|
Browse by Tags
All Tags » 1-Series » BMW 1-Series ( RSS)
-
|
Perhaps more than any other car in its range, the 2009 BMW 135i carries the weight of customer expectation on its shoulders. Supposedly the antithesis to the soft, the bloated and overcomplicated cars dominating BMW’s range for the majority of this decade, people want the 135i to herald a return to the simple, well-engineered driver’s cars the company became famous for. And with a 300 HP twin-turbo inline-six mounted longitudinally in a small rear wheel drive coupe, on paper at least, it looks like the 135i could be that car. galleryPost('bmw135ireview', 6, 'BMW 135i'); I’m certainly hoping so. The former owner of two E30s (a 1990 325is and a 1992 325iC), I’ve been left out in the cold by recent BMW products. Those E30s represented, to me at least, the perfect blend of sportiness and luxury. Just big enough for two people (four in a pinch) to ride in the supportive and comfy leather-clad, manual adjusting Recaros the E30 was almost two cars in one. You could choose to cruise...
|
-
|
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/comedy/EXCLUSIVE_BMW_Launches_1_Series_from_Germany_to_San_Fran'; "There's a fine line between genius, and insanity — and a hair brained scheme, and a revolutionary idea." posits this film, and we agree. As a result of our early discovery of the 2009 BMW 1-Series themed Rampenfest viral marketing campaign, we have been offered the exclusive rights to bring you the world wide documentary premier of "The Ramp". The thirty minute movie chronicles the men, the mission, and the madness of an attempt to launch the 1-series from Germany to America by way of ramp. And before you get to thinking, "Bah, that's not too hard," the attempt is not designed to simply go from the imaginary town of Oberpfaffelbachen, Germany to say, New York City. No, the car's intended target is San Francisco . So grab some popcorn and a comfy chair, sit back, and enjoy the frigtening naivete of physics terrifying Deutsche chompers...
|
-
|
We first dropped news of what seems to be the viral ad campaign for the 2009 BMW 1-Series called "Rampenfest" a couple of weeks ago, but now there's an update on the progress of things. We received an email from "Jeff Schultz," the apparent documentarian, congratulating us on being the first to discover the project and informing us there's a poster in our future for the effort. We smell direct marketing, but what the hey, maybe we can give away a poster. Anyway, the trailer for the film is over at the Rampenfest, and it's ripe with German stereotypes, bizarrely large teeth, and a ginormous ramp in the fake town of Oberpfaffelbachen.
|
-
|
We can imagine that tuners have been anxious to start hawking their gear for the 2008 BMW 1-Series as the car has a lot of potential and lacks an "M" version. HARTGE, which also tunes the hatch version, has their first round of offerings available and they include the expected wheel/tire combinations, an adjustable sport suspension and all manner of carbon fiber bits for the interior (carbon fiber is the new ball bearings). The company's approach to the 1-series is more about handling and performance than it is about wild looks. They offer one exterior tweak: carbon casings for the exterior mirrors. galleryPost('hartge1ext', 3, 'HARTGE 1-Series Exterior'); galleryPost('hartge1int', 3, 'HARTGE 1-Series Interior'); Your wheel choices are the HARTGE Classic 2 or the HARTGE Classic 2, with a wide range of Pirelli and Continental tires including a 9x19" 255/30ZR 19/8 x19" 225/35ZR rear/front setup. [Source: HARTGE]
|
-
|
In case the word didn't get out, it's convertible day at BMW. First they throw down with the new BMW M3 Convertible , and then they show their ace card the new 2009 BMW 1-Series Convertible . The littlest BMW is sporting a hot new powered drop-top and the teeming masses are all over it like gooey French cheese. Seriously, It took 15 minutes to hack away at the crowd to get decent pictures. Anyway, as expected, the top drops away silently and smoothly into the trunk leaving about as much space as you need for a day bag. galleryPost('1seriesverttop', 6, 'BMW 1-Series Convertible');galleryPost('1seriesvertgeneva', 6, 'BMW 1-Series Convertible'); The models were kind enough to run it up and down for us a couple of times and it seems to work well. The interior is same as on the current car, but the headliner is a strange stretchy cloth that does the job of covering up the top's inner workings. The little trim detail which runs along the edge of the...
|
-
|
Even thought we may have let the cat out of the bag on the viral marketing campaign , it seems somebody already has a 2009 BMW 135i sporting manufacturer plates from Jersey running around the frigid and salty streets of Detroit. When out and about today we snapped this one in a parking lot and to our luck it caught up to us on the way out. After a couple minutes in traffic, we both ended up on Woodward Ave and of course stop light pulls were the order of the day. galleryPost('bmw1erus', 3, '2009 BMW 135i Hits Detroit'); There we were mid day sun cutting through the crisp winter air, salt like a lick on the street surface, mano y mano. Brand new BMW 135i with a flappy paddle shifter versus '99 Audi A4 2.8 manual. Wisps of exhaust drifting in the breeze. Green. Wooooooooooooooosh! Clutch, shift, woooooooooosh, clutch, shift. We kept things civil and didn't go past the speed limit, but sweet merciful crap, that thing is fast. Honestly there was no chance to start, who...
|
-
|
newVideoPlayer("rampfelen.flv", 463, 387,""); Taking a page out of its MINI playbook, BMW appears to be setting up some very clever guerrilla marketing to promote the 2009 BMW 1-series . Rather than shovel another recycled "look at the amazing precision of this new car" advertising campaign at us, BMW may be going in a different direction for the tossable new sports coupe and convertible. The story of this "viral" advertising begins with the video you see above, and we've done enough digging to figure out where it may be leading. Hit the jump to find out. galleryPost('rampenfest', 3, 'A Giant Fake Ramp Built in German Fake Place');galleryPost('bmw1seriesexterior', 3, 'BMW 1-Series Convertible'); The video is supposedly the work of an American videographer named Jeff Schultz. Jeff's Youtube account is suspiciously centered around this odd 454 meter tall ramp he happened to find in the a Bavarian hamlet named...
|
-
|
Remember those shots of the supposed BMW 1-Series tii we showed you late last week? Yeah, sorry boys, it's not a production version of the tii. Instead, it seems it's nothing more than just the German accessory brochure leaking out onto the web just a wee bit early for the wee little Bimmer. But, feel free to peruse the pages of the leaked brochure and dream -- courtesy of our friends at 1addicts -- if that's what you wish. Only caveat -- it's entirely in German. So umm, good luck with that. Or feel free to check out the performance accessorized 1-Series below. [via 1addicts ] galleryPost('bmw1tiimaybe', 9, 'A tii By Any Other Name Is Just A 1-Series');
|
-
|
The tuners of all things BMW and Land Rover have taken on the new BMW 1-series coupe ́ with what they're calling the ACS1 3.5i. AC Schnitzer's tunage is highlighted by -- a "Turbo logo on the front spoiler." OK, they've done much more than that, but that's what the release starts out with so we couldn't just leave it alone. Some of the many enhancements include dropping a full bodykit on the new two-door along with aluminum struts and some enhanced torsional stiffness. For the 1.8d and the 2.0d oil-burning versions of the BMW 1-series, AC Schnitzer offers diesel performance upgrades taking the power up a notch by 30 HP or so. On the petrol side they're even claiming they're getting power up to 360 HP and the top speed from 155 MPH to a touch over 186. Not too shabby for the 2002 wannabe. Full release after the jump. galleryPost('ACSchnitzerACS1', 9, 'AC Schnitzer Takes The Space Odyssey To 2002'); The AC Schnitzer ACS1 3.5i Not only...
|
-
|
The guys over at Kicking Tires have the scoop on pricing today, with announcements for both the BMW 1-Series and Mini Clubman. BMW's Mini Clubman is going to start out just under the $20K mark at $19,950 for the stock version (before all the real charges) and $23,450 for the turbocharged Clubman S. That's a premium of $1,900 over the regular-sized version. The other mini Bavarian cruiser will come in at just under $30,000 with a price of $29,375 (including destination) for the regular inline-six-powered 128i. If you want more power, the 135i features the 300 horsepower twin-turbo six and can be had for the reasonable price of $35,675. [ Kicking Tires ]
|
|
|
|