2003 Bmw Z4 2.5i Convertible 2-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Recharge Wrap-up: BMW's 2015 awards, Tesla Superchargers in Poland

Poland will soon get its first Tesla Superchargers. A photo on Reddit appears to show multiple parking stalls with Superchargers under wraps at an Orlen fuel station. Tesla recently signed a deal with the German branch of Polish oil refiner Orlen to install Superchargers at fuel stations in Germany, and it appears the focus is shifting eastward to Poland. Some question whether it makes sense for Tesla to focus on Poland, where the cities have a lot of high-rise dwellings and few private garages. Tesla, however, is known for taking risks on building infrastructure as an investment in future customers. Read more from Teslarati. Is it really true that most pedestrian crashes are the pedestrian's fault? Baltimore County and other authorities claim this is the case, but upon examination, this appears to be because roadways aren't always designed with the entire community in mind. In some cases, for instance, large, multi-lane roads travel through neighborhoods where more residents travel by foot out of necessity. "The really tragic part about it is that the two areas where we've had the most pedestrian fatalities, these are disinvested, depopulated areas," says Dallas City Councilman Philip Kingston. "Those big arterials are completely unnecessary. It's so overbuilt. The infrastructure is built for a bygone era that simply doesn't match what's there now." Read more at Treehugger. BMW won numerous distinctions for sustainability in 2015. Among the automaker's many other accolades for a variety of vehicles, The BMW i3 and i8 were singled out for praise. The i8 won four awards, including Green Car of the Year, from the World Car Awards. It was named All-Wheel Car of the Year by Auto Bild, and best sports car by multiple organizations. The i3 won Car of the Year Australia, Blogger Auto Award for the Small Car category, Auto Bild Value Master award for EVs, among others. Read more in the press release below. Distinctions, prizes and awards for BMW in 2015. Position confirmed as worldwide trendsetter in innovation, design, quality and sustainability. Munich. 2015 was a highly successful year for the BMW Group and this is confirmed by overwhelming worldwide acknowledgement. This year BMW vehicles won numerous national and international distinctions in categories as varied as innovation, design, sporty flair, quality, sustainability and intelligent vehicle connectivity.

BMW's next-century concept mentions no powertrain, and we're sad

So the Ultimate Driving Machine might soon become the Ultimate Machine Driver. We get it, that's the way things are moving. For its part, BMW still plans to involve a driver in its next-century designs, as foretold by the Vision Next 100 concept it unveiled at its centenary celebration kickoff event. But what gets us is that BMW, Bayerische Motoren Werke, the company known for delivering some of the most sorted powertrains – gasoline and otherwise – over the last century makes no mention of the future of propulsion when presenting its idea of the next 100 years on the road. Maybe it's the fact we just don't know what will power our cars even 10 years down the line; locking into one concept or another could look bad in hindsight. But the whole, er, concept of a concept is to look at what might be possible, not avoid sticky issues. Where are the in-hub motors, the wireless charging mats, the onboard fusion reactors we were promised in Back to the Future Part II? This is an opportunity to offer innovative solutions. Skipping over the power was a mistake, and one that makes me a little disappointed in the company. I'd have liked to see BMW go big with a bold prediction, or even just admit that gas will be gone and some form of electrification will take its place by 2116. We're okay with electric motors as long as they don't drain the life out of cars, and they don't have to, which is something companies like Tesla and even BMW have proven. Here's hoping one of BMW's other centenary concepts will pick up where the Vision Next 100 fell short. Related Video: Featured Gallery BMW Vision Next 100 Concept Green BMW bmw vision next 100 concept

2015 BMW 740Ld xDrive

When it first came stateside in 1978, choosing a BMW 7 Series was a simple process. With one engine and one wheelbase, you could just pick what color you want and be on your merry way. Today there are ten different models, forcing drivers to choose among four engines (plus a hybrid), rear- or all-wheel-drive, and two different wheelbase lengths. As if this isn't tricky enough, the options list has more custom choices than the Taco Bell app. Do you want standard paint and upholstery, or something from the pricey BMW Individual collection? What about the headlights: Do you want LEDs, or are the standard xenons just fine? Need a head-up display? Night vision? Adaptive dampers? The list goes on and on. After a week with a new version of BMW's flagship sedan, we've sorted out which model you actually want, although it's still up to you whether or not to order a ceramic-glazed iDrive knob. Our favorite 7 Series is now the 740Ld Xdrive, a conclusion we came to after a week at the helm of the smooth, torquey land yacht. Driving Notes When the diesel 7 first arrived at the 2014 Chicago Auto Show, its engine was already familiar to American consumers. It's the same 3.0-liter, turbodiesel inline-six found in everything from the E90 3 Series to the past two generations of X5, as well as the current 5 Series. A robust 413 pound-feet of torque lathered across the rev range, with peak twist available between 1,500 and 3,000 rpm, and the corresponding horsepower tops out at 255. 0Í–60 happens in a sedate 6.1 seconds, and for those with autobahn dreams the top speed is a modest 130 mph. While those figures aren't terribly impressive, as is often the case with diesels, the real-world application of the engine's power is far more dramatic. Even small throttle inputs produce a smooth surge of acceleration, making the 740Ld feel a lot quicker than the performance metrics might indicate. Even with the current cheap price of gas, the superior fuel efficiency of a diesel engine is worth noting, especially as this model only costs $1500 more than a 740Li xDrive. The diesel tips the scales at nearly 4,700 pounds, yet it boasts a 31-mile-per-gallon highway rating. It's rated at 23 mpg in the city, while our real-world testing saw returns in the mid-to-high 20s. Simple anecdotes about acceleration and fuel economy figures only convey a small part of the 740Ld's goodness.