If you have no plans for the weekend, we might have an idea for you; the "BMW - The Ultimate Driving Machine"exhibition will open this weekend and will feature some of the coolest BMW models out there. Andy Warhol’s 1979 BMW M1 Art Car will be the center piece of the exhibition and next to it you will also see the BMW 3.0 CSL that won the Daytona 24 Hour race in 1976, plus tons of other road cars, motorcycles and race cars.
Andy Warhol was the first to paint the entire car himself, as previous BMW Art Car artists prepared a draft version on a scaled-down model and then moved that on the real car by assistants to the painter.
"This exhibition at the Saratoga Automotive Museum will provide visitors a great look at BMW’s long heritage and provide a sense of how the company has evolved to become the leading premium automobile and motorcycle manufacturer in the world," said Ludwig Willisch – President and CEO of BMW of North America. "It will also show just how integral motorsports has been throughout the company’s history."
Don’t worry, if you don’t have the time to go this weekend, the exhibition, will run until November 3, 2013.
Click past the jump to read more about Andy Warhol’s 1979 BMW M1 Art Car.
BMW announced today the addition of a new M Sport edition offered for the entire 6-Series lineup: Coupe, Convertible and Grand Coupe. The new edition will be available from June 2013 at a starting price of $80,625.
According to BMW, the new special edition "delivers a driving experience that assuages the most discerning requirements while also offering an attractive price advantage." The new 6 Series M Sport Edition will be distinguished by tons of M-specific elements, like an aerodynamic kit, wheels and exhaust system.
The interior has also been optimized with numerous M elements, like M leather steering wheel, M door sill finishers and sports seats in Alcantara/Nappa leather.
As a first for the 6 Series, BMW is also offering a Sakhir Orange metallic M paintwork combined with an interior trim in BMW Individual leather Merino fine grain Opal white with contrast seams in Sakhir Orange.
Click past the jump to read more about the 2013 BMW 6 Series M Sport Edition.
A few days ago, BMW was positively beaming in reporting about its latest achievement. No, Bimmer didn’t introduce a new car or win any races. What it did was set a new world record and a pretty impressive one at that.
Actually, the record for longest drift was set back in February by Johan Scwartz while piloting a BMW M5 and covering a ground of 47.71 miles. Well, it didn’t take long for Schwartz to break his own mark, besting it over the weekend at the BMW Performance Center near Greenville, South Carolina.
This time around, Schwartz, using the same BMW M5, managed to run a total of 322.5 laps around a circumference of 841 foot circle. All told, he was able to travel a distance of 51.278 miles - while drifting.
When news of the record-setting mark first hit our news feed, BMW kept a video of the attempt under the covers. But now, Bimmer has finally released it and you can enjoy the whole show when you click past the jump.
It looks like the Canadian market received lots of attention from Bimmer today. After the 335i M Performance Edition we announced earlier, BMW Canada then announced the M6 Gran Coupe Launch Edition. The model was built in cooperation with BMW Individual and marks the launch of the M6 Grand Coupe into the Canadian market.
The M6 Gran Coupe Launch Edition is finished in an exclusive Pure Metal Silver paint combined with two-tone upholstery for the interior. The seat centers, lower dashboard and door inserts are offered in Merino Silverstone, and the seat bolsters, center console, upper dashboard and carpeting are offered in black.
The front and rear seats, dashboard, and the upper door parts are wrapped in black leather with contrasting Silverstone stitching. The rest of the interior is trimmed in a deep luster of BMW Individual Piano Black. As a standard feature, the M6 Launch Edition comes with a Bang & Olufsen audio system.
Click past the jump to read more about the standard BMW M6 Gran Coupe.
BMW Canada has announced the launch of the 335i M Performance Edition. This version can be ordered in either a rear-wheel-drive or xDrive format and includes an array of M Performance components designed to enhance the styling and performance attributes of the 335i.
The 335i M Performance Edition receives a new M Performance Power Kit and M Performance Exhaust that increases the engine’s output to 326 horsepower and 332 pound-feet torque. As a result, the sedan will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.9 seconds – 0.5 seconds faster than the standard 335i.
BMW is also offering a full M Performance aerodynamics kit, including: black kidney grille; front and rear diffuser; side skirts; and 20-inch alloy wheels. The model can be ordered in four exterior colors: Laguna Seca Blue, Valencia Orange, Black Sapphire and Glacier Silver. For the interior, BMW offers either a Coral Red leather or Black leather trim combined with an exclusive Piano Black BMW Individual trim.
The 335i M Performance Edition is priced at $63,300 (rear-wheel-drive version) and $65,900 (xDrive version). The model will be produced in July and August of 2013 but all orders must be received no later than May 17, 2013.
Click past the jump to read more about the standard BMW 335i.
Every time we see Pininfarina make the news with a new concept it’s developing, we can’t help but get excited about what the Italian coachbuilder has in store for us.
Well, it looks like Pininfarina is preparing something; a concept, it appears, that will make its debut at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este later this month.
The concept, which has been dubbed as the one-off Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe, was designed and collaborated with BMW and comes as a notable successor to the BMW Z4 Zagato Coupe that BMW and Zagato also introduced at last year’s event.
Not much is known about the model except that it’s going to be a huge luxury sedan in more ways than one. Aesthetically, it will be feature a long wheelbase, a stretched bonnet, short overhangs and a set-back greenhouse with a smoothly sloping roofline. Thinking about these descriptions it’s easy to be reminded of the German automaker’s 8 Series line.
Actually, the connection to those 8ers from past decades doesn’t just end with its looks. The Gran Lusso Coupe is also reported to carry a monster V-12 engine that will be based on the 6.0-liter turbocharged engine that produces an output of 535 horsepower.
That’s as much as we can tell you because that’s the limited information BMW and Pininfarina have released. In the meantime, click past the jump to revisit the car the former brought to the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este last year: the Z4 Zagato Coupe
It looks like BMW is having all the fun in the world smashing the strangest world records out there. Back in February, a BMW M5 with Johan Schwartz behind the wheel entered the Guinness World Record Book for the longest drift: 76.8 km (47.71 miles). Now, Schwartz managed to smash his own record while driving the same unmodified M5.
This time the record was established at BMW Performance Center near Greenville, South Carolina on Saturday, May 11, 2013. This time, he did a total of 322.5 laps around a circumference of 841 foot circle, providing a total distance traveled of 51.278 miles.
This event is just the first of many during a week of events leading up to the BMW Charity Pro-Am. To date, a total of $20,000 has been raised with benefits going to more than 150 charities.
Those attending the world record were invited to enjoy drives in new BMW vehicles, including the M6 Coupe or received a "hot lap" ride from one the BMW Performance Center Instructors.
Click past the jump to read more about the BMW M5.
The BMW M5 was first introduced at the Amsterdam Motor Show in 1984, so if you do a little math you’ll find that in 2014 the model will celebrate its 30th anniversary. To mark the event, BMW is unveiling a special-edition M5. Or at least this is what a strange M5 prototype caught testing near the M factory in Garching suggests, as it was wearing a “30 Year Limited Edition” badge on its dashboard.
From the same plaque, it appears that the special edition will be limited to only 300 units. Everything else seems to be identical to the standard M5, except some dark chrome gills added to the exterior. Also, the prototype seems to be an American version, judging by the U.S.-only manual option and the orange markers on the front fenders.
Before this special edition gets the opportunity to hit the market, the M5 will receive a revision and the addition of a new Competition Package.
Click past the jump to read more about the standard BMW M5.
BMW’s involvement in MotoGP is well-chronicled, having been bestowed the title of "Official Car of MotoGP" for the past 15 years.
Seeing an opportunity to commemorate the occasion, BMW and MotoGP have partnered up yet again to present a special one-off BMW M6 to the best MotoGP qualifier at the end of the season. This particular collaboration has actually been going on since 2003, but this year, they’re upping the ante with a pretty incredible prize.
The special-edition M6, which was recently unveiled at the Spanish Grand Prix, is dressed in a fancy Frozen Black Metallic exterior to go with an equally fancy set of 20-inch matte-black, light-alloy wheels. Meanwhile, the interior of the M6 Frozen Black carries a unique combination of carbon fiber trim with leather upholstery in Merino and Sakhir Orange. Oh, and don’t forget the M multi-function seats, the heads-up display and the GPS navigation capabilities.
No performance mods were given to this unique M6, so you can expect it to be powered by a twin-turbo 4.4-liter V-8 engine that produces 560 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque. With those numbers, the M6 is capable of hitting 0-60 mph in just 4.2 seconds with a top speed of 155 mph.
Click past the jump to check out the safety cars that have participated in MotoGP over the years.
Everyone expects that once the new BMW 2 Series hits the market, a more powerful M version will be in tow. Our spy photographers have already caught some prototypes testing at Nürburgring and BMW previewed the model with the 1M Coupe and the M135i.
Unfortunately, the M135i never made it to the U.S. and the 1M Coupe was an extremely limited model whose order books closed nearly as quickly as they opened.
The M1 Coupe was a mighty micro-Bimmer, with its twin-boosted 3.0-liter straight-six engine that tortured the concrete with 335 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque. We anticipate that the M235i will use the same powertrain. In fact, with the revisions that BMW is currently undergoing, we may even see a few more horsepower from the six-pot. .
UPDATE 05/07/2013: We have created a rendering of the new M235i coupe to help you get an idea of what to expect.
Click past the jump to read more about the BMW M235i Coupe.
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