2009 Sdrive35i 3.0l Black on 2040-cars

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BWM 135i with M3 V8 engine swap combines two things we miss the most

If you've ever listened to the Autoblog Podcast, you've doubtlessly heard my views on the BMW 1 Series M Coupe. I don't much care for it. That's not to say it's bad, so much as it just isn't what an M car should be. Steven Ewing, Seyth Miersma and a number of other Autoblog staffers think I'm crazy (It's true, he is crazy –Ed.), but whatever. My position on the 1M would be dramatically different, however, had it been fitted from the factory with the truly fantastic 4.0-liter V8 from the E92 M3 (the last great M car, in this writer's humble opinion). Matt Farah of Drive took to the wheel of a 135i that's been completely reworked by Performance Technic and is owned by Marco Svizzero. The car required a salvageable E92 and what we imagine is an incalculable amount of wrench time, with the result being, as Farah says, "possibly the best BMW you could build at any price." Oh, and it sounds absolutely delicious. Check out the car in action.

MW's new Driftmob video shows the M235i like you've never seen it before

Last month, we went behind the scenes of the filming of BMW's new Driftmob, web video, bringing you one post from the practice sessions, and another from the shoot itself, which took place in an enormous traffic circle in Cape Town, South Africa. Today, BMW has launched the final version of Driftmob, and it's pretty damn cool.
The plot is pretty simple: just like a flashmob, in which people invade a location and perform choreographed dances to music, much to the delight of surprised onlookers, the "driftmob" features a quintet of red M235i coupes that take over a traffic circle and perform choreographed dances - sideways - to the delight of onlookers. The only differences are that, in this case, the onlookers are mostly paid extras (though there were many unwitting passersby that joined the crowd at times) and the only music is a constant squealing of tires-a sweet song if we ever heard one. Then, after about two minutes of tire-smoking shenanigans, the coupes vanish.
As promised, we will have a more detailed, behind the scenes story about the filming of the video, including insights from Rhys Millen, Samuel Hübinette, Dai Yoshihara, Rich Rutherford, and Conrad Grunewald, the five guys who executed these remarkable stunts. Meanwhile, we hope you enjoy the short flick.

Weekly Recap: The divergent paths of Tesla and Fisker

There's no doubt that Tesla is downshifting while Fisker has been grinding its gears. But it wasn't always that way.
In the wake of Tesla's recent success, it's easy to forget that there were once two California electric carmakers with bright futures.