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German Car Blog, Performance, Tuning, Motorsport, and Modification News
Published on 01-31-2012 02:58 AM
There will be a total of six M3's racing in DTM next season against Audi and Mercedes. Here is the first one revealed wearing a Castrol Edge and Aral livery. Since 2005 DTM cars have been using Aral Ultimate high-performance racing fuel in case you were wondering. The looks hot and we are sufficiently teased already, bring on the 2012 DTM season. Knowing BMW though and how aggressive they are being with DTM, we are probably going to get each car one by one . ...Published on 01-31-2012 02:44 AM
Here is a new widebody option for the Porsche Panamera from A. Kahn, the British tuner formerly known as Project Kahn. It is getting difficult to keep track of all these body kit options let alone when tuners change their names. The widebody kit includes modified fenders obviously as well as sideskirts and a spoiler. They do not stop with body work as they also modify the exhaust tips, interior, and add 22 inch RS600 wheels. We do not know what the pricing is for all of this but the blue Panamera V6 pictured is for sale for $135,000. Um, ordering a Panamera Turbo may be a better idea. ...Published on 01-30-2012 06:31 PM
Well, get ready for the new line of Mercedes 4 cylinder motors going into the A, B, and CLC class cars sharing the new MFA platform to be built for Daimler by Nissan. Nissan will produce the engines at its powertrain plant in Tennessee. Daimler intends to set up a plant next door to Nissan's Mexico plant which will expand the partnership between the two significantly. The new plant will be used to produce small models for Nissan and Mercedes. ...Published on 01-29-2012 11:11 PM
You all may remember that the F07 550 GT did not fair all too well. BMWNA president at the time Jim O'Donnel stated he wished the company kept its wagon for sale instead of switching to the 5 GT in the US market. The 3 Series GT is not shaping up much differently other than we think the 3 Series wagon will still be for sale alongside it. Manufacturers seem determined to make this type of model work as Audi is mulling over a GT model for the A3 and BMW is pushing forward with their F34 3 Series GT which will be here next year. Simply selling a 3 series wagon is likely the better idea than creating a needless niche. We will see if this idea works (sells) better on a 3 series chassis than it did with the 5. ...Published on 01-29-2012 10:30 PM
That is exactly what Autocar is reporting although they have been known to jump the gun and gets things wrong from time to time. BMW just recently did a tri-turbo setup on their diesel M motor so obviously it can be done and manufacturers are going forward with it. Autocar states there are patent applications made by Porsche which show a system using a small turbo for low end response and two bigger turbos for power up top. This setup may find its way into the GT2 as well. We are waiting for more details on these new triple turbo system as thus far there has been little technical documentation about the motors and turbo system from either BMW or Porsche. ...Published on 01-29-2012 10:23 PM
The SLS GT3 is an excellent GT class race car. The vehicle has started the year off very well sweeping the podium at the 24 Hours of Dubai. In this official video from Mercedes and AMG they show what goes into preparing a SLS GT3 chassis for racing from adding the motor, to the suspension, lights, etc. We doubt the guys who have this job prepping a $400,000+ GT3 SLS for competitive racing complain about it. This video is Part I and we are eagerly anticipating Part II. ...Published on 01-27-2012 09:31 AM
Well, the PDK Carrera S is simply a heck of a lot faster than the manual. This makes for two tests of the PDK hitting 118 MPH trap speeds in the 1/4 mile (the other being Car and Driver). The quickest and fastest the manual has gone through the 1/4 mile that we have seen is 12.7@113. We will likely see quicker and faster manual numbers than that but the PDK is clearly the superior performance option. ...Published on 01-27-2012 08:52 AM
Presenting Electric Motor Werks or EMW (creative play on BMW, right?) E46 electric conversion kit. This electric conversion kit that Electric Motor Werks is working on is supposed to offer a 0-60 time of less than 6 seconds, 120+ mph top speed, and a recharge time of 1 hour all with a range of over 100 miles. Those are some bold claims but if true this sure seems a heck of a lot better than BMW's own electric vehicle. ...Published on 01-27-2012 07:40 AM
We know Mercedes has been testing the B25 AMG and A25 AMG. The CLC spotted testing here will share the drivetrains of the A and C class cars and feature similar front wheel drive and all wheel drive options. It is likely to follow then that Mercedes will do an AMG variant of this vehicle as well likely with all wheel drive and a 340 horsepower 2.0 liter turbochaged direct injected four cylinder. The base CLC will have a 1.8 liter turbo four cylinder, expect it next year. ...Published on 01-27-2012 06:00 AM
124 pounds does not sound like all that much. When put into context of large 4000+ pound all wheel drive luxury sedans where it is a smaller % of their total weight it seems almost irrelevant. This interesting comparison by Insideline shows that weight always if of paramount importance and the effect it has on all performance aspects. These cars have the same motors and transmissions with the same exact same horsepower and torque ratings. The only major difference is the Audi A8L is heavier by 124 pounds and that the A8L is on 19's versus the A8's 20's. ...Published on 01-26-2012 10:46 PM
Ah, BMW knows how to make money. These turbo motors are a cash cow for them and here you can see exactly why. The M Performance Packages raise output in the N55 by 15 to 315 horses and in the N63 V8 by 40 horses to 440. Torque gains are 30 pound-feet for both. What does this require of BMW? Nothing more than a software change. M Performance has become a different ECU tune on a base motor. This should at the very least show those people who are scared to tune their turbo motors that they should not be as BMW is doing it themselves. We also should no longer hear, "If BMW could get more power they would have done it already." ...Published on 01-26-2012 06:00 PM
We do not know why these German manufacturers keep trying these various GT cross-over style hatchback models. BMW failed miserably with the 550GT. Why create a niche that isn't necessary? Audi already makes fantastic wagons. Trying to create a niche that isn't even necessary and other manufacturers have already failed with makes no sense. Since BMW seems intent on pressing forward with a 3 Series GT, Audi is now considering an A3 GT to rival it. Will it happen? Autozeitung says it will come in 2014. ...Published on 01-26-2012 04:40 AM
The B-Class is coming to the USA as we reported Mercedes plans to boost sales with a B-Class plug in hybrid. The hybrid does not interest us but this AMG version certainly does. The B25 AMG will likely share the powertrain of the upcoming A25 AMG. That means a turbocharged direct injection 2.0 liter four cylinder putting out about 340 horses. Will we get the B25 AMG in the USA? We would not shed any tears if the hybrid had to be cancelled to bring us the AMG version instead. ...Published on 01-26-2012 03:31 AM
Here it officially is, the new diesel era of M. The new triple turbo 3.0 liter inline-6 cylinder finds its way into four models, an M550d xDrive sedan, M550d xDrive touring/wagon, X5 M50d, and an X6 M50d. The new motor offers an amazing 116 horsepower and 120 pound-feet of torque over the X5 xDrive 35d we know so well in the USA. The motor revs up to 5400 rpm. All that torque is sent to an 8 speed automatic as well as all four wheels. Sound awesome and you can not wait to order one in the USA? Too bad, BMW wants you to go lease an electric 1 Series instead. ...Published on 01-26-2012 02:51 AM
The Panamera GTS was just unveiled at the LA Auto Show a couple of months ago. Pretty impressive that Akrapovic already has an exhaust system available for it. The exhaust is basically a rear section but one lighter than stock being made of titanium. It is valved meaning it the exhaust is compatible with the factory sport button used to open the valves for extra growl. We are waiting on further details from Akrapovic such as the weight, power gains, and the suggested retail price. ...Published on 01-25-2012 03:55 AM
The aphorism "it’s not the destination, but the journey that counts” is a well worn one, and a lesson that can be applied to any life situation. When looking back at the development of IND’s portfolio service thus far, this old wisdom applies perfectly. More than a means to an end or part of some master plan for IND’s success, IND’s Portfolio Service has made the projects themselves the goal all of us are working for. Working with each client to customize their M3 to their specifications has become an opportunity and a privilege here at IND, and I’d like to thank all of the readers of Bimmerboost for helping us realize these opportunities. ...Published on 01-25-2012 12:10 AM
Sad, sad times at BMW these days. We understand electrics are going become more and more popular in the future but how in the world is it that the company who coined "The Ultimate Driving Machine" is pushing slow and heavy electrics in the USA over their best performance cars? Is there really a bigger market for people to be guinea pigs for an unproven all electric car for 24 months at $499 a pop (plus downpayment of $2,250) than for an M3 GTS, CSL, or even the new diesel M cars? Ultimate what? ...Published on 01-24-2012 11:16 PM
The Infiniti M35h is pretty impressive. We showed you a comparison between it and the Mercedes E350 Bluetec where the M35h absolutely trounced the Benz. It seems that Infiniti now wants to claim it has the fastest production hybrid sedan in the world and set out to create a video showing the M35h going head to head with the Porsche Panamera S Hybrid. Now, we have a couple big problems with this video and think the outcome shown is highly questionable. ...Published on 01-24-2012 06:02 PM
GIAC finally has shown their ecu software for the B8 S4 with the 3.0 TFSI supercharged V6. The car was dyno'd on 91 octane with nothing else but an AWE intake. The gains are amazingly almost 100 wheel horsepower. We can not explain how GIAC was able to do this on 91 pump gas considering APR is getting about 64 all wheel horsepower with their software. APR hit a peak of 361 wheel horsepower on 93 octane with an exhaust on a Mustang dyno. GIAC hits 404 wheel horsepower with their software and an intake on 91 octane. Hard to believe but if independent results verify this, wow. ...Published on 01-24-2012 06:42 AM
Hybrid versus diesel. We tend to stand on the side of diesel when these two are brought up and we wish there were more diesel options from German manufacturers in the USA. One would expect a turbo diesel motor making a bunch of torque to have no problem with a hybrid. Well, that was not the case here. Insideline tested the two different approaches against once another which made for a very interesting comparison. ...
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