2008 Bmw M3 Coupe 2-door 4.0l on 2040-cars

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BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe caught without cladding

Like it or not, the majority of BMW 3 Series variants are on their way out, and the 4 Series models are hotly embroiled in the testing needed to replace them. We've now driven the basic 4 Series, seen spy photographs of the 4 Series Convertible and both versions of the M4 and today we get a better-than-ever look at the 4 Series Gran Coupe.
And, mostly dependent on your personal disposition towards four-dour coupes, that look should be a pleasant thing. The long, swooping Gran Coupe may be roughly similar in size to the related 3 Series GT, but it has been sculpted with beauty in mind rather than crossover function. We expect that those details still hidden by the body cladding here, mostly front and rear, can be filled in by simply remembering what the standard 4 Series looks like and squinting your eyes a bit. Subtlety is thy name, BMW variants.
As for the mechanicals, well, we expect to have the very same greasy bits under the hood and beneath the car that are found in the 4 Series lineup, too.

BMW E9 3.0L CSL Batmobile is an awesome retro racer

When BMW released pictures of its 3.0 CSL Hommage earlier this year and then brought a period-livery racing example to Pebble Beach, this is the car it was looking at. The BMW E9 New Six CS came before BMW Motorsport and BMW M cars existed, and well before the tagline "The ultimate driving machine," but it paved the way for all of them. Built as a road-going coupe from 1968 to 1975, 1,265 units out of a total production run of 30,546 units were homologated for the European Touring Car Championship. Fitted with the final specification aero package in 1973 and powered by a 3.003-liter inline six-cylinder with a base rating of 200 horsepower, it proved such an able racer that it won the overall ETCC trophy six times - four of those after its road car donor had ceased production, and a bunch of other races like a class win at Le Mans. Clean samples go for huge money. That aero kit earned it the nickname "Batmobile," and Car Throttle drove a left-hand-drive version in the UK (BMW did build 500 right-hand-drive models, though). This is less a car review and more a dream drive, the host letting us know right off that the 3.0 CSL is the one car he's wanted to drive more than any other. He also finds that the Coupe Sport Leicht had a stop/start system... of the temperamental kind. Check it out in the video above. Related Video:

BMW hints at long wait for Tesla Model 3 in new ad

When an automaker takes 373,000 advance reservations for a highly touted electric vehicle, that company can become a big target. A competitor, BMW for example, could then take aim at that target in an ad. As you might suspect from how all this is worded, the German automaker doesn't mention Tesla Motors or its Model 3 by name in the ad, as you can see above. As it gets ready to start selling its 330e iPerformance plug-in hybrid, BMW launched a couple of advertisements during the Summer Olympics this month, Advertising Age says. While talking about the unnamed competition, the tag line says: "You will wait, and wait and wait some more." One ad shows a woman walking by two empty charging stations, which look an awful lot like Tesla Superchargers, on the way to her new BMW. The reference makes sense, as prospective buyers of the Tesla Model 3 will have to, uh, wait until at least late next year to get their new vehicles. The 330e iPerformance PHEV goes on sale this summer and will start at $44,695, about $10,000 more than where the Model 3 is expected to be priced. According to one of the ads, the car gets a 72 miles per gallon-equivalent fuel-efficiency rating and can travel as far as 14 miles on electricity alone thanks to its 7.6-kWh li-ion battery. The car can also go from 0 to 62 miles per hour in about six seconds. You can read our "First Drive" review here. BMW currently sells two plug-in vehicles in the US, both are under the automaker's i sub-brand. Through July, Bimmer has sold almost 4,400 units of its i3 battery-electric vehicle and almost 800 of the i8 plug-in hybrid supercar. In 2015, the two models had sales of 13,289 units, about double the 2014 numbers. Related Video: