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Your guide to vehicle subscription services

They might be extremely limited in scope because of location availability, but vehicle subscription services are a growing trend that most luxury manufacturers are jumping on. Plans are expensive, but you're paying for much more than just the car typically. We highlighted four of the larger plans with a few more listed at the end. Care by Volvo Volvo launched its subscription service last year with its brand-new XC40. It was the only vehicle available for a time, but subscribers can now get an S60 sedan as well. Subscriptions are for two years, with the monthly price including insurance, a concierge service, wear-and-tear item replacements and all maintenance. You'll be able to drive 15,000 miles per year with whichever Volvo you choose, and although there are no options to extend that mileage, you can swap cars after a year. Pricing for the XC40 is $650 per month in base trim, while an S60 can be as expensive as $850 for the R-Design. Volvo's plan is to offer more cars soon through the service, but it's relatively limited compared to others right now. Porsche Passport Porsche has two levels in its subscription service: Launch and Accelerate. Launch will cost $2,000 per month and give you access to the Cayman, Boxster, Macan and Cayenne. All of those but the Cayenne can be had in "S" trim as well. Accelerate is where the fun really starts. For $3,000 per month you can choose from a fleet of 911s, including the S, 4S, Cabriolet and Cabriolet S. If those aren't enough, you can also get the Panamera 4S, Macan GTS and Cayenne S. There are no mileage limits and you can change vehicles as often as you'd like. Also included in the price is insurance, repairs, detailing and any maintenance. It might be extremely expensive and limited to Atlanta only, but this subscription service is second-to-none for what you get. Audi Select Audi just launched its subscription car service, and it's offered in one version for a flat fee of $1,395 per month. For that you'll have access to five different cars including the A4, S5 Coupe, A5 Cabriolet, Q5, and Q7. Not a bad range of vehicles, but it would've been neat to see the recently updated A7 in there too. Maybe in time. Like the others, insurance and maintenance are wrapped up in the price. Audi is allowing for unlimited miles and two car swaps per month here. In addition to that, you'll get two days of free rentals through Audi's Silvercar rental agency should you go on a trip.

Totally uncovered BMW M3 caught by helmet cam

Sure, we've seen - and even ridden in - the 2015 BMW M3 before, but always under the cover of camouflage. Proving that it's always nice to be in the right place at the right time, a motorcyclist managed to capture a completely undisguised 2015 M3 (codenamed F80) on video during a closed-road photo shoot.
Road & Track has the helmet cam video, which shows the bright blue M3 doing a three-point turn as it follows a camera car possibly for an upcoming commercial or launch video. While the images are grainy, we do get to see some of the styling details for the next-gen M3. Aside from the extra set of doors, this M3 looks a lot like the Concept M4 Coupe we met a few months ago, including the bulging hood, oddly shaped door mirrors and the wide, vented front fenders. The aggressive fascia, big wheels/low-profile tires and quad exhaust outlets all but confirm this is the production M3 we'll be seeing at the Detroit Auto Show in a couple of months.
We've put together a gallery using screen shots from the video, but check out the video posted below to see the new M3 in motion.

This insane Barris-like custom car is a backyard BMW Z3 build

This is the second car made by Englishman Paul Bacon and it's called the Cosmotron, fashioned over 18 months in his backyard shed. Underneath that Jetsons bubble canopy and swinging-sixties body are the bones of a 1998 BMW Z3 with a 2.8-liter inline-six. Bacon stripped the roadster down, then built it back up using fiberglass laid over polystyrene foam, and leather hand-stitched by his wife. Bacon said he remembers how we were told that 21st-century cars would look like the Cosmotron, and since they don't, he had to fix the error. The list of 20th-century add-ons, however, is impressive, like the six SU carburetors topped off with department-store salt and pepper shakers, and the rear grille decorated with shiny plastic tops from moisturizer bottles. After driving the Cosmotron for two years, Bacon sold it to get ready for his third project. You can hear Bacon and the new buyer tell their stories in the video above.