|
Browse by Tags
All Tags » 1-Series ( RSS)
-
|
Stateside buyers of BMW’s 1- and 3-Series vehicles will now have the option to add “BMW Search Powered By Google Maps” to their BMW Assist and Navigation system-equipped vehicles. Basically, this means they’ll be able to search for addresses and phone numbers directly from their navigation system using Google Maps. The advantages of such a system are obvious, allowing drivers a quick and easy method to find contact details and directions on the fly. But, as with all BMW options, BMW Search is actually way more complicated than that. The press release follows the jump; see if you can understand it. BMW ADDS NEW “BMW SEARCH” SERVICE TO BMW ASSISTTM POWERED BY GOOGLE MAPS™. Available in BMW Assist & Navigation-equipped 2009 BMW 1 & 3 Series Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey – September 15, 2008… BMW introduces access to Google Maps (http://maps.google.com) search capability within the vehicle on 2009 BMW Assist and Navigation system - equipped 1 and 3 Series. For the first time, subscribers...
|
-
|
Why you should buy the 2009 BMW 135i : You like the idea of a driver’s car, but you don’t really like driving that much. You heard the 135i was the car to drive this fall. You’re a life-long BMW fan and you have a penchant for blinders. You’re a badge snob. You’re all of the above and you really don’t have an eye for a deal. Why you shouldn't buy this car: You want a four-seat coupe that drives like a sports car. You have a collection of old BMWs and want the modern equivalent to use as a daily driver. You’re one ticket away from losing your license. Your garage floor is only rated to hold 3383 LB. You’re spending your own money. galleryPost('bmw135iexteriordetail', 6, '2009 BMW 135i Exterior Detail'); galleryPost('135ireviewinterior', 6, '2009 BMW 135i Interior'); galleryPost('bmw135ireview', 6, '2009 BMW 135i'); Suitability Parameters: Speed Merchants: No Fashion Victims: Yes Treehuggers: No Mack Daddies: No Tuner Crowd: Yes Hairdressers...
|
-
|
Exterior Design: **** Easily the best-looking Bangle BMW, the 2009 BMW 135i excels in proportion, if not in detail. Straight from the front, there’s little indication of the 135i’s purpose, but from there back it’s classic BMW two-door updated for the 21st century. Interior Design:*** Restraint and simplicity do the 135i’s interior many favors. Still, it would have been nice to see an even simpler approach taken without sacrificing the quality. Leather-clad Recaro sport seats would have been a good starting point. The 1-series European economy car roots show in the cheap secondary plastics used on the center console and dash. Not something we’d want in a $46,000 car. galleryPost('135ireviewinterior', 6, '2009 BMW 135i Interior'); Acceleration: ***** The twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six is the pick of BMW’s range, providing its bigger, heavier cars with ample acceleration. Here, it’s ridiculously fast for a non-M car, and much, much torquier too. You can pretty much leave...
|
-
|
Confirming speculation, BMWNA CEO Jim O’Donnell has stated in an interview with Business Week that BMW is indeed developing a new turbocharged 4-cylinder gasoline engine. Of course, when we'll see it on our shores all depends on who gets elected President. Wait, what? Said O'Donnell, "It will deliver stronger performance in terms of acceleration than the current 6-cylinder, it will deliver lower emissions and will give you better fuel economy; so it is a win, win, win situation. This will be a high tech 4-cylinder engine; obviously turbo charged. We can’t really confirm or deny when it is going to come into the US, or if it is going to come into the US, until after the election and the government makes it clear what is going to be the platform that manufacturers have got to work to." After the election? Really? Sure, that makes sense, seeing as BMW's future North American lineup will vary depending on future legislation. But we thought ze Germans were all about über...
|
-
|
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...
|
-
|
If Classic BMW of Plano, Texas endeavored to build the most optioned BMW 135i ever, we think they were successful with this tii lookalike . We were only able to up-option a 1-series to $52,550 but the clever mechanics at Classic are just better at this than we are. Starting with an already loaded 1-series with an MSRP of $42,900, the Texas tinkerers successfully added $12,372.42 in a "Performance Package" consisting of more carbon fiber and custom paint than we knew existed. It's expensive, but at least it's all covered under warrenty. The car is for sale on eBay so maybe you can snake the price down further away from M3 territory. A description from the dealer of how they made it work below the jump. galleryPost('bmwprojekt1', 3, 'Holy Krap That Is A Lot Of Kash'); galleryPost('bmwprojekt2', 3, 'Krazy Interior'); eBay seller description All installed options are BMW Performance parts - carrying full BMW warranty. Upgraded options as follows...
|
-
|
Why you should buy the 2008 BMW 128i Convertible : You just found out that the Botox you had injected straight into your eyelid didn't leak into your brain thereby ending an existence that has, up to now, been mostly pointless. No longer. Your new life is going to have meaning, you're going to shun materialism and embrace the world. To celebrate this epiphany you're going to buy a blue one, because blue is the color of tranquility. Why you shouldn't buy this car: You can't afford the kind of girls that are attracted to men in little BMW convertibles. You're short and scrawny with girlishly long hair and the sight of those skinny arms next to that thick steering wheel and pudgy body just makes you look that much more like an Abigail Breslin body double. You like the simple things in life and you don't have $50,000 to blow on a car that can't carry your laser tag gear. You want a capable sports car that's fast, fun and simple. galleryPost('bmw128ithree'...
|
-
|
Exterior Design:*** The 2008 BMW 128i Convertible manages to put its best face forward, with wide headlights that add a new dimension to the brand's rigid look and set the 1-Series apart from the big brother 3. In profile, you'll have to buy into the flame surfacing and its fear of straight lines, which shouldn't be too hard as this is a fairly conservative take on the Bangle theme. Things fall apart in the end, literally, as the strong beltline bends angrily towards the shoulders with an over accented trunk too reminiscent of the 7-series. Attractive? Yes. Iconic? No. Interior Design: *** Once I accepted the rear seats serve only as a place to store shopping bags and coats, I found the little convertible to be a comfortable place to pass the time. The seats can be configured in so many ways that, if you can't find a happy seating position, you're probably freakishly deformed. Though everything is within easy reach the abundance of knobs, stalks, buttons and switches...
|
-
|
Piloting the 2008 BMW 1-series Convertible out into a crowded street, top down, I couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious. I'm not much for the attention drawn by convertibles, and this is a shiny, brand-new BMW convertible. No less than three minutes into my journey I'm stopped by someone on the street who yells "Hey, buddy." I'm guessing the gentleman wants to ask about the car so I try to assume the confident poise of someone who might actually buy this particular vehicle, only to have him point out that the fuel door is open. Thanks. At the next stoplight I quickly thumb a message to Mark Arnold, who is following me in another car: I FEEL LIKE A DBAG. According to Mark, I also look like one. But it would be worth looking ridiculous for a vehicle that's supposed to be the spiritual successor to the venerable E30 , a car that made no compromises on its way to becoming the ultimate driving machine. galleryPost('08bmw128done', 9, '2008 BMW...
|
-
|
We've got to give credit to Phil, a BMW 1-series hatchback is something that those keen of eye might have missed driving around here on US soil and, even if some would have noticed it as an oddity, they might not have been so quick as to get such good photos of the thing. That it has New Jersey Manufacturer plates is no surprise, as most special Bimmers do. The question is, will the BMW 1-Series five-door, which is sold in Europe, join the 2009 BMW 1-Series already here in the states? galleryPost('1seriesnjspot', 6, 'Three More Doors Is A Good Value'); Probably not. If we had to put money down we'd say that this is just a car here for engineering evaluation purposes, an advertisement or something else. Nevertheless, we can dream can't we? (Thanks to Phil for the photos)
|
-
|
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...
|
More Posts Next page »
|
|
|