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Lexus to use BMW 3.0-liter straight-six in next-gen IS sedan?

Here's a rumor so wild it needs a U.S. Fish and Wildlife permit. Japan's Best Car magazine reports that the next-generation Lexus IS will offer BMW's B58 3.0-liter inline-six as one of four powertrain options. That's the same engine found in the new Toyota Supra with 335 horsepower and 365 pound-feet of torque. What's more, the fourth-gen IS will resurrect the IS F model gone AWOL during the current third generation, and do it with the twin-turbo V6 from the Lexus LS 500. The current TTV6 makes the same 416 hp in the LS 500 as the 5.0-liter V8 did in the first Lexus IS F 12 years ago. According to the magazine, the other engine options would be Toyota's 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, a 2.5-liter for a hybrid model, and a 2.4-liter turbo. We don't know where that last engine fits in. BMW doesn't make a 2.4-liter, and Toyota appears to have retired all of its 2.4-liter applications. Ignoring that, the 3.0-liter straight-six looks like it would replace the current 3.5-liter V6 rated at 311 hp and 280 lb-ft. This wouldn't be the first time the Supra's engine has been ported to the IS. Lexus mavens will remember that two years after the introduction of the original IS in 1998, Lexus put the Supra's 2JZ 3.0-liter straight-six engine in the IS 300 — without the turbochargers, thank you. But Best Car's prediction would have zero relation to history. Those were both Toyota engines back in 2000, and even ignoring the power differential, the IS didn't compete with the Supra. Putting BMW's 3.0-liter in the Z4 and the Supra works because they are the same car. And again, even ignoring the power differential, the more powerful Z4 doesn't compete with the Supra. Best Car's scenario has BMW selling one of its best engines for use in a direct competitor to the 3 Series. Lexus would need to design an engine bay long enough to swallow an inline-six, not a bread-and-butter engine for the brand, yet still be sensible for three more compact powerplants. Then, assuming BMW and Toyota made the same deal as with the Z4 and Supra, the Lexus would be down by a healthy double-digit horsepower margin on its German foe. The new Supra gives up 47 hp to the roadster. Where's the upside? It's said the trim sedan will stay about the same size, on a wheelbase roughly four centimeters longer, but lose a substantial chunk of weight.

Watch Emily Blunt and John Krasinski prank Jimmy Kimmel's SUV

Jimmy Kimmel has a bit of a rivalry going with Emily Blunt and John Krasinski. Not like the "I'm on television, you're on the radio" one he has with his former Man Show co-host Adam Carolla (who of course has more to do with cars than the last name he almost shares with a Toyota economy sedan). With Blunt and Krasinski, it's more of a prank rivalry. The Hollywood couple, you see, live across the street from Kimmel, and they're all good friends. But come the holiday season, things get a little competitive. One year they broke into Jimmy's house and left an illuminated snowman and some sort of santa bear in his foyer. Jimmy retaliated, the Krasinskis escalated, and up and up things went until Jimmy had their entire house wrapped like a gift. John and Emily weren't going to leave it at that, though, and took things in a decidedly more automotive direction. They gift-wrapped the host's BMW X5 and filled it with balls. But they didn't stop there. You'll want to watch the footage above to see how things ended, just take note of the roll cage visible as Krasinski-Clause stumbles out of the car in that last scene and remember that, while we couldn't say no vehicles were actually harmed in the making of this segment, at least it doesn't appear to have actually been Kimmel's.

BMW calling in 76k vehicles over airbag issues

Vehicles these days are typically fitted with a mat in the front passenger seat that determines whether that airbag needs to be activated in the event of a collision and how it should deploy. But that system doesn't always work, as Mercedes recently found in its SL-Class roadster and as Suzuki did before it with the Grand Vitara and SX4 crossovers. Now a crop of BMW vehicles have befallen the same issue, prompting the Bavarian automaker to cooperate with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to issue a recall for the vehicles in question.
The problem affects precisely 76,565 vehicles, including certain the 3 Series (sedan and wagon), 5 Series, 7 Series and X5 crossover families spanning the 2006 and 2007 model years and fitted with a certain type of seat. However, since the parts to repair the problematic components are not currently available, as you can see from the recall notice below, it won't be until March 2014 when local dealers will be able to resolve the issue.