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2015 BMW M3 and M4 priced at $62,000 and $64,200

When the BMW M3 and M4 debuted on Monday at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show, it was to much fanfare and excitement. At that time, though, we were missing a big piece of the M3/M4 puzzle - the price.
According to a report from our roundel-obsessed friends at Bimmerfest, the four-door M3 will star at $62,000, while the M4 Coupe is priced at $64,200. Those prices do not include a $925 destination charge. That's a pretty significant jump over the $56,275 starting price of the old M3 Sedan and $59,275 starting price of the last M3 Coupe, although we'd argue that these cars should easily outpace their V8 counterparts in terms of overall performance. In other news, a six-speed manual will come standard, while the seven-speed M DCT will be an optional extra.
Bimmerfest also came up with a timeline for the M3 and M4's arrival. We should expect the official announcement of pricing, along with the full order guides, released near the end of this month or in early February. Production will kick off in March, while customers will be able to begin placing orders in late April. We'll get our first crack at both cars in June, with deliveries beginning later that month.

BMW Recalls 1.6 Million 3 Series Cars For Air Bag Problem

DETROIT (AP) - BMW is expanding a recall of its most popular models to fix an air bag problem that is hitting much of the global auto industry. The German automaker says it will recall 1.6 million 3 Series cars from model years 2000 to 2006 across the world, including 574,000 in the U.S. The company said Wednesday that it's a precaution because other automakers using similar systems have reported problems. Air bag inflators in systems made by Takata Corp. can rupture. If that happens, the bags might not work properly, and shards could fly out and cause injury or death. The problem is responsible for millions of recalled vehicles during the past few years made by manufacturers such as Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota. Here's a look at the long history associated with this problem, that affects millions of cars. BMW said it has no reports of problems in its vehicles. Dealers will replace the passenger-side front air bags. The new recall excludes 42,000 BMWs recalled in May 2013 for the same problem. The company says it is recalling all vehicles equipped with potentially faulty air bag systems regardless of where they were sold. In June, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began investigating air bags made by Takata, a Tokyo-based supplier of seat belts, air bags, steering wheels and other auto parts. The agency said it received six reports of air bags rupturing in Florida and Puerto Rico. Three people were injured in those cases. It had estimated 1.1 million vehicles in the U.S. could be affected, but the total is likely to climb. The government says it wanted to act quickly in warm states while it continues to investigate the issue. "Based on the limited data available at this time, NHTSA supports efforts by automakers to address the immediate risk in areas that have consistently hot, humid conditions over extended periods of time," the agency said in a statement. Takata said in a statement Tuesday that it is supporting the NHTSA investigation and its customers with technical analysis and replacement parts. "Our objective is to do all that is possible to ensure the safety and well-being of the public," the statement said. Related Gallery AOL Autos Test Drive: 2014 BMW 428i

More automakers working to turn your smartphone into a shareable digital car key

The smartphone killed the phone book, audio player, the pocket digital camera, handheld GPS devices and voice recorders. Now that addictive, transistor-filled candy bar is coming for your car keys. The Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) announced that it's unveiled Digital Key Release 1.0 Specification for its member companies, which is the first step in standardizing protocols. As of now, the potential is there for drivers to download a digital key that can lock and unlock the car, start it, and transfer the key to another operator in order to share the car. The CCC's aim is to save development costs, stave off a glut of similar-yet-competing technologies, and create keys that reflect the expanded use cases for cars, i.e., car-sharing services and to-your-car delivery. Next year's Release 2.0 Specification will standardize an authentication protocol between the phone and the vehicle — how a digital key is generated on a secure server and transmitted to the car and the device — and "promise more interoperability between cars and mobile devices." The CCC says that "NFC distance bounding and a direct link to the secure element of the device" will assure security. We take that to mean the phone will need to be in direct contact with the vehicle, at least to open the door. Carmakers and suppliers have been working on digital keys for years now, and the ecosystem for individual owners to open individual cars is growing. Audi showed off its Mobile Key at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show, and now calls it Audi Connect Key, but we haven't seen much of it in the field. That same year, Volvo said it expected to sell cars with digital keys only by 2017, which clearly didn't happen. Last year, the head of sales at BMW asked, "Honestly, how many people really need [keys]? They never take it out of their pocket, so why do I need to carry it around?" Even though a digital key offers an owner more convenience and long-distance control over their vehicle, car sharing is the target — and that can even include traditional rental cars. In 2013, Continental began testing a digital key in France, aimed at integrating and simplifying the electric-car-sharing business; everything from finding a free vehicle to driving it and charging it could be done on a phone. A key could be programmed with the driver's information, so that any car the driver gets in will be automatically updated with that driver's preferences, say for audio or seating position.