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BMW M6 GTLM already looking mean ahead of Daytona debut

BMW Motorsport is preparing to roll out the new M6 GTLM. And Americans will be the first to see it when it marks its debut during this week's IMSA test session at Daytona International Speedway. After that, two of the new competition machines will be campaigned by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. Designed to compete at the top levels of sports car racing, the new M6 GTLM will be the successor to the Z4 GTLM and the M3 GT2 before it. And with its introduction, the quasi-works RLL outfit will have been there for all three. The team co-owned by Indy legend Bobby Rahal, talkshow host David Letterman, and industrial crane magnate Mike Lanigan, has won the IndyCar championship three times, the Indy 500 once, and has recorded dozens of race wins, poles, and podium finishes. RLL branched out into sports car racing in the American Le Mans series in 2009 and has won several titles since. The new M6 racer will have some heady competition to deal with in the IMSA's GT Le Mans class next season. Among the new machinery we can expect to see on the grid in the coming year will be the new Ford GT, Porsche 911 RSR, Corvette C7.R, and possibly the new Ferrari 488 GTE, as well. Another version of the BMW entry is being prepared for privateer teams competing in the GT Daytona class, where it will have to contend with the likes of the Audi R8 LMS, Dodge Viper GT3-R, and Lexus RC F GT3. We're looking forward to seeing what the Bavarians will have to throw at 'em when the M6 GTLM debuts at Daytona this week. In the meantime, you can scope the machine out in its primer coat while undergoing a shakedown at Sebring in the gallery above.Related Video: 2016 BMW M6 GTLM to Make US Public Debut at Nov. 17-18 IMSA Daytona Test Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – November 13, 2015... BMW Team RLL will participate in the Nov. 17-18 IMSA test at Daytona International Speedway marking the first public test of BMW's latest endurance racing challenger, the BMW M6 GTLM. As announced during last season's Petit Le Mans weekend, BMW Team RLL is expected to campaign two M6 GTLM race cars in the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The M6 GTLM recently completed its first US test at Sebring International Raceway in late October along with a M6 GT3 machine that will provide the foundation for BMW's worldwide customer racing program.

Mercedes could make EV batteries with Audi, BMW

It's not a big leap from digital maps to batteries, it turns out.The head of Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler said recently that he envisions his company working together with German automotive competitors BMW and Volkswagen to further accelerate electric-vehicle battery technology. The three automakers recently worked together to enhance their in-car maps systems. Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche talked about "commonalities" between automakers, not the least of which is the need for all of them to achieve increasingly stringent fuel-economy requirements in the European Union, at the Frankfurt Auto Show last week, according to Reuters. While these companies have made their own inroads as far as plug-in vehicles go, they are all behind the Renault-Nissan Alliance when it comes to public deployment of electric vehicles. This summer, Daimler, Audi and BMW hooked up to acquire the Nokia Here digital-mapping service for about $2.8 billion. The triad of automakers beat out companies such as Apple and Uber to buy the entity, which was founded in 1986 as Navteq. Nokia bought the company in 2007. The acquisition makes sense as the automakers work on improving their products with features like cloud-based data to warn drivers of icy roads and traffic jams. The technology will likely also eventually be used in autonomous vehicles. Automakers working together for a common goal of improved technology is nothing new, of course. General Motors and Honda agreed in 2013 to work together to accelerate hydrogen fuel-cell drivetrain development. Earlier that same year, Daimler said it would work with Ford and Nissan in a separate collaboration to speed up the development of hydrogen fuel-cell technology. Related Video:

2015 BMW M3 is fast for the family man

BMW finally brought its four-door M3 into the public view, showing the new sedan off at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show. The new M3 represents BMW's return to small, wildly fast four-door sedans after a several year absence following the discontinuation of the E90 M3 Sedan way back in 2011.
The M3 enjoys the same 425-horsepower, 3.0-liter six-cylinder used in the M4, with 406 pound-feet of torque and the owner's choice of either an old-fashioned six-speed manual or a seven-speed M dual-clutch transmission. All told, the new powertrain should scoot the four-door M to 60 in a mere 3.9 seconds (with the M DCT).
We've got a full gallery of live images of the all-new M3 up above, and we've included the original stock gallery down below. Feel free to peruse either, and then let us know what you think by sounding off down in Comments.