Category: BMW

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BMW COUPE CONJURES UP COMFORT IN THE FAST LANE

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Sports cars generally fall into two camps. On the one hand, performance edge can be dulled by the desire for comfort; on the other, comfort may be sacrificed at the altar of pure power. There is, however, the odd exception to this rule: the BMW M2. Building on the success of the limited edition BMW 1 Series M coupe brought Down Under in 2011, the new BMW M2 coupe is available in two variants – M2 Pure ($89,900) and M2 ($98,900) – both featuring a 272 kW / 465 Nm… Read more

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BMW 5 SERIES 2000 – 2016

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2011 BMW 5 Series Touring

BMW 5 Series is a quality midsize sedan or wagon that leans in the sporting direction in the endless compromise between sports and luxury. Handling is brilliant due to the near-perfect weight distribution that’s the result of rear-wheel drive and the positioning of the engine well back under the bonnet. Yet this handling is achieved without upsetting comfort to any extent. Some bad roads may sometimes catch it out, but it generally makes light work of rough surfaces. This makes it a quality grand tourer in the true sense of… Read more

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2016 BMW 330e HYBRID REVIEW

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BMW 330e is a petrol-electric hybrid that leans more in the direction of performance than economy. Which comes as no surprise given that the sporting German marque has long pushed its designs in the direction of handling and powertrain dynamics. To emphasise the point, this 3 Series hybrid has been introduced as the latest member of the BMW iPerformance range. Note that the BMW X5 xDrive 40e petrol-electric, which arrived only a matter of weeks before the 330e, is also listed as an iPerformance model. The X5 and 3 Series… Read more

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BMW 3 SERIES 330e PETROL-ELECTRIC HYBRID

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Despite the fact that it already sells the cleanest range of cars on the Australian market, the Australian BMW importer is not letting up. It comes as no surprise that the German marque that’s well know for providing machines for keen drivers hasn’t let performance slip, in fact it labels its clean, green machines as the iPerformance range. Latest to join the BMW range is the 3 Series 330e petrol-electric hybrid. It joins the BMW X5 xDrive 40e we reviewed last month. These are the two biggest selling model series… Read more

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BMW X5 HYBRID IS HERE

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BMW already has the cleanest range of cars in Australia when measured on grams of CO2 produced per kilometre travelled. Far from being content with this, the German marque has just introduced a petrol-electric plug-in hybrid model to the X5 range. It’s tagged the BMW X5 xDrive40e; the ‘e’ obviously indicates ‘electric’; the important part of the name, though, is the ’40’. Because the eDrive has similar performance to the ’40’ performance models in the BMW range. An acceleration figure from rest to 100 km/h of 6.8 seconds certainly backs… Read more

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BMW X4 35D ADDED TO THE HIGH-PERFORMANCE RANGE

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The days when diesel engines were dismissed as being slow, noisy and not particularly pleasant to sit behind have long since vanished. There’s no more proof than the introduction of what BMW Australia describes as its new X4 ‘halo’ car, the xDrive35d – the ‘d’ indicating its powered by a turbo-diesel engine – which uses variable vanes to minimise lag and increase overall power and fuel efficiency. BMW Australia’s product chief, Shawn Ticehurst, says the X4 xDrive35d will assume status as the flagship model in the X4 range, “Since its… Read more

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BMW LOOKS TO THE FUTURE

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BMW’s stunning looking i8 supercar

BMW turns one hundred in 2016 and is looking more to the future than the past. Which is perhaps understandable when you realise that the company was set up to make aircraft engines during WW1. The Australian importer chose not to mention the war during the recent media event setup to allow journos to drive a huge range of its vehicles. Bayerische Motoren Werke translates into English as Bavarian Motor Works, a somewhat mundane title for what has become an iconic marque. In any case it’s universally called BMW by… Read more

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BMW X5 2000 – 2015

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2002 BMW X5

BMW X5 has been a big seller since it launch in November 2000. Though it does have more off-road ability than you might expect, particularly in its first generation, most X5 buyers are looking for a sporting wagon not an ‘real’ 4WD. Well aware of this, BMW calls later models SAVs (Sports Activity Vehicles) rather than an SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles). The BMW X5 first reached Australia in November 2000. It immediately impressed by having on-road handling that is very good for a two-tonne wagon. It’s certainly no 5 Series… Read more

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PEAK PERFORMANCE FROM SERIES SEQUEL

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Even for motoring journalists European luxury cars are, well, a luxury. They are not an everyday occurrence. When the initial adulation wears off, familiarity sets in and so does a hint of nothing out of the ordinary. Some vehicles, however, hold something in reserve to keep an automotive world-weary scribe interested. Such a car came into my possession recently. With time, the BMW 320d could quite easily have become a Euro Camry. It didn’t. The latest iteration features sharper exterior design, the interior uses new material to create a premium… Read more

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BMW X1 2.0D: ATTRACTIVE SEQUEL TO BMW BEST-SELLER

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The second-generation BMW X1 continues to tick the box as only the Bavarian Motor Works can, with a newly designed interior with significantly more space and versatility, combined with premium surroundings. Latest-generation four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines and transmissions ensure segment leading performance and efficiency. X1 sDrive 20i and sDrive 18d models have front-wheel drive, while xDrive 25i and xDrive 20d benefit from BMW’s intelligent all-wheel-drive system in a new and improved form. The new X1 trumps its predecessor in standard equipment which includes LED headlights; rear view camera; driving… Read more