2005 Bmw Z4 2.5i Convertible 2-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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Bimmerfest puts BMW's heritage on display and in motion

The typical Memorial Day weekend is celebrated with family and friends and plenty of food, but for thousands of BMW fans it was spent at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA, for the 17th annual Bimmerfest. The event expanded significantly in the last few years with a move to the massive racetrack complex outside Los Angeles in 2016, and a second day was added this year. The celebration of the Roundel is the largest of its kind, boasting 4,000 cars and 10,000 people in attendance. There's something for just about every type of owner. For those wanting serious time behind the wheel, the oval and road course were open to hot laps, and there was the Bimmer Challenge race from Speed Ventures. An autocross course was set up in an adjacent parking lot. Those wanting to compete in less dynamic fashion had a Battle of the Bimmers car show, and the Heritage Corral and Centennial Corral put the century-long history of the brand on display. Perhaps our favorite part of the event was the BMW Fan Zone display, which showcased a few of the company's most iconic contemporary racecars. A V8-powered 2001 BMW M3 GTR and a McLaren F1 GTR sporting a BMW-developed V12 provided some fond memories of their historic on-track endeavors. If you missed Bimmerfest 2016 then you can check out our massive photo gallery above, and for those of you on the East Coast there will be a Bimmerfest East at Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ, from July 30-31. Visit www.bimmerfest.com for more details. Related Video: Featured Gallery Bimmerfest 2016 View 80 Photos Image Credit: Copyright 2016 Drew Phillips / AOL Design/Style BMW Classics

European jury picks finalists for 2015 Car of the Year

There are countless Car of the Year awards handed out each year, and naturally, Europe has its own way of doing things. Every year, a panel of jurists representing seven publications in seven different languages and seven different countries get together to name their joint Car of the Year. The panel released a list of 32 candidates back in July, and it has now whittled that list down to seven nominees. The list consists of the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, the Citroen C4 Cactus (shown), the Ford Mondeo, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, the Nissan Qashqai, the Renault Twingo and the Volkswagen Passat. Of those seven, only two are available in the US – those being the Mondeo (sold Stateside as the Fusion) and the C-Class. The Passat is an entirely different model in North America, the Qashqai isn't offered here, Citroen and Renault don't even participate in our market and the BMW 2 Series is represented here only by the completely different coupe and convertible. Expect the one and only recipient of the 2015 Car of the Year award to be announced at the Geneva Motor Show this coming March, and while you're waiting, you can place your guesses for the eventual winner in Comments. Featured Gallery 2015 European Car of the Year: Nominees News Source: CaroftheYear.org BMW Ford Mercedes-Benz Nissan Volkswagen Citroen Renault car of the year nissan qashqai citroen c4 cactus bmw 2 series active tourer

BMW reveals new seven-seat 2 Series Gran Tourer [w/video]

Everything is turning up Gran over at BMW these days. The 4 Series and 6 Series sprout extra doors to become Gran Coupes. The 3 Series and 5 Series get weird rooflines to become Gran Turismos. And now the 2 Series Active Tourer has grown an extra row of seats to become the Gran Tourer. What we're looking at is essentially the same mini-minivan/tall-hatchback that emerged almost exactly a year ago as the first front-drive model in BMW's history. Only in the guise of the new 2 Series Gran Tourer, it's been stretched to accommodate that third row of seats to give it seven-seat capacity – which was to be expected, of course, but is still fairly impressive considering how compact this vehicle actually is. It may be less than ten inches longer than the five-seat Active Tourer, but it's still smaller than just about any seven-seater on the market, and to hear the Bavarians tell it, it's "the world's first premium compact model to offer up to seven seats." Those seats are optional and can fold under the floor, and the middle row splits 40:20:40 and folds flat at the push of a button to give the 2 Series Gran Tourer a flexible cargo capacity ranging from 22.7 cubic feet all the way up to 67 cu ft. All of that in a vehicle no longer than a Ford Focus, which even in European wagon form can only swallow 53 cu ft with the seats folded – and you can forget about the extra seats in the Focus. European buyers will be able to choose between five engine options with three or four cylinders and ranging from 116 horsepower to 192. Available all-wheel drive might make you forget it's riding on a front-drive platform altogether (but not likely). Either way, the five-seat Active Tourer hasn't found its way to US showrooms, so we won't expect to see this new seven-seat version here either. At least not for the time being. But we'll surely have the chance to check it out in person for you next month at the Geneva Motor Show. The new BMW 2 Series Gran Tourer. 11.02.2015 With the new BMW 2 Series Gran Tourer, BMW has carved out yet another new vehicle segment. With its generous space, versatility and groundbreaking flexibility, the BMW 2 Series Gran Tourer is the world's first premium compact model to offer up to seven seats and fully meet the mobility requirements of young families. Compact yet capacious.