Video: BMW takes its autonomous 5 Series onto the autobahn

Filed under: Safety , Technology , BMW Last May we went for a high-speed run around Laguna Seca in BMW’s Track Trainer , a modified 3 Series that can click of two-minute laps without the driver touching the controls. Now, BMW has packed a 5 Series with the next iteration of the technology and taken it on to the open road. This latest ConnectedDrive experiment uses much of the same tech, but beyond the radar and camera systems on the 3er, it includes new ultrasonic scanners and lasers to re-read the road surface, lines and surrounding vehicles. We say “re-read” because like the system we sampled at Laguna, this version needs to have the road data downloaded into the car before it can drive sans human intervention

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Video: BMW takes its autonomous 5 Series onto the autobahn

Official: BMW updates 2013 X6, introduces M Performance Package

Filed under: Performance , Crossover , BMW , Luxury BMW , which still insists on using the term Sports Activity Coupe to describe its least practical ‘ute, has updated its X6 for the 2013 model year. And with good reason – BMW says it has sold over 20,000 X6 crossovers in the States since its launch three years ago and over 150,000 worldwide, making it an important model for the German automaker. First and foremost, the 2013 X6 offers available power from both the 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline six and 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 through its M Performance Package (which is not the same thing as the X6M that carries on for 2013 with its 555-horsepower V8 and six-speed automatic transmission). By ticking he appropriate box on the order sheet, the X6 xDrive35i is blessed with 315 horsepower (a gain of 15 over stock) and 330 pound-feet of torque (a 30-lb-ft gain).

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Official: BMW updates 2013 X6, introduces M Performance Package

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.

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

Official: Ruf stretches Porsche Panamera for China

Filed under: Aftermarket , Sedan , Performance , China , Porsche , Luxury You think the prom limo market in America has a propensity for stretching anything with wheels? Just look at China . Instead of buying larger sedans there, wealthy Chinese buyers have a taste for stretching smaller ones. So while BMW , for example, already offers a larger 7 Series , they’ve developed a stretched 5 Series for the Chinese market.

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Official: Ruf stretches Porsche Panamera for China

Spy Shots: Next-gen BMW X5 caught again

Filed under: Spy Photos , Europe , Crossover , BMW , Luxury Our spy photographers have collected a new few shots of the next-generation BMW X5 as it undergoes testing in Germany. The vehicle is expected to use a modified version of the same chassis underpinning the 5 Series , and the new model will likely demonstrate a significant weight savings over the outgoing model. Engineers have codenamed the new generation F15, and the crossover is expected to continue to make use of the same engines currently available. That means buyers will be able to enjoy both straight six and V8 power.

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Spy Shots: Next-gen BMW X5 caught again

Official: BMW ActiveHybrid 5 priced from $61,845*

Filed under: Hybrid , Sedan , Technology , BMW , Luxury The BMW ActiveHybrid 5 is only a few months from hitting dealer floors, which makes this as good a time as any to release pricing. The ActiveHybrid 5 will start at $61,845, *including a $895 destination and handling charge. That’s about $8,000 more than the 535i , but the extra coin will go towards a 3.0-liter TwinPower Turbo inline six-cylinder engine that packs 335 horsepower when combined with a 55-horsepower electric motor. That’s enough power to launch the ActiveHybrid 5 from zero to 60 in a scant 5.7 seconds and the lithium-ion battery pack carries sufficient juice for the ActiveHybrid 5 to travel 2.5 miles on electricity alone.

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Official: BMW ActiveHybrid 5 priced from $61,845*