BMW Car reviews

The BMW 3 Series is widely regarded as the poster child of what a compact luxury sedan is supposed to be. The M3 Competition, on the other hand, serves as a firm representation of what a compact performance saloon should be. The range of sheer precision and performance between a base 3 Series and the M3 Competition is so wide that the two couldn’t feel more different from a driver’s perspective. With just over 500 horsepower on tap, is the M3 Competition really suitable as a daily road car, though? I spent a week with it to find out, and let’s just say that there’s more to the M3 than the grille.

While the world is waiting for the next-generation BMW M5 - a sports car that will offer a hybrid powertrain - Manhart focused its attention on the current M5 Competition. The new kit - called MH5 800 Black Edition - is all about offering more power under the hood, but there are a few changes offered for both, the exterior and the interior.

BMW Japan is celebrating the launch of the new-generation 7 Series with a special "The First Edition" series. Customers can already place orders for the special edition, but the deliveries will begin in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The new 7-Series “The First Edition” will be based on three different models: the 740i Excellence, the 740i M Sport, and the electric i7 xDrive60 Excellence. Each will be limited to 50 copies, for a total production run of 150 copies.

BMW has just unveiled the new, seventh-generation 7 Series. Completely new from the ground up, the main highlight of the new 7 Series range is the fully-electric i7. Competing squarely against the Mercedes-Benz EQS full-size electric luxury sedan, the i7 looks more traditional compared to its bulbous rival. Stick on to find out whether the BMW i7 is perfect for you, or if the Mercedes-Benz EQS is a more convincing electric luxo-barge.

“Look at me,” the X4 M Competition screams as it rolls down the city streets, through parking lots, or just about anywhere cars and people come together. Based on the best-selling BMW X3, the X4 is so interesting and quirky because it ditches the X3’s “normal” roofline for something that is more coupe-inspired. It features the same twin-turbo inline-six found in the M3 and M4, which is why the X4 M is the highest-performing coupe-SUV in the compact segment. That doesn’t mean it’s not without some stout competition, though. Mercedes has the AMG GLC 63 Coupe in its stable, while Porsche has the Macan GTS. The X4 M was updated for the 2022 model year, though, which was quite a surprise since it was launched back in 2019 for the 2020 model year. BMW claims that it has taken customer feedback into consideration, but is it all smoke and mirrors? We spent a week with the updated 2022 BMW X4 M Competition to find out for ourselves.

The BMW M850i delivers a total of 523 horsepower, whereas the BMW M8, a total of 617 horsepower. While the difference in power is not even 100 horsepower, the difference in price between the two models - at least in Europe - is over €40,000.

For those of you who do not want to pay that much money, but still want the M8 power, the German tuner G-Power has the solution.

When BMW announced the 1 Series M135i, we knew that it doesn’t really have a chance to stand against the likes of the Volkswagen Golf R or the Mercedes-AMG A35. But, with the new updates offered by Manhart, things might be a little bit different.

The current generation BMW 2 Series doesn’t offer a higher-performance model just yet. The next M2 is currently under some intensive testing, but its official debut is still months away.

Right now the most powerful 2 Series is the 374-horsepower M240i - which, let’s be honest, is not a lot for a sporty coupe. But Dähler Competition has got you covered.

The BMW X7 is already about to receive an update and there is still no word on an M version. In fact, everyone already accepted the fact that there won’t be a BMW X7 M - as noted by BMW many times before. For those who want a more powerful BMW X7, Alpina is offering the XB7 - a model that delivers 89 horsepower and 37 pound-feet more than the BMW X7 M50i.

But, now there’s an even more powerful option available at your disposal - the Manhart MHX7 650 package for the X7 M50i, which delivers a total of 650 horsepower!

BMW is hard working on a facelift version for the current-generation X5. Prototypes of both, the standard and the M versions were caught testing out in cold weather. But it looks like BMW is not only busy preparing the facelift X5, but also a special version for the Chinese market.

The new BMW X5 Li will be offered in China starting April 2022 and there will be two trims available: X5 xDrive30Li and X5 xDrive40Li.

The current generation X1 was launched back in 2015 and there’s no secret that it was never a very successful car. No wonder BMW is preparing big updates for the next model set to arrive in 2022. In a recent press release, the company confirmed that the next X1 will be offered with "both a combustion engine and a fully-electric drivetrain."

The model will also receive the same treatment as the recently launched 1-Series and 2-Series: An X1 M35i version that will pretty much replace the usual M version you get with cars like the X3 and the X4.

Updated 02/28/2022: The upcoming BMW X1 M35i was caught testing once again in cold winter conditions in Northern Sweden. The prototype is still wearing lots of camouflage, so it is still very difficult to see what it will look like, but we all know it will not be an actual M car; so you should only expect a sportier X1.

When BMW launched the new M4 in both, standard and Competition versions, we were impressed. While the huge grille on the face draws polarizing opinions, there’s no split votes when it comes to power. It offers a lot of power for a compact sports coupe.

But, as usual, even for the best cars out there, you can always find more room to improve. AC Schnitzer, for example, is offering a special tuning kit that will not only add more power under the hood, but will also improve the car’s handling and dynamics.

When it comes to BMW models, the M8 is probably one of the few models that will be okay with absolutely no changes. It looks sporty enough, it is luxurious on the interior, and, in the M8 Competition version, you get more than enough power.

The German tuner ’Wheelsandmore’ seems to have a different opinion, and it developed a very interesting tuning kit for the M8 Competition.

Alpina might be a longtime collaborator with BMW and has tuned just about anything with a BMW badge that you can think of, but Alpina isn’t your typical tuner. Where some companies will dazzle you with oodles of power and impressive lap times, Alpina sticks to a more traditional – and usable – recipe. Alpina is more known for tweaking BMWs in just the right way, it builds a little on performance, but it also brings mild improvements to the appearance and, more importantly, it makes every single model it works on ride more comfortably than BMW ever could. For a big, bulky model that the BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe, that’s a very big deal, and we’re here to tell you that Alpina did it just right.

The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class is nothing but a declaration of high-tech war aimed at its two main rivals, the Audi A8 and the 7 Series. BMW’s flagship received a hefty facelift in 2019 for the 2020 model year and other than the enlarged grille, it got a tech upgrade, including BMW’s then-new iDrive 7.0 setup. However, you can only stay relevant for a short time in the current luxury car climate and with the S-Class making no rebates on the technology front, BMW is already working on the next-generation 7er. Here’s everything we know so far.

Update 2-3-2022: The 2023 BMW 7 Series has been caught testing again, this time looking a little more production ready.

The last two vehicles launched by Manhart were the MHX5 700 and the MH8 800 Limited, which were based on high-end BMW models - the X5 M Competition and the M8 Competition. For the company’s latest project - the MH7 400d - Manhart is turning its attention to the BMW 740d xDrive. Yes, a diesel car!