AS PART OF AN UPDATE for the 2010 model year, BMW has added two new engines and two new trim packages to its 1 Series range.

Three and five-door hatch models gain Lifestyle and Sport editions, while the Coupe gains new petrol and diesel EfficientDynamics four-cylinder engines.

Labelled as the 120i and the 118d, the new Coupe engines [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

BMW IS SET TO bump up the efficiency credentials of its 3 Series range this September, when a super-frugal 2.0 litre turbodiesel engine will make its debut in the European-market 316d ES.

The 2010 BMW 316d ES will sit below the current 318d, and promises to deliver exceptional fuel economy and low emissions. Just 3.75 litres [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

According to British car mag Autocar, BMW is reportedly elbow-deep in the development of a fuel-sipping, twin-turbocharged, mid-engined supercar flagship.

Termed the Z10 ED (for Efficient Dynamics, BMW’s green-tech initiative), the all-new super-bimmer was reportedly given the nod after BMW’s corporate leadership pulled the plug on a V10-powered production version of the M1 Hommage concept.

Instead of [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

If you still doubt the amazing efficiency that can be extracted from the modern diesel, then read on, as the MINI Cooper D is coming to Australia and it’s staking out some big claims;

3.9-litres per 100 km
Australia’s cleanest car: 104 g/km CO2
240Nm of torque with 260Nm available during ‘overboost’
Fastest accelerating diesel in its capacity class [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Revealed back in April at the Shanghai Motor Show, the Concept CS was to see BMW enter the four-door luxury coupe market, joining the likes of Porsche and Aston Martin. Unfortunately, increasing pressure from a world economy in ruins has forced the Bavarian manufacturer to pull the pin.

Plunging profitability across the BMW Group has forced [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

BMW is touting the coming of a “breakthrough green supercar” which is expected to arrive in 2012 and will be the successor to the famed BMW M1. Reports indicate the supercar will follow design cues and styling concepts from the radical M1 Hommage (above) and will utilise BMW’s EfficientDynamics system to bolster its green credentials.

Power is [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Picture a new MINI and what do you think of? A small three-door hatch that’s popular with both driving enthusiasts and the latte-sipping set alike? Or perhaps you associate BMW’s successful small car brand with young professionals who want a practical, economical city car, but can’t bear motoring around in anything as prosaic as [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

Yesterday came the news that GM Holden will be exploring a number of different fuels and technologies in the race to bring more efficient and environmentally friendly versions of their Commodore family car to the market around 2010.

It is the same story for manufacturers around the world and to ease our minds and ensure us [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More

You have to hope that the Australian consumer starts to ‘get’ that diesels are a sensible green alternative to the over-complicated and over-priced hybrid options currently available. Ok, diesels generally carry a premium over their petrol engined equivalents but if you are planning on keeping the car for any reasonable length of time the benefits [...]

• 
• Comment
• Read More