The Saab deal unravels: Is the Swedish tech innovator dead? What we're looking for at the L.A. auto show. The best time to buy a car may surprise you. BMW revamps the 5-Series and makes a run at the kind of diesel America never loved and Europe always has. And we take a ride in the GMC Terrain.
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EPISODE 146
SHOW NOTES• BMW launches new 5-series online
• BMW set to offer small, 4-cylinder diesels in U.S.
• Bad news for Saab: White knight turns and rides off
• Ferrari hybrid seems imminent according to what looks like a cocktail napkin sketch
• CNET Video: What you'll need to replace your factory car stereo
BMW's new 5-series incorporates many tech updates.
(Credit: BMW)
BMW released full details and photos of the new, 2011 5-series, representing a pretty significant update to the company's midsize sport-luxury sedan. An entirely new platform was developed, and is now shared between the 5-series and the new 7-series. The 550i model and 750i also share a power plant, a twin turbo 4.4-liter V-8. In the 550i, this engine produces 407 horsepower, bringing the car to 60 mph in 5 seconds. Other U.S. models are the 535i, powered by the same twin turbo 3-liter straight-six as the previous model, and a 528i.
The new 5-series serves as a platform for a host of driver aid technologies. Lane Change Warning alerts you to other cars in your blind spots while lane departure warning lets you know when you're drifting across lane lines. A night view system shows an enhanced display of the road on the LCD when it's dark out, and includes a pedestrian detection feature. Adaptive cruise control lets you set a cruising speed, and have the car slow down to match speeds with slower traffic ahead.
One of the more surprising driver aid features is automated parallel parking. This system is made possible by BMW's adoption of an electric power steering module for the 5-series. It uses sonar to determine if a parking space is long enough for the car, then automatically steers the wheel as you handle the gas and brake.
The 5-series gets the latest version of iDrive, but BMW is actually making it standard on all models. That means you get an LCD in the car whether you've chosen the navigation option or not. Without navigation, the LCD is a little smaller, and shows audio, phone, climate, and other car functions.
BMW is considering selling a 1-series diesel, like this European spec 123d, in the U.S.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET)
WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J.--BMW will offer four-cylinder diesel engines in North America as it seeks to improve fuel efficiency and match the performance of its current six-cylinder gasoline engines.
BMW is considering diesels in a range of models, including its 1 series, 3 series and 5 series sedans and possibly the X3 crossover and Z4 roadster, said Tom Baloga, vice president of engineering for BMW of North America.
"You're going to see it in the 3 series, and the 5 series is a good possibility," Baloga said. "If the performance is sufficient in the X3, U.S. customers would likely accept it in the X5 as well."
Baloga did not disclose timing but said BMW will be ready to comply with emissions rules. Federal rules will regulate the amount of carbon dioxide per mile, based on an automaker's fleet average. The rules call for an average of 250 grams of C02 per mile by 2016, which equates to 35.5 mpg.
Baloga said BMW will seek diesel performance comparable to that of its current six-cylinder engines by using a turbocharged 2.0-liter model tuned for performance. In Europe BMW sells a 320d with a 2.0-liter turbocharged diesel.
"Our four-cylinder diesel will be so good that people will readily accept it as a replacement for six cylinders," Baloga said. "With the weight reduction, performance could be similar to the turbocharged six-cylinder [gasoline engine] if we pushed very hard."
Baloga said BMW will aim for a substantial increase in its diesel sales mix in North America.
"If we hit 10 to 20 percent, we would be happy," he said.
In Europe, 70 percent of BMW's sales are diesels.
With exhaust treatment, BMW's diesels will meet California emission standards as well as federal tailpipe emission rules. Baloga didn't disclose what technology would be used--a diesel particulate filter or a selective catalytic reduction treatment with a refillable on-board urea tank as in the BMW 335d.
"The strategy for aftertreatment is to make it less expensive and less trouble," he said.
Unlike archrival Mercedes-Benz, which began selling diesels here in 1960, BMW waited until this year to introduce an ultraclean 50-state diesel engine. BMW's only prior U.S. diesel was the 524td, sold as a 1985 model.
BMW discontinued the model after selling 3,644 units in the United States. Demand fell off, and the reputation of diesels became tainted in the United States because of problems associated with diesels offered by General Motors in the 1980s.
Sales of the X5 xDrive35d and 335d, which are powered by a 3.0-liter, twin-turbo, six-cylinder in-line diesel, got off to a slow start. Diesels now represent 13 percent of total X5 sales but only 1.3 percent of 3-series sedan sales.
BMW launched a marketing campaign and offered a $4,500 rebate on both diesels during last summer's cash-for-clunkers program. The incentive continues through December. Through October, BMW sold 1,002 335d sedans and 2,706 X5 xDrive35d crossovers.
The 335d has an EPA rating of 23 mpg city/36 mpg highway--35 percent higher than the gasoline-engine model. The X5 xDrive35d is rated at 19 mpg city/26 mpg highway. BMW says the vehicle's performance is comparable to that of a gasoline V-8 engine but fuel economy is 37.5 percent better.
(Source: Automotive News)
FRANKFURT -- BMW AG has set up a joint venture with carbon-fiber specialist SGL Group to build lightweight components for BMW's Meg-acity electric vehicle.
The new entity, in which SGL has a 51 percent stake, will build a plant in North America and one in Germany to make carbon fiber automotive parts on a large scale for the first time, the companies said.
BMW's Megacity car is an offshoot of the carmaker's Project i, which seeks to develop transportation options for urban areas with more than 10 million inhabitants. BMW recently enlisted a Robert Bosch and Samsung SDI joint venture to supply lithium ion battery cells for the vehicles.
"We will enter into a new dimension in the use of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, both in terms of volume per car and in vehicle numbers," a BMW spokesman said, declining to be more specific.
So far, carbon-fiber components are used almost exclusively in luxury cars and sports cars.
Production is expected to start in the first half of the next decade, SGL said.
"For the first time, carbon fibers are taking on an important role in series vehicle manufacture," SGL said.
The deal is the latest in a slew of joint ventures formed by Germany's SGL to branch out into the industrial use of its carbon products.
In May, SGL combined its carbon ceramic brake discs business with Italy's Brembo. Last year it set up a company to supply carbon-fiber composites for the car industry with Germany's Benteler Automobiltechnik GmbH.
SGL looks to reduce its dependence on its best-selling graphite electrodes for steel furnaces by boosting sales of carbon-fiber and composite carbon materials to makers of aircraft, windmills and automobiles.
(Source: Automotive News)
Before we drove it, the idea of an X5 M seemed outlandish, and we suspected BMW's motives had more to do with marketing than the company's engineering reputation. How could an X5 all-wheel-drive SUV live up to the M badge? We should have trusted BMW, whose engineers are so pure of heart they would never let a vehicle wear the M that didn't deserve it. The X5 M is a monstrously powerful beast that handles like a sports car. In fact, we had to drive up next to other cars for a height comparison to remind us we were in an SUV.
In a test to demonstrate reductions to cabin turbulence in the 3-series convertible, BMW convinced Dutch model Sylvie van der Vaart to sit in two 3-series convertibles while a wind tunnel generates a 37 mph air stream. The first car is a 1987 model, while the second is the current 3-series. van der Vaart adopts period clothing and hair style for each of the cars, and we get to see her flipped hair swishing every which way in the older car. And, of course, in the new car her hair is completely unruffled.
The lesson: Don't buy a 1987 BMW 3-series convertible if you have hair issues.
Apps are the next big thing in car tech; New York wants to crack down on how truckers use GPS; why run-flat tires suck so damned much; the search for the perfect iPod Touch rig in your car; and a ride in the BMW 650i Convertible.
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Episode 140
Show notes• CNET drives the BMW 650i Convertible in a rather bemused way
• Consumer Reports takes on the stuck throttle floor mat thing
• Why an FM modulator makes a monkey out of your hissy FM transmitter
• New York state wants to crack down on truckers using GPS the wrong way
• Run-flat tires: Not worth the various headaches, hassles, and costs?
The Lincoln MKS with an EcoBoost V6 engine is put to the ultimate challenge for speed and handling against four European luxury V8s up Loveland Pass, Colo. The challengers are the Maserati Quattroporte, the Jaguar XF, the BMW 550i, and the Mercedes E550.
Unfortunately, no real details of the challenge, such as fuel economy braking and handling, are released. More details about the challenge can be found at 6versus8.com.
BMW's revived 6-series has always suffered from an unattractive rear, and this problem hasn't been fixed in the 2010 650i Convertible. Its lack of a proper roof also makes the profile of the 650i bland, so it's best to spend as much time as possible inside the car. And that part doesn't let down, as the 650i Convertible maintains BMW's reputation for superior handling. For the 2010 model year, BMW updated the cabin tech, building in the new iDrive system, but little else is new in this car. The engine doesn't yet take advantage of BMW's new line of turbocharged engines.
