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BMW i3 configurator is so advanced it's replaced trim levels

BMW's electric i3 is slowly marching its way to dealers. It might not be happening quite fast enough for customers, though. For you anxious individuals, head over to the BMW consumer website and build your ideal i3 in the new configurator.
Before we talk about all the stuff this build tool can do, we need to address the naming of BMW's trim levels for the EV hatchback. The 328i, for example, is available in Sport Line, M Sport Line and Luxury Line. That's good; it makes sense. The i3, though, has Giga World, Tera World and Mega World. Seriously. We've no idea what BMW was thinking when it came up with this (this is the same company that regularly uses the phrase "Sport Activity Vehicle," so...).
Silly names aside, let's try and translate where each trim fits in. The Mega World is the base trim. The Giga, at $1,700, adds stylish leather-and-wool seats in a clean two-tone color scheme, along with 19-inch wheels and a leather-covered IP. The Tera World demands $2,700, but makes up for it with its own 19-inch wheels and a full leather interior. Both lines (worlds?) add satellite radio and eucalyptus wood trim.

BMW Vision Gran Turismo takes M235i Racing to the virtual extreme [w/videos]

Late last year, Mercedes-AMG worked up a concept car called the Vision Gran Turismo. It presented it at the Los Angeles Auto Show, but that wasn't the point: the point was that it would feature in Gran Turismo 6 on the PlayStation 3. It wasn't the first concept created specifically for the popular driving simulator - following similar projects by Citroën and Red Bull Racing - and as we reported just a month later, it wouldn't be the last. What we have here is the next.
Looking like an even more extreme version of the M235i Racing, the BMW Vision Gran Turismo concept builds on "the tradition of the successful BMW touring cars of the 1970s" in a heart-pumping, if unfortunately strictly virtual form. It's got more extreme aero than the aforementioned M235i Racing and a striking take on the M division's signature light blue, dark blue and red stripe over white livery.
Underneath the digital bonnet sits the same 3.0-liter inline six as the M235i, but pumping out a prodigious (if theoretical) 549 horsepower - far more than the 333 hp in the actual Racing version or the 320 hp in the roadgoing model. Of course BMW has given it an ideal 50:50 front-rear weight distribution and a curb weight of 2,600 lbs - nearly a thousand pounds less than the roadgoing M235i.

2015 BMW M3 squares off against Alpina D3 in gas vs. diesel throwdown

There was a time when diesel meant one of two things: This vehicle's owner either wants to save some money at the pump or needs to haul massive loads. It definitely did not mean that the owner of said machine wanted to drive fast, but that perception has slowly but surely been changing over the last several years, with automakers from Volkswagen and Ford to Audi and BMW offering spiced-up versions of their high-compression, turbocharged diesels.
It's that last automaker we mentioned that's the subject of the video you'll see down below. One bright-blue BMW M3 was procured by the Brits at Autocar, and it was lined up against a deep-black Alpina D3 (which we sadly can't buy in the US) in a spate of tests, including acceleration, stopping, sound and lap times on a closed circuit. The results, which we won't spoil for you, were enlightening, and were followed up by personal impressions from the man behind the wheel.
We know you're curious. All it takes to find out which of these 3.0-liter, twin-turbo-powered 3 Series variants came out on top is to scroll down below and watch. You know what to do.