By Chris Haak

Ah yes, the “good old days.” Remember when cars had names like Comet, Monterey, Nova, Tempest, Metropolitan, and Zephyr? Though there is more diversity in the auto market today than there has been in decades (though no longer thousands of boutique automakers in the US as there were in the early days of the industry), vehicle names that are actual words found in the dictionary are becoming more scarce. That is not news. Some automakers, though not all, have decided that rather than building better, more sophisticated cars, they might just trick the buying public into believing that a DTS is more upscale than a Deville, that an MKZ is more contemporary than a Zephyr, or that a G6 outshines a Grand Am. Again, this is all old news. Today I’m more concerned about model names that once described engine displacement. If you read on, I have some solutions too.

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By Chris Haak

Once upon a time, BMW’s storied Motorsports division stood for high-revving, power-dense inline-six engines paired to manual transmissions and installed in nothing but reasonably light rear wheel drive cars.  It’s safe to say that M has jumped the shark from that original mission years ago.  Now there are two-ton, self-shifting, forced-induction (with the exception of the 1 Series M), and sometimes even all wheel drive trucks.  But that’s OK, because they are also all gasoline-fueled.

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By Carl Malek

BMW has finally lifted the veil off of its latest 6 Series variant, the 2012 BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe. Closely related to its fellow platform sibling the two door 6 Series coupe,  BMW claims that it officially refers to the Gran Coupe as a 4+1 vehicle meaning that the new four door was designed to put form and styling over function and rear seat room. The Gran Coupe is also the first time BMW has attempted to put a sedan between the more conventional 7 and 5 Series sedans in its model lineup to help give it a more formidable competitor to rivals such as the Mercedes CLS and the Audi A7.

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By Kevin Miller

Something readers may not know about me is that I have an identical twin- or, I am an identical twin. My brother and I share the same DNA, the same “frame,” and look very similar to one another. While my brother and I are literally made from the same genetic material, we’ve grown to be distinct from one another in our professions and hobbies. While we’re essentially the same weight and height, I am an electrical engineer and auto blogger, who spends way too much time at a computer keyboard. My brother, on the other hand, is an Olympic rower turned collegiate rowing coach who bikes to work most days, so he has a distinctly more athletic appearance than I do.

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By Carl Malek

Set offer a host of improvements over the previous generation E90 3 series sedan, the 2012 BMW 3 Series sedan will be arriving at a BMW dealer near you sometime early next year, and now the Bavarian automaker has revealed the official pricing that customers can expect to pay when they purchase the redesigned four door for their own garage. Pricing will begin at $35,795 for a base 328i model while the more performance oriented 335i model will start at a slightly higher base price of $43,295.  Both prices include the $895 dollar destination and handling charges. While these numbers do represent a $320 and $370 USD increase in base price over the old E90 model, the 2012 3 series will not only be redesigned, but it will also have an increased amount of standard equipment versus the old model which BMW thinks is worth the slight jump in price.

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By Carl Malek

A report on InsideLine suggests that BMW’s M division wants to develop an exclusive model of its own to take on the likes of the AMG SLS and Audi’s equally potent RS line. Albert Biermann, head of product development for BMW’s Motorsport division, claims that the division is ready to develop a model of its own. “From an engineering perspective we have the skills and we’d love to do it,” he said. “We’ve discussed it several times but we’ve never been able to make the business case. Everything we do has to make money.” Biermann also claims that the M division is ready to switch to power-trains powered by alternative sources of energy. “Our job is to sell emotion and fun, using the technology that’s socially acceptable at the time. Whether that’s a combustion engine or an electric motor, we don’t care.”

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By James Wong

When you think of a showroom dedicated specially only to the hallowed BMW M nameplate, the first place that comes to mind would be Germany. ‘It would definitely be there,’ you would think, the home of BMW and also to the Nürburgring, the choice testing ground for BMW M vehicles.

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By Chris Haak

For some time, General Motors has seemingly operated under the assumption that its buyers are define the value of their cars by a “by the pound” metric.  The logic appears to be that if a given GM vehicle is a bit large for its class, then consumers will hopefully perceive the GM vehicle as being a better value.  That’s why, for example, the Chevrolet Cruze is almost as big as a midsize car, and has a published curb weight just 97 pounds lighter than the [also big-for-its-class] midsize Hyundai Sonata.

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By Carl Malek

BMW has released the official details on its newest special edition M3 the 2012 BMW M3 CRT (Carbon Racing Technologies).  First introduced earlier this year as the BMW M3 GTS Sedan Concept, this featherweight M3 can be considered a four door version of the M3 GTS Coupe – a car considered by many to be perhaps the most radical factory car ever built on the current generation E92 platform. Of course, the addition of the sedan’s rear doors does increase weight by 198 lbs over the M3 GTS Coupe. Despite this slight weight increase, the M3 CRT manages to achieve a curb weight of 3,483 lbs which is a full 100 lbs lighter than a typical M3 sedan.

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By Carl Malek

After photos of the 2012 BMW M5 began making there way on to the internet, BMW has decided to unveil the official details on their latest four door missile. The brand new M5, which joins the more conventional 5 series sedan on BMW’s new F10 platform, is one of the first examples of the company’s recent shift towards better fuel efficiency in their M cars without compromising the world class performance enthusiasts have come to expect from a car wearing the M badge.

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