Today, I would like to welcome TeamSpeed.com, the most recent sponsor of BMWBlog. Teamspeed.com is the world’s premier destination for aficionado’s of Luxury and Speed. What started out as “Luxury Lifestyle Forum” has quickly grown to the web’s # 1 destination for fans of the “uber” high end lifestyle in just 7 months, a feat no other forum has achieved.

Teamspeed.com was created by one of the founders of the well decorated Porsche forum 6speedonline.com. Teamspeed’s focus is centered on the evolution and change in many of our original members’ interests. What started out as generic Porsche website with 6speedonline has now grown into a super car website where truly unique individuals can graduate and discuss the true super-cars. Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche Carrera GT, GT3/2, Bugatti, koenigsegg and other high marquee brands as well as the standards; Mercedes, Corvette, Nissan, Audi & more.

In addition Teamspeed mixes things up with general discussions on performance boating, fine wine, watches, travel and other luxury lifestyle categories. Teamspeed represents an evolution and deviation from the standard automotive enthusiast forum and is the only forum in the world with tuning partners such as the world famous RENNTECH & RUF, plus dealer partners such as Bugatti, Koenigsegg, Porsche, Lamborghini, Bentley, Ferrari, Maserati, and more.

So before joining ask yourself this; are you up to speed?

Koeninsegg CCX from Teamspeed’s Universal Autosports

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BMW Welt

Apparently, chemical fumes emanating from the basement of the new BMW Delivery Center, The Welt, today resulted in the hospitalization of nine members of the Welt’s cleaning staff for observation.

For the full story and to get more recent updates, visit the original article in the BMWCCA forums.

Dinan , which is a high performance BMW tuner based in California, has 2 quick announcements. First the long awaited MSD81 software is available in stages 1 and 2. Stage 3 will be available at a later date.

The software is available for the 135, 335, and 535. And as well their software is now 50 state emissions legal. The MSD81 DME is the new DME that we mentioned here that detects modifications to the cars computer (DME,ECU) that enhances performance.

In an unexpected event, BMW just announced a recall on 200,000 vehicles due to concerns regarding the front passenger air bags. It is suspected that in an accident case, the front passenger air bags might not deploy. The affected models are the following:

• 2006 3 Series
• 2004-2006 5 Series
• 2004-2006 X3

In addition to the vehicles listed above,  there is one more investigation taking place on the 2004-2006 Z4, 2006 X5, 2006 6 Series and some 2004-2006 7 Series vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation back in September 2007 and a few months later, the recall decision was sent to BMW.  The Munich based manufacturer had received 23,739 warranty claims over the air bag system issue by early January.

If you were affected by one of the recalls and have more questions, you can contact BMW at (800) 525-7417.

Here is the full report from CNN

[Source: CNN via Bimmerfile ]

It seems we have reports of another round of Fuel Pump issues with the N54 twin turbo engine.  We all know that there were some fuel pump issues in the past.

However this reader is reporting that he has already has his fuel pump replaced once and is now being advised to keep his gas tank above 1/4 a tank to prevent any limp modes.

Has anyone else out there seen reduced power or hesitation when driving below 1/4 of a tank of gas? If so you may want to take it to your local dealer and have them check the leak down rate and see if you need to be placed on the list for a new new new new fuel pump that should come in the 09’s.

A little non BMW news. Sadly Andre Pininfarina died today in a motorcycle accident.

Some of you may remember the Pininfarina designs on cars such as the Ferrari Testarossa, the Ferrari F40 and the Maserati Quattoporte.

You can read more here www.bloomberg.com

BMW has announced today that they will be bringing out an M6 Competition Package. There will be a decent amount of performance enhancements, particularly to the suspension. The new ZCP will have an “active-chassis monitoring system” that is meant to monitor the suspension around the road and track and adjust it as it sees fit. The car will also have a lower front and rear axle of 10mm and 12mm. The lower axle height is supposed to aid in the turn-in of the M6 on the track, more so than the street.

A few other things like, a new hood designed only for the M6 ZCP with “character lines” and new double-spoke wheels, rather typical of BMW. (more…)

Well, I was at it again. Not much news to cover this week, but the news that is covered is very good. I’ve been watching some ‘how to’ videos on how to make better videos for you guys. This way, hopefully soon, the videos will have better lighting, actually video effects, so on and so forth. But until then, here is the latest BMW Blog Video News.

P.S. How many videos is this now? I lost count, haha.

Enjoy,

BMW Ads Pt. 1

FREE BMW Blog Decals (more…)

The friends at MotorAuthority reported yesterday that the BMW Z4 will cease production next month. Before we published the news, we took a moment to confirm the information with our sources. And, YES, indeed, BMW decided to put an end to the Z4 model starting in August. 

This is a clear sign that the new 2009 BMW Z4 is just around the corner and it is just a matter of time until we will get rid of the ridiculous camouflage.

This is also a BMW strategic move since the german automaker will need to make room for the next generation BMW X3 that will move its production from Germany to Spartanburg, SC. We already learned in the past that the new 2009 BMW Z4 will be built in Regensburg, Germany.

It was released earlier today that BMW is the United Kingdom's cleanest Premium Auto Maker. Premium is a key word here. But still, it wasn't Lexus, it wasn't Mercedes-Benz, it wasn't, okay, okay, you get the point… 

The study was done by an independent green company called Clean Green Cars. The study was done for all over the industry and labeled the BMW brand of cars the cleanest and the greenest of all premium cars sold on the U.K. BMW was found to have, from January until June of 2008, to have only produced an average of 161.64g/km. Lexus, owned by Hybrid toting Toyota, recorded 194.85g/km. Ouch! Supposedly the greenest automaker in the world is suddenly producing the least. Audi and Mercedes-Benz even did better with 177.36g/km and 192.85g/km. Jaguar went over the 200g/km mark and Porsche did an average of 275.64g/km. In all fairness, Porsche has the smallest line-up of cars and only makes sports cars. (more…)

Yes, you read that right! This time the BMW X5 Hybrid has been spotted during some driving tests in California. With all the attention being focused on the X6 Hybrid, the X5 made its way into the spy photos. 

The X6 Hybrid is very close to being released, but as of now, no official information on when the X5 Hybrid will make its North American debut. Maybe you're wondering how we know that the X5 in the spy photos is the actual hybrid version. Well, the notorious bulge on the hood that was spotted on the X6 models before, is a huge giveway. Now, there might be some of you that might say BMW was just testing an engine and nothing more. Ok, fair enough, but look at the next photo showing the rear of the car. Without zooming in, I can tell you what it says: "Caution! Hybrid-Prototype (High Voltage on Board) ". Pretty obvious, right?

Continued (more…)

09.07.2008 Munich / Moscow.

Here is what Never Stand Still event really was. Just a simple BMW 7 Series presentation, which was honored even by the BMW Chief Designer, Chris Bangle. I was a little disappointed with the whole fuss around this Never-Stand-Still and I really expected to see something interesting there.

Press Release

With an exceptional vehicle presentation on the Red Square in Moscow (Russia) on 8 July 2008 the BMW Group started a countdown for the European launch of the new BMW 7 Series, which will happen in the autumn of this year. Under the slogan "Never stand still" the world's most successful manufacturers of automobiles in the premium segment had built an almost twelve metre high hourglass ahead of the historical background of the Basil's Cathedral and the Kremlin. With the world's largest hourglass BMW presented its new flagship to about 400 international guests and Moscow citizens.

Success as a driving force

The hourglass has been present on the Red Square since the 6th July 2008. In the top half of the construction of acrylic glass and steel the new BMW 7 Series is parked - initially hidden by more than 180,000 shiny silver balls. The ball gradually fell into the lower zone, and finally as the peak of the event on Tuesday evening, the new BMW 7 Series was fully revealed. "With the new generation of the BMW 7 Series our success story continues, and it has lasted for more than 30 years now," said Jan-Christiaan Koenders, head of brand communication and BMW Group Marketing Services. "A goal to surpass our own achievements again and again is the essence of our brand. The BMW 7 Series reflects this idea exceptionally well," said Koenders, explaining the idea behind the event's motto "Never stand still".

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This morning, BMW announced a partnership together with Fiat and Alfa Romeo. All three companies will work together on developing components and systems as well as a common platform for the Mini Cooper, Alfa Romeo’s Mi.To and Fiat’s Grande Punto. The Punto and the Mini are due to be released early in 2010.

BMW’s brand development head Friedrich Eichiner said “We are currently examining with Fiat group possibilities for the joint use of components and systems in Mini and Alfa Romeo vehicles.”

Fiat and BMW are also considering developing new gasoline and diesel engines, even though Fiat has already partnerships with other automakers including  PSA/Peugeot-Citroen, Suzuki and Tata. BMW already cooperates with the French company PSA in developing engines for the Mini's and soon for the BMW 1 Series.

One of the main reason why so many carmakers are cooperating with the competitors is the need to reduce investments costs for new models. 

Also, BMW will provide support in launching Alfa Romeo in North America. "Mini U.S. dealers would have the possibility to also sell Alfa Romeo cars," a Fiat spokesman told Automotive News Europe today. Alfa Romeo plans to return to the United States in 2010.

Interesting move by BMW? Absolutely!

[Source: Autonews  ]

Well, this is by far my favorite video of the new BMW 7 Series, the scenario is great, the surroundings are amazing, the new 7 Series looks damn hot on the road, while can still seem impressive, imposing and invulnerable.

The background music is perfect, it starts off slowly and then it builds up as soon as the new 7 reaches higher speeds on the road. 

The opening scene with the Chicago bridge is quite stunning. All I can say is this: KUDOS BMW! Your marketing team is top notch and even though it might sound biased, since we are all bimmer lovers here, I'm sure even the die hard MB fans will agree with me on this one.

Can anyone else say that the new 7 Series looks terrible? I can't.

And here is the MP3 file Download

The guys at M3post have the latest information on the updated version of the iDrive that will be available in September. The BMW 1, 3 and 7 Series will be the ones initially getting the new iDrive system and probably the other series will follow shortly. This goes hand in hand with the information posted by our friends at Bimmerfile regarding the iDrive system being available in the E90 facelift models that will be launched this fall.

Mofomat, a member of the same forum, gives a detailed description of what to expect in this new updated and upgraded iDrive version.

The updated system includes a new iDrive Controller with shortcut buttons, together with a more intuitive iDrive menu system.

The highlights of the new system are as follows:

New iDrive Controller with more intuitive operation

High resolution Control Display with vibrant screen

Revised iDrive menu structure

Interactive help with on screen description of function

Built in hard disc drive for improved speed of operation and data storage

More detailed navigation map

New navigation options and settings to enhance route planning

Multimedia capability with 8GB storage for audio files

Improved voice control

New layout for Favourite buttons with new direct function keys (model specific)

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