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Next BMW 5 Series hits the 'Ring

Here are our latest photos showing the new BMW 5 Series, codenamed G30, testing at the Nurburgring. Based on the fairy door on the left front fender, we'll take this as the purported PHEV version that we caught last time around on German city streets. According to the insiders at BMW Blog, the 5er hybrid will take heavy inspiration from the X5 xDrive40e, including the 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with electric assistance and a combined power rating of about 300 horsepower. The lighter CLAR architecture making its way under the 3, 5, 6, and 7 Series models is expected to remove anywhere from 80 to 100 kilograms in the 5, enabling non-US markets to partake of the 150-hp, turbodiesel three-cylinder engine at the entry-level end. However, the engine symphony will run up the scale through four-, six-, and eight-cylinder registers that include a 400-hp M550 diesel and a 600-hp V8 in the M5. The tech story is 'Go Go Gadget G30,' with rumors of autonomous abilities like being able to overtake other cars on its own – and signaling beforehand – and parking itself. Inductive charging through a floor-mounted plate, as shown at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, a new iDrive layout with a touchscreen and gesture-enabled functions, and over-the-air updates are also expected. We could see it revealed at next year's Geneva Motor Show, or maybe the 2016 Auto China, in Beijing, or sooner.

2015 BMW M4 Convertible is here to put wind in your sails

Each generation of the BMW M3 has included a convertible model. Even the distant E30, the patriarch of the M3 line, had an ultra-rare (only 787 were built) droptop model. The convertible became more common on the successive generations, with the hardtop-convertible E93 being the most recent. Considering this history, there seemed very little doubt that as the M3 became the M4, a convertible would be in the cards. Now, the new droptop has arrived.
Set for its global debut at the 2014 New York Auto Show, the 2015 BMW M4 Convertible features, like its forbearers, everything that's great about the hardtop variant while adding an unlimited amount of head room. That means the same 3.0-liter, 425-horsepower, 406-pound-foot, twin-turbocharged straight six sits under its domed hood, while either a six-speed stick or a seven-speed M dual-clutch transmission dispatches power to the fat rear tires.
As for specific differences between the hardtop and the new convertible, obviously, the droptop is heavier. A lot heavier. Where an M4 with a six-speed manual tips the scales at 3,530 pounds, the M4 Convertible weighs in at 4,055 pounds. Believe it or not, BMW has actually trimmed 90 pounds from the last-generation M3 convertible, code-named E93. This marginal weight reduction from the third-generation convertible to the fourth is barely half of the 174 pounds BMW was able to subtract when transitioning from M3 Coupe to M4 Coupe.

BMW says its diesels are above board

BMW got yanked into the riptide of the Volkswagen diesel scandal thanks to a report in Auto Bild, which Auto Bild has now clarified. On Thursday the German magazine said that when the International Council on Clean Transportation tested the X3 xDrive 2.0d, the ICCT discovered the diesel X3's tailpipe emissions exceeded the European limit by more than 1,100 percent. The key detail, though, is that apparently at no time did the ICCT find that BMW cheated on any emissions tests. No one has explained why the X3 diesel had such high emissions and the ICCT wouldn't comment on the Auto Bild report. But the mag has issued a clarification asserting that in spite of the excessive emissions, there is no evidence BMW engaged in regulatory subterfuge. Every other BMW vehicle ICCT tested was within compliance, but the organization's report from October 2014 - that no one paid attention to - found that nitrogen oxide emissions in 15 vehicles it tested averaged seven times the European limit. The brand's stock is still suffering from the taint. It dropped almost ten percent the day the report came out before rallying to close at five percent down. But on Monday BMW stock closed at 84.01 euros, and as of writing on Friday it's still trying to fight its way back above 80 euros. With so many people still just trying to find out how widespread the the issue is, and trust rather low, it's likely BMW won't be the one dragged down, fairly or not. Related Video: