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German Car Blog, Performance, Tuning, Motorsport, and Modification News
Published on 11-06-2011 09:01 AM
BMW is honoring 40 years of BMW M with this "special" E92 M3. The car has matte paint which apparently constitutes a special car at BMW these days. M3 GTS wheels BMW had sitting around are included as well as black grills. The interior gets Alcantara touches and an embroidered M logo. You get all of this for $81,060. Yes, $81,060 for some matte silver paint, GTS wheels, embroidered logo, black body pieces, and some Alcantara. That price might sound good if they threw the M3 GTS 4.4 liter engine in there. You can just keep this for yourselves until you give us a real special edition BMW but we are certain you will find 40 people who don't know any better to buy the 40 you intend to make.
...Published on 11-06-2011 06:20 AM
This comes hot on the heels of a manual rear wheel drive 550i running 12.9@112.9. It should shock nobody that the 550xi automatic was able to get a much better 60 foot than the manual rear wheel drive 550i that ran high 12's. This 550xi managed 60 foots in the 1.7X range which is very impressive. The best trap speed was 112.48 so slightly less than MPH than the RWD version which makes sense. The owner estimated the weight of the car with him in it in the 4800 pound range which is not exactly light. Running mid 12's is pretty nice in a luxury sedan on street tires with pump gas.
...Published on 11-06-2011 06:06 AM
It is no secret the M157 is going to be a popular platform to tune, especially the non performance package cars. This CLS63 did not include the performance package and therefore has much more room to play with. Gains are about 75-80 horsepower at the wheels and 80-90 torque at the wheels on what we believe is 93 pump gas. We realize the graph is incredibly small and difficult to read and have requested a larger graph from OE Tuning. This post will be updated once we receive it.
...Published on 11-06-2011 01:57 AM
This is the new 2012 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. This is what customer racing teams can buy for a cool 500,000 Euros. It is 48 millimeters wider than the previous model along with new aerodynamics. The vehicle has a 4.0 liter motor fitted with air restictors that can be changed depending on the series it is being raced in. The motor is mated to a 6 speed sequential transmission. Car will be ready for delivery in January, who else wants one?
...Published on 11-05-2011 04:29 PM
BenzBoost stopped by the Vossen booth at SEMA to check out their lineup as well as chat with their representatives. Vossen was not familiar with BenzBoost (that's ok, we get that a lot) but showing them pictures of @motorkas ' E55 with their wheels as well as @Benz-O-Rama 's SL with their rims jogged their memory. Their booth was great looking (with some great looking women) but it was tough to get enough room for good photos. We got shots of their new wheel lineup (VVSC4, 5, and 7) as well as a gorgeous new CLS63 AMG. Vossen wheels seem to be getting very, very popular and for good reasons. They have great looking and well priced options.
...Published on 11-05-2011 04:17 PM
This was the best BMW of SEMA as chosen by BimmerBoost. We do not know why this car was not in a booth to get the attention it deserved. It was simply outside the North Hall with nobody really paying any attention to it. Obviously we noticed and just like the Mercedes we picked as best of show this car was chosen due to its looks as well as having the performance to back it up. The bodywork was molded for the most part which just looked great, especially the trunk. The car actually pulled off its yellow paint quite well. We wish we had more details on it and perhaps we will get them at a later date.
...Published on 11-04-2011 07:29 AM
BimmerBoost stopped by the CP-E (Custom Performance Engineering) booth at SEMA 2011. What immediately caught our attention was the N54 twin turbo upgrade prototype they had on display. We asked a lot of questions but did not really get any concrete answers. Basically, this is going to go on their shop car. There will be two different turbo options the smaller of which should bolt in and the larger turbos requiring permanent modification to the engine bay / chassis to make them fit. Do not expect these until Summer next year although they were talking maybe even Spring.
...Published on 11-04-2011 06:49 AM
This was in the opinion of BenzBoost the best Mercedes at the 2011 SEMA show. The only problem was trying to photograph it as the Mustang Dyno it was on really got in the way. It seemed the Mustang dyno was more on display than the car which makes sense as it seemed the booth space belonged to Mustang Dynamometer. The car itself was gorgeous and the fender work looked spectacular in person. Not overdone, but very aggressive and it came out clean.
...Published on 11-04-2011 02:53 AM
Well, SEMA 2011 is over with for us. We have tons of photos and will be splitting our BMW, Audi, Porsche, and Mercedes coverage up along with some bonus coverage. The show overall was great and seemed busier than last year. The photo equipment from last year is much improved but some photos are dark due to mistakes choosing the correct settings on the camera and flash. We promise to improve, enjoy the photos and commentary.
...Published on 11-04-2011 02:26 AM
Well, SEMA 2011 is over with for us. We have tons of photos and will be splitting our BMW, Audi, Porsche, and Mercedes coverage up along with some bonus coverage. The show overall was great and seemed busier than last year. The photo equipment from last year is much improved but some photos are dark due to mistakes choosing the correct settings on the camera and flash. We promise to improve, enjoy the photos and commentary.
...Published on 11-04-2011 01:41 AM
Well, SEMA 2011 is over with for us. We have tons of photos and will be splitting our BMW, Audi, Porsche, and Mercedes coverage up along with some bonus coverage. The show overall was great and seemed busier than last year. The photo equipment from last year is much improved but some photos are dark due to mistakes choosing the correct settings on the camera and flash. We promise to improve, enjoy the photos and commentary.
...Published on 11-04-2011 12:02 AM
Well, SEMA 2011 is over with for us. We have tons of photos and will be splitting our BMW, Audi, Porsche, and Mercedes coverage up along with some bonus coverage. The show overall was great and seemed busier than last year. The photo equipment from last year is much improved but some photos are dark due to mistakes choosing the correct settings on the camera and flash. We promise to improve, enjoy the photos and commentary.
...Published on 11-02-2011 02:49 AM
Weistec has released their fixed seat brackets for W209 CLK's. There are BenzBoost members already running these brackets and it is likely they will be popular with CLK63 AMG Black Series owners. The brackets are laser cut and machine formed and will fit the Recaro seats offered in Europe for the Black Series as well as most Sparco DTM style seats. A great upgrade for track junkies with CLK's.
...Published on 11-01-2011 02:41 PM
Insideline published this news a little while ago and what every other site focused on was that Albert Biermann (head of M product development) stated BMW M would like to build their own car. That is great news as a dedicated M car built by M is something that we have been waiting for... well, for forever. What struck us was this quote by Biermann though, "It's about employing the right technology at the right time and we're on a steep learning curve with turbos. We're getting damn close to matching the response of a naturally aspirated engine but with much lower fuel consumption."
...Published on 11-01-2011 02:14 AM
Everyone keeps talking about the great Chinese economy. Well, it has not been so great for Audi in the past couple of years as 25% of their market share has eroded. Why? BMW and Mercedes are expanding and taking what was once Audi's momentum with them. Mercedes is up from 16% in 2009 to 22% in 2011. BMW is up to 25% from 21% in a similar window. The managing director of China Market Research Group can explain this a bit better, “Audi is seen as being a bit old-fashioned because of its association as being a government car. Wealthy consumers today want something sexier, more indulgent, which is why BMW and Mercedes have done well. Ten years ago, everyone wanted to be in government as that was seen as the ticket to wealth. Today, the new wealthy consumer doesn’t want to be associated with officialdom.”
...Published on 11-01-2011 01:55 AM
This news seems to be kind of out of left field and we do not think it should be taken all that seriously. This carbon fiber E-class is supposed to be 770 pounds lighter than the regular E-coupe. That would be quite the hefty weight reduction and it would come at exactly what price point? Auto Bild claims these carbon fiber based E-class cars will come in 2015 with the B-pillar removed as well due to increased rigidity. Sounds like science fiction to us as the current E will likely still be for sale in 2015 and such a radical weight reduction with carbon fiber on this particular model has not been announced by Mercedes Benz and would dramatically increase production costs. Don't read too much into the rumor.
...Published on 11-01-2011 01:32 AM
The new BMW twin turbo V8 and V12 motors are pretty sweet. Except when they catch on fire. This recall affects anyone with the N63 and S63 twin turbo V8's or the N74 twin turbo V12 which is used only in the 760 models. The reason for the recall is due to 102 engine water pump failures up to this point and 2 engine bay fires. There is an auxiliary pump used with these engines that helps cool the turbochargers and if it fails this will lead to dramatically increased temperatures. Owners will start being notified next month but why wait, call the dealer to schedule this water pump replacement immediately.
...Published on 10-31-2011 01:21 AM
Who is ECU Tuning Group? Well, we don't really know as they seem to be the new name/label of Singh Autosport as that is the name still included on the dyno sheet. Regardless, they are claiming huge gains on the Panamera Turbo of 129.75 horsepower and 95.88 pound-feet of torque. The dyno is a European Cartec dyno so it at least appears Singh is reselling or modifying a European Tune. When we see a graph from overseas from a tuner based in the US it does not leave us all that confident. Show us the dynojet, mustang, or dyno dynamics numbers to prove a car in the USA on our fuel has been tuned making these gains and then we'll talk.
...Published on 10-30-2011 03:36 PM
If you have a 535i and are looking for an aftermarket FMIC, you probably have run into the same thing I have. Lots of people said it fits, no one has direct experience though. After going thru quite a few other 535i owners experiences, I decided to try and take it on myself. I started not trusting what people were saying online (I know, shocker) and calling manufacturers directly. One of those was CP-E. As fortune would have it, I got the owner on the phone and I started asking him questions. They too said they sold one but had never fit one themselves and, well, same old story. Josh (the owner) did pique my interest by letting me know he had sold quite a few and never received a return, so he assumes they fit. This, and now knowing Josh a little better at this point, really rang true to me. So, even if it wasn't a "direct" fit, how bad could it be? I knew better then to DIY but, after seeing how it was done, I don't think it would be too bad.
...Published on 10-30-2011 11:47 AM
Mercedes GP finished strong in the Inaugrual Indian Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher who started 11th on the grid finished in fifth place ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg. Schumacher at the start of the race was able to jump three to 8th by the end of the first lap and maintained a constant pace behind Rosberg. Before the second round of pitstops, Schumacher began to eat away at Rosberg's lead and brought the gap down to 1.5sec. While Nico pitted, Michael kept putting in his best lap times and after his stop, he emerged infront of Nico by 1.2 secs and maintained that gap to the end of the race.
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