2008 550 Used 4.8l V8 32v Automatic Rwd Sedan Premium on 2040-cars

Auto blog

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

Airbag recall widens to include BMW, Chrysler, Ford and Toyota

The recall of faulty airbag inflators supplied by Takata has exploded today to grow to seven automakers. In most cases, only models in certain high-humidity regions were affected because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found in its investigation that moisture played a roll in determining whether there would be a problem. However, some companies opted for national campaigns. The exact number of affected models for these campaigns isn't yet known at this time.
BMW is recalling an undisclosed number of 325i, 325Xi, 330i and 330Xi models from the 2001 through 2005 model years and the 2001-2006 model year versions of the 325Ci and 330Ci for the driver side and passenger side inflators. Only vehicles currently registered in Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and the US Virgin Islands are covered under this recall.
Neither Chrysler's filing with NHTSA nor its press release list the specific models affected, but a company spokesperson told Autoblog that at this time it only covers the driver and passenger side inflators for the 2006 Dodge Charger in Florida, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and the US Virgin Islands

8 automakers, 15 utilities collaborate on open smart-charging for EVs

We're going to lead with General Motors here. GM is one of eight automakers working with 15 utilities and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) at developing a "smart" plug-in vehicle charging system. Why did we start with GM? Because it's the first automaker whose press release we read that mentioned the other seven automakers. Points for sharing. For the record, the collaboration also includes BMW, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Chrysler, Mitsubishi and Ford. The utilities include DTE Energy, Duke Energy, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric. The idea is to develop a so-called "demand charging" system in which an integrated system lets the plug-ins and utilities communicate with each other so that vehicle charging is cut back at peak hours, when energy is most expensive, and ramped up when the rates drop. Such entities say there's a sense of urgency to develop such a system because the number of plug-in vehicles on US roads totals more than 225,000 today and is climbing steadily. There's a lot of technology involved, obviously, but the goal is to have an open platform that's compatible with virtually any automaker's plug-in vehicle. No timeframe was disclosed for when such a system could go live but you can find a press release from EPRI below. EPRI, Utilities, Auto Manufacturers to Create an Open Grid Integration Platform for Plug-in Electric Vehicles PALO ALTO, Calif. (July 29, 2014) – The Electric Power Research Institute, 8 automakers and 15 utilities are working to develop and demonstrate an open platform that would integrate plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) with smart grid technologies enabling utilities to support PEV charging regardless of location. The platform will allow manufacturers to offer a customer-friendly interface through which PEV drivers can more easily participate in utility PEV programs, such as rates for off-peak or nighttime charging. The portal for the system would be a utility's communications system and an electric vehicle's telematics system. As the electric grid evolves with smarter functionality, electric vehicles can serve as a distributed energy resource to support grid reliability, stability and efficiency. With more than 225,000 plug-in vehicles on U.S. roads -- and their numbers growing -- they are likely to play a significant role in electricity demand side management.