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2014 BMW M235i

We know a number of BMW owners who reside in the Munich brand's core demographic - upper-five- and six-figure professionals who like to keep their automotive brand credentials as highly respected among their peers as their alma maters or the letters after their names. Before heading to Las Vegas to drive the new M235i, we asked four of those owners, "What did you think of the E30 3 Series?" Although phrased differently, every one of them had the same answer: "What's that?"
You can counter that we just happened to query a tiny and ignorant sample size, and it's possible that you're right. Nevertheless, in every case,we were speaking to BMW's core demographic, the increasing legion of buyers who have fostered another year of record growth and are responsible for BMW retaining its global luxury title for nine straight years. Question that, and we'll refer you to BMW's marketing department, its several hundred PowerPoint slides and several thousand pages of research that prove the point.
That second-generation E30 3 Series built a name, a brand and an entire segment by defining BMW-ness as superlative driving dynamics meets luxury - shortened to the phrase, "The Ultimate Driving Machine." Thirty years later, just being a part of BMW-ness and luxury is enough for the majority of buyers. The superlative handling, that's optional, and 150 hairy guys meet every Tuesday to keep the old religion going, light torches, sing dirges to the siren long gone and bang on their keyboards about the apostasies of modern buyers.

Recharge Wrap-up: Uber,'s free BMW 7 Series rides, Belfast's DeLorean EV

BMW used Uber to give people free rides in the new 7 Series. While the new generation of BMW's luxury flagship goes on sale in the US on October 24, lucky Uber customers in New York, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles got a sneak preview and free ride on October 17 and 18. The partnership also allowed potential customers to test drive the car with a BMW product specialist. "With our new 7 Series being the most innovative vehicle in its class, it's only fitting that we partnered with Uber to offer a unique and exciting way to experience our flagship model prior to retail launch," says BMW's Jason Chan. Read more from BMW. BMW is using manure to power its South Africa production facility. As part of a broader goal to get all its energy from renewable sources, BMW will get as much as 4.4 megawatts of electricity from a biogas plant that produces power from gas emitted by manure and other organic waste. At full capacity, it will supply about 25 to 30 percent of the BMW plant's power. "We are a big consumer, so that's a lot," says BMW spokesman Diederik Reitsma. "It's waste no longer wasted." Read more at Bloomberg. Visa Europe has extended it partnership with Formula E. Visa Europe signed on as the Official Payment Partner of the electric racing series for the European leg of last season, and has now expanded its commitment for the next three seasons. The company lends its name to the championship's Visa Fastest Lap Trophy. "Formula E is driving the change towards an electric future and reinventing motorsport, while here at Visa, we're reinventing payments by pioneering technologies to make payments faster, simpler and more secure," says Visa Europe's sales and marketing chief, Mark Antipof. "We seek partners that match our commitment to innovation and leadership, so it was therefore natural for us to extend our support of this evolutionary sport through a global sponsorship for the next three years." Read more from Formula E. Queen's University Belfast is set to unveil its electric DeLorean DMC-12 on October 21, 2015. The date is notable for being the day to which Marty McFly traveled in Back To The Future using Doc Brown's DeLorean time machine. In what is likely the first DeLorean to be built in Northern Ireland since 1983, students and staff from the university's School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science have restored the car and converted it to run on electricity.

BMW reclaims US luxury sales crown from Mercedes

The numbers, they are in: BMW has reclaimed the luxury-sales crown from Mercedes by a margin of 9,347 cars. Mercedes donned the king's headgear in 2013 after a strong final quarter of 2013 when the new CLA and S-Class poured out of dealerships. This year, led by the 3 Series/4 Series and X5, BMW sold 339,738 units – a 9.8-percent increase year-on-year. Mercedes, led by the C-Class and M-Class, saw its sales go up by 5.7 percent to 330,391 units. We'll have to wait a bit to see if there's another registrations-vs-sales challenge as in 2012, when BMW was anointed US luxury ruler. Behind them, a dark horse named Lexus nudged closer to the leading Teutons, selling 311,389 cars. The Japanese luxury automaker also had the biggest gain among the top three, its sales rising by 13.7 percent compared to 2013. Audi had the biggest sales of anyone among the top five, though, with a 15.2-percent gain to 182,011, which moved it a spot ahead of Cadillac; the Wreath-and-Crest brand dropped 6.5 percent to 170,750. Acura (167,843), Infiniti (117,300), and Lincoln (94,474) took the final positions. Speaking of Lincoln, sales at the once-mighty luxury marque stand as the mightiest jump of any on this list, up 15.6 percent. That's the power of Matthew McConaughey... and better cars and a new crossover, sure. So now that we're back to Round One of 2015, in case no one else has said it yet: "Ok, fight!"