Dynamic ability, comfort, efficiency, aesthetic allure and a profusion of innovations designed to enhance driving pleasure – the BMW 5 Series contains all the signature ingredients of a best-selling model at the premium end of the executive segment. Indeed, consistently rising … Continue reading

The Spun Bearing

The Spun Bearing – unlucky # 13
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In Featured Posts, Interesting, on February 3rd, 2012

The Spun Bearing: 500cc Combustion Chamber, Wave Disc Generator, and Leather vs Cloth The 500cc Combustion Chamber BMW is migrating towards a common combustion chamber for its upcoming 3, 4, and 6 cylinder engines. BMWBLOG covered Innovation Day last year … Continue reading
The Spun Bearing: ZF 9HP, FWD, and Looms
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In Interesting, on January 27th, 2012

ZF 9HP In the remote reaches of Cobo Hall one can find a number of vendors tucked away at the NAIAS. ZF was there with a display of its wares and front and center was a cutaway of the 9HP, … Continue reading
The Spun Bearing: Fuel, Design, and More On the ATS
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In Interesting, on January 19th, 2012

Fuel During a discussion of the BMW ActiveHybrid 3 recently, the subject of energy density came up. Batteries have so much lower energy density than gasoline or diesel that even with the efficiency superiority of an electric motor over an … Continue reading
The Spun Bearing: New M Strategy, Cars At the CES, and Chevy Code 130R
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In Featured Posts, Interesting, on January 13th, 2012

New M Strategy It was just a matter of time. The M bits have been sneaking into BMW’s mainstream products for awhile, a shift knob here, a steering wheel there, but now the M-ification proceeds to its logical conclusion. M … Continue reading
The Spun Bearing: Once Upon a Car, Connected Drive, and Pure Speculation
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In Interesting, on January 5th, 2012

Once Upon a Car I just finished reading Bill Vlasic’s, “Once Upon a Car”, and highly recommend it. It’s a fast paced look at the implosion of the Big Three US automakers that was pretty much coincident with the onset … Continue reading
The Spun Bearing: N54 Legal Matters, the i8 Breaks Cover, and Renderings
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In Interesting, on December 29th, 2011

N54 Legal Matters I received a piece of mail yesterday that was a bit interesting. It seems that one legal challenge to the issues with the high pressure fuel pumps (HPFP) on the N54 engine has reached a resolution. If … Continue reading
The Spun Bearing: The i8, Saab, and Happy Holidays
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In Featured Posts, Interesting, on December 23rd, 2011

The i8 I made the press launch of the Toyota Prius in 1999. At the time it was a revolutionary car that Toyota was hoping (but not entirely confident) would sell. They had identified specific markets to introduce it in … Continue reading
Opposite Lock: My Next BMW
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In Featured Posts, Interesting, on December 21st, 2011

I’ll be the first to admit that my opinions, tastes and preferences represent a minority of the driving community. As a purist that favors connectedness over comfort and dynamics over, well… efficient dynamics, I find myself sitting among an ever … Continue reading
The Spun Bearing: Electric Power Steering (Again?!), Fuel Cells, and BMW Holiday Giveaway
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In Featured Posts, Interesting, on December 16th, 2011

EPS – Again I had to take the ’08 135i in to the dealer for routine service this week and had an opportunity to say hello and talk to the sales manager. If anyone has the pulse of what’s working … Continue reading