2010 Bmw 6-series on 2040-cars

Auto blog

On Location in California with BMW and Mini

A mid-winter escape from frigid Michigan to drive a trio of new BMW and Mini products? It'd be a busy couple of days, but you can't argue with Southern California in February. The temperatures in LA, where we drove the Mini Cooper S Convertible, hovered in the mid-80s, and it was solidly in the 70s further north, at Monterey, where we drove the M2 and X4 M40i. The highlight of the trip was Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, which is a rewarding track to drive in a street car. The M2 was a blast there. The canyon roads above Malibu in the Mini were a close second, but even the lazy drive down the PCH to Big Sur was a blast. More important is the California state of mind we were in when driving all three of these cars. I've spent a lot of time in this state, and it has a complicated relationship with the car – and there's also a huge difference in attitude between the greater Bay Area and Southern California. Ample sun and twisty roads clash with image-consciousness, eco-consciousness, and brutal urban gridlock, and each BMW dealt with that paradox admirably, in its own way. Take a quick jaunt to California with me and check out the locations and experiences that helped form our impressions of these vehicles: the 2016 BMW M2 First Drive, the 2016 Mini Cooper S Convertible First Drive, and the 2016 BMW X4 M40i Quick Spin.

MotorWeek fondly remembers the 2000 BMW M5

The Retro Review series from MotorWeek tends to reminisce about vehicles at are at least 20 years old and often from even further back. However, the show's latest recollection shines the spotlight on a fondly remembered sports sedan that's also a modern classic: the 2000 BMW M5. Years before BMW committed to downsized engines with turbocharging and shortly prior to the introduction of iDrive, the E39 M5 showed the Bavarian brand's engineering talents at their very best. By modern standards, the sedan's powertrain is almost antiquated. Up front, there's a big, naturally aspirated V8 that sends power to the rear wheels, and the only choice of transmission is a six-speed manual. But as MotorWeek explains, the tuning of the whole vehicle comes out to near perfection. This is a model that's definitely worth remembering.

Electric living with a BMW i3

Rarely in the 27-plus years I've been testing and writing about cars has any vehicle changed this much from my initial impression until I was later able to spend more time in one. Nearly two years ago, I got a brief test drive of the then-new BMW i3 EV on a selection of both flat and hilly, curvy roads west of Los Angeles the day before LA Auto Show press days. My impressions at the time were mixed: polarizing exterior and interior designs but roomy, easily accessible rear cabin; great twisty road handling but somewhat brittle rough-road ride; good performance but annoyingly strong (always on) regenerative braking. And there was no opportunity to test one with the optional range-extender (which BMW calls a "REx") engine. So I wanted an extended experience in a REx-equipped i3, and recently got one. And, I'm here to report that, driving it for a week like I owned it, the quirky i3 soon won me over. The quirky i3 soon won me over. The $42,400 BMW EV's unique, lightweight "LifeDrive" architecture features a Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) passenger cell on an all-aluminum chassis. Powered by a 22-kWh lithium-ion battery pack, its 170-hp AC synchronous motor spins out a healthy 184-pound-feet of torque through a single-speed transmission and offers three drive modes: Comfort, Eco Pro (which BMW says adds roughly 12 percent of range) and Eco Pro+ (another 12 percent). The optional rear-mounted 647 cc (0.65-liter) in-line 2-cylinder REx engine drives an electric generator, never the wheels. It increases the sticker price to $46,250 and curb weight from 2,860 pounds to 3,130 lb., and that 270-lb. weight penalty reduces its electric-only range from 81 to 72 miles and EPA-rated combined (gas-equivalent) fuel economy from 124 to 117 MPGe, and slows its 0-60-mph acceleration from 7.0 to 7.8 sec. But it nearly doubles the i3's official EPA-rated total range from an EV-only 81 miles to an EV-plus-gasoline 150 miles. The i3 arrived (from roughly 90 miles away) with its battery depleted but an indicated 75 miles of gas-powered range remaining. Wanting to experience it REx-only at first, I drove it on a 9.6-mile local trip and found little difference in sound or performance from what I recalled from that California battery-only test drive. When I returned home, however, the indicated gas range was just 55 miles, so I had used 20 miles of projected range in less than 10 local miles. My initial impressions were good, with a few quibbles.