Official: BMW M goes diesel, introduces M550d, X5 M50d, X6 M50d

Filed under: Sedan , Performance , Wagon , Geneva Motor Show , Europe , Crossover , BMW , Diesel Rumors of BMW M launching a diesel model have been circulating for over a year, and confirmation has finally arrived in the form of not one, not two, but four M-fettled oil-burners, each sporting all-wheel drive and the oft-rumored tri-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline six. And before you get excited, none of them are slated for sale in the U.S. – this is a Euro-only affair. So with that unfortunate fact out of the way, let’s get to the details.

See the original post here:
Official: BMW M goes diesel, introduces M550d, X5 M50d, X6 M50d

ABT tunes the facelifted Audi A4

Abt Sportline has unveiled their new AS4 tuning program for the facelifted Audi A4 / S4. It includes a number of styling and performance tweaks.

See the original post here:
ABT tunes the facelifted Audi A4

Report: Car and Driver Lightning Lap is back, throws two trucks into the mix [w/video]

Filed under: Videos , Comparisons Car and Driver is back with its annual Lightning Lap roundup for a sixth year, with 20 of the world’s best vehicles taking to Virginia International Raceway to lay down the quickest time around VIR’s 4.1-mile Grand West Course. Included in this year’s running is a suitably diverse spread of sports cars and sedans, ranging from the lowly Volkswagen Jetta GLI to the formidable Porsche Panamera Turbo S – a difference of 350 horsepower and over $168,000. And, just to add a bit more spice to the festivities, C/D introduced a new class (LLT) to include two trucks in the running: the BMW X5 M and Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 . But what C/D gives, it taketh away.

Visit link:
Report: Car and Driver Lightning Lap is back, throws two trucks into the mix [w/video]

Official: BMW ActiveE enrollment process now open in test markets

Filed under: Car Buying , Coupe , BMW , Electric It isn’t every day that BMW offers an electric vehicle, but the ActiveE is just that. The German luxury car maker is now accepting applications for 700 ActiveE “Electronauts” in the test markets of Boston, Hartford, New York, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco. The hand-raisers will need to complete a charging station consultation with BMW Partner AeroVironment to make sure the house of the perspective lessee can handle a charger. The meeting will also serve as a teaching session to make sure the user understands the charging and maintenance of an electric vehicle.

Continued here:
Official: BMW ActiveE enrollment process now open in test markets

Official: Porsche Design opens new flagship store in SoHo

Filed under: Porsche , Design/Style Take a flight overseas and you may happen upon a Porsche Design store in an airport somewhere. That’s because, while the automaker’s product-design division has dozens of locations around the world, few of them are in the United States for a brand that is typically European in its focus. But all that’s changing with the company’s new flagship store.

Read more:
Official: Porsche Design opens new flagship store in SoHo

Report: One-off Mercedes 500K barn find discovered in South Central, LA salvage yard

Filed under: Classics , Coupe , Etc. , Mercedes-Benz , Specialty Being agriculturally inclined to build barns in the country, we don’t expect barn finds to turn up in the middle of a high-turnover metropolis. Yet that’s been happening more regularly of late, and writer Michael Mraz has found another example in South Central, Los Angeles: a one-of-one Mercedes-Benz 1935 Caracciola 500K built especially for Silver Arrows race driver Rudolph Caraccioloa. It is pictured above in better days, after having been restored and displayed on the lawn at the Pebble Beach concours in the late 1970s.

Read the original:
Report: One-off Mercedes 500K barn find discovered in South Central, LA salvage yard