon fiber reinforced plastic panels on the i3 and i8. This relatively small scale start might be just the beginning; the German company believes that a breakthrough to inexpensively manufacture the lightweight stuff is just on the horizon.
MAI Carbon Cluster Management GmbH counts BMW, Audi, Airbus, the German government and many other organizations as supporters, and it's researching how to make carbon fiber cheaper to produce, according to Automotive News Europe. The company thinks it can reduce costs by 90 percent in the near future. "We've certainly reached a halfway point on our cost-cutting target for suitable carbon-fiber parts," said project head Klaus Drechsler to Automotive News Europe.
Unfortunately, it isn't entirely clear just what MAI Carbon is doing to make such a huge leap possible. However, a recent post on the company's website talks about a new form a carbon fiber using a thermoplastic matrix that could be cured in less than three minutes. That's compared to about 90 minutes in the traditional process with an autoclave.