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BMW X3 ensnared by diesel emissions probe

Volkswagen may not be the only German automaker ensnared by this whole diesel debacle. The latest reports suggest that BMW could be guilty of the same offense. According to Bloomberg, citing a report from Germany's own Auto Bild magazine, the X3 could be over the European legal limit for emissions. The report suggests that a BMW X3 xDrive20d registered tailpipe emissions more than 11 times the limit under testing by the International Council on Clean Transportation. The council is the same that triggered the investigation into Volkswagen that led to the automaker's admission that it cheated on emissions tests for its diesel vehicles and the subsequent resignation of its chief executive. Volkswagen admitted to installing software that initiates additional emissions controlling measures when it detects that the vehicle is being tested. For its part, however, BMW denies that it has any such similar system in place, noting that many of its vehicles have passed testing by the same organization. Whatever the truth in BMW's case, it may not emerge unscathed. Bloomberg reports that the company's stock fell as much as 9.7 percent – the most it has lost in over four years – amid concerns that it could be implicated in the scandal as well. Shares in rival automaker Daimler also dropped by 5.8 percent. Volkswagen has already lost over $20 billion in market value in the midst of the scandal. The German government and European Union are considering implementing more restrictive standards and more thorough testing on diesel engines in order to prevent this sort of thing from recurring.

Daily Driver: 2016 BMW X1

Daily Driver videos are micro-reviews of vehicles in the Autoblog press fleet, reviewed by the staffers that drive them every day. Today's Daily Driver features the 2016 BMW X1, reviewed by Alex Kierstein. You can watch the video above or read a transcript below. And don't forget to watch more Autoblog videos at /videos. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00 ]Hey, everybody. I'm Senior Editor Alex Kierstein and today we're driving the 2016 BMW X1. It's replacing the old X1 and the old X1 was based on BMW's traditional rear-wheel drive platform. That meant the engine was positioned longitudinally, that's north/south in the engine bay. In this application, we've got a transversely mounted turbo charged inline four, making 228 horsepower. [00:00:30] It displaces 2.0 liters and it's part of BMW's new modular engine family. It's a nice engine. It's smooth. It sounds good and it's got a lot of power. This is a little lighter than the previous car. This one weighs 3,660 pounds versus the old X1's 3800 and some change. It's a little bit lighter. The dimensions aren't that much different. If you're wondering why it got smaller, that's because it's using a platform [00:01:00] shared with a lot of BMW's Mini products. This is really the fruition of BMW's investment in the Mini brand because now they're able to use those platforms in the engines they developed for those models in BMWs. This X1 has an 8-speed automatic transmission and it's really a pretty good trans. It kicks down quickly if you call for it to give you some power and for the most part it's smooth and kind of out of your way. [00:01:30] Where Minis are sort of raucous when you really whomp in it, this is a little more restrained. It still delivers power like many of the current turbocharged Minis out there, but there's more refinement here. I really like the external styling on this car. It's wearing this really lovely shade of dark blue and BMW's current styling language lends itself really well to this shape [00:02:00]. It looks really tidy and it's not really that complex or interesting of a shape. It's very much the traditional two-box CUV kind of exterior look and profile, but the detailing is nice. It looks sharp. It looks like a premium product and it looks like a more expensive product than a similar Mini would. BMW used to pride themselves on having simple uncluttered interfaces and even the sort of trimmed down iDrive that's in this unit [00:02:30]. Works pretty well.

Dinan S3-R BMW 1M Coupe

I nearly shed tears a few years ago upon learning that BMW was only planning to produce a very limited quantity of its then-new 2011 1 Series M Coupe. In simplest terms, the two-door was a 1 Series fitted with a modified version of the automaker's twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six, and the running gear (gearbox, driveshaft, axles) from contemporary M3 models. It was also a return to form for the brand. Aggressively short and stubby in stature but packing telltale flared wheel arches that hinted at its potential, the four-seater was a spiritual successor to the original (and much loved) E30 M3 from decades earlier.
After spending a day with the original high-performance 1 at New York's Monticello Motor Club, I declared, "The little coupe with the big flares is old-school retro cool and deliciously fun to drive ... the new BMW 1 Series M Coupe doesn't target boy-racers, it targets enthusiasts." Yet sadly - and despite strong demand - BMW limited the model's production to just one year. All told, only 740 units made it to the States, and each was gobbled up at a starting price of $46,135, a price tag history will show to be a bargain.
Since I had little hope of even driving one again, I deliberately pushed all memories of BMW's 1 Series M Coupe from my mind - until my phone rang recently. On the other end was a representative from Dinan Engineering who wanted to know if I would be interested in driving the company's new S3-R BMW 1M. A quick Google search revealed it to be a heavily modified version of the discontinued 1 Series M Coupe. As if they needed an answer...