2005 Bmw 3 Series M3! Power Sunroof, Harman/kardon. Heated Seats on 2040-cars

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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 recalling a grand total of three X3s over instrument panel defect

We've seen big recalls and we've seen small ones. Some involve millions of vehicles, and some - like the Infiniti Q50 recall on which we reported just the other day - involve just a couple dozen. But this has to be the smallest recall we've seen yet.
"Due to a production process error" in the BMW X3, states the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the notice below, "the team seam on the instrument panel was not manufactured correctly." Big friggin' whoop, you say? Well, NHTSA points out that it could hinder the deployment of the airbag and send fractures flying everywhere.
The problem was discovered in a select few examples of the 2013 BMW X3 - both xDrive 28i and 35i models - manufactured in the later part of February this year. And by "select few," we literally mean a few - as in three. Three examples are being recalled. If you happen to be one of those three owners, expect to hear from your local dealership.

BMW unveils 2016 X5 M and X6 M super CUVs

The second-generation BMW X5 M and X6 M have officially made their arrival for the speed-obsessed, crossover-loving masses that aren't willing to turn to Mercedes-AMG or Land Rover Special Operations.
While the new models retain their 4.4-liter, twin-turbocharged V8s, power has increased from 555 horsepower to 567 ponies. Torque is up more significantly, climbing from 500 pound-feet to 553 pound-feet. The extra twist is slightly less accessible, with peak grunt arriving between 2,200 and 5,000 rpm, rather than the earlier model's 1,500 to 5,650. Still, we'll take the ten percent increase in torque as a net win.
The big powertrain switch sees the old X5/6 M's six-speed automatic replaced with an eight-speed Steptronic transmission from BMW M. This new gearbox feeds power to an xDrive all-wheel-drive system that can variably shuffle up to 100 percent of power to either axle. In conjunction with the force-induced thumper under the hood, this powertrain arrangement allows both M models to hit 60 miles per hour in just four seconds. That's a mightily impressive stat in a 5,000-plus-pound vehicle.