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NHTSA slaps BMW with $40M fine for slow Mini recall

BMW is on the hook for a $40-million fine after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration slapped the automaker over not recalling Minis that failed to meet minimum side-impact crash standards. The civil penalty from NHTSA concerns 2014 and 2015 Mini Cooper hatchback models that "failed a crash test designed to determine whether the vehicle met crash-protection minimums," the government agency said in a press release issued this week. An October 2014 test revealed the first problem, and the Mini was subsequently retested in July, only to fail again and finally prompt a recall of more than 30,000 cars. But according to NHTSA's investigation that was opened in October, BMW waited too long to issue a recall after it knew the cars did not meet standards and bring them into compliance with more energy-absorbing materials installed by Mini dealers. This is the second time NHTSA slapped BMW with a major penalty, following a $3-million fine back in 2012 failing to report recalls of its cars and motorcycles. "For the second time in three years, BMW has been penalized for failing to meet that obligation," NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said in the release. "The company must take this opportunity to reform its procedures and its culture to put safety where it belongs: at the top of its priority list." In a separate release issued this week, BMW Group said it, "is committed to further improving its recall processes to better serve its customers," and that the company, "respects the role of NHTSA and looks forward to working with them to develop solutions for the future." National Highway Traffic Safety Administration fines BMW $40 million for failing to meet safety requirements Fine is auto company's second since 2012 WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has imposed a $40 million civil penalty and a series of performance requirements to automaker BMW North America for a series of violations of the Motor Vehicle Safety Act and NHTSA regulations. Under terms of a Consent Order issued to BMW, the company acknowledges that it violated requirements to issue a timely recall of vehicles that did not comply with minimum crash protection standards, to notify owners of recalls in a timely fashion, and to provide accurate information about its recalls to NHTSA. NHTSA imposed a $3 million civil penalty to BMW in 2012 for similar violations.

Spectre Type 10 is a 230-hp, $180,000 mid-engined Mini restomod

Restomodded classic Minis are nothing new, right? A number of reworks swap the original 1.3-liter engine, Honda's VTEC K20 four-cylinder being such a popular replacement that Mini Mania makes a complete swap kit, but the 1.0-liter Ford EcoBoost gets love, too. Some mods replace the engine and move it behind the front seats, a popular option when using the four-cylinder from a Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle. Some restomods don't do any of that, but just overhaul everything and charge a lot for it, like the David Brown Automotive Mini Remastered that costs around $100,000. As caught by Carscoops, Spectre Vehicle Design out of Vancouver, Canada has done all of the above with its Type 10 Mini restomod, raising the bar for conversions into another dimension. There will only be ten of the Launch Edition Type 10s, and about the only original part left from an original donor hatchback will be the bodyshell. These will be sourced in the same state as the buyer's residence in order to ease the process of vehicle registration. Into that bodyshell, the small Canadian team of enthusiasts has placed a Honda K20 mill with a Haltec engine management system behind the front seats. Shifted through a six-speed gearbox, we're told VTEC kicks in with 230 horsepower at the rear wheels, shunted through a limited-slip differential. In a vehicle reported to weigh 1,700 pounds wet, we're talking serious shove. Committed to keeping the Mini's ten-inch wheels, Spectre designed a new trailing arm suspension to make the package work. Those wheels are three-piece, six-inch-wide, CNC'd aluminum units with staggered offsets and directional spokes to usher hot air away from the four-piston disc brakes.  The cabin looks like a Japanese-infused Mid-Century modern living room, given a touch of carbon fiber and Monica Bellucci. Creative Director Marco Lii patterned the seating aesthetic off a genkan, the foyer area in a Japanese home where one removes ones shoes. The genkan floor is often recessed in relation to a home's main floor, and so it is here in the Type 10. There's a tatami-like mat on the cabin floor, the two interior seats placed on a dais a level above that. The copious light wood and leather interior with chrome accents is understated and gorgeous, everything so well integrated that it takes a moment to recognize the full-cabin roll cage wrapped in stitched leather. The padded center armrest on thin chromed legs looks like a piece in a high-end furniture store.

Mini Cooper SE Prototype First Drive Review | This electric hatch is a suburban belter

MUNICH, Germany — A battery-electric Mini SE? Haven't we been here before? Well, yes: A decade ago, as part of its "i Project," BMW conducted a worldwide field trial of some 750 lithium-ion battery equipped two-door Mini Coopers. It was launched at the 2008 L.A. Show, and the lithium-ion battery pack took up most of the space normally occupied by the rear seats. Nevertheless, interest in the 450 lease vehicles offered in the U.S. (at $850 a month) was strong, with more demand than cars available. One result of the 2008-2011 trial was parent company BMW learned that the average owner of a two-door Mini drives about 25 miles a day, and the company is hoping the battery Mini will be an ideal (sub)urban-run-around for two- or three-car families. Now BMW is about to launch a production Mini EV (based on the two-door model, but with the full complement of four seats), which goes on sale at the end of the year. This will join the Mini Countryman All4 plug-in hybrid in the electrified Mini stable, but while the Countryman has an EV range of about 12 miles, this battery Mini will travel around 120 miles on a single charge. The reason we can't be too definite about the new Mini's capabilities is that BMW isn't allowed to "advertise" the car this far in front of its on-sale date. We caught up with the prototype model, mummified in camouflage tape, at an off-the-road driving event held at BMW's Munich driving center on the former military air base of Furstenfeldbruck, now known as Maisach. The drivetrain is based on the middle model of BMW's i3 range, the i3S, with its 135 kilowatt/181 horsepower motor and 94 amp-hour, 33 kilowatt hour battery. The battery is a 96-cell lithium-ion unit from Chinese supplier CATL instead of BMW's previous supplier, Samsung, and it weights 441 pounds. Unlike the team-built, mainly carbon-fiber i3, the Mini is a standard three-door model that runs down the production line in Oxford, with a metal subframe that houses the electric motor, inverter, transformers, and control electronics so they can be slotted into place like a conventional driveline. We can extrapolate a few things about the Mini from the BMW i3S. As well as its working range of 120 miles, the i3S has a top speed of 100 mph and will accelerate from 0-62 mph in 7.7 seconds. With over 360 pounds more to pull about, the 2,998-pound Mini EV will be slower, with less range, especially if used in cold conditions.