Dr. Friederich Eichiner,a board member of BMW, has unveiled the Mini E live at a press event in Beverly Hills, California. You will be able to see it for yourself at the LA Auto Show which is going to start in a couple of days.

Only 500 units electric Minis will be sold in Southern California and in New York City starting January. The Mini E has an electric drive and battery packs made by California’s AC Propulsion. You will get a range of about 125 to 150 miles out of those 35 kWh packs and you as for acceleration you will get from 0 to 60 in about 8.5 seconds.

How do you get one? Well you will have to register for one on the custom made site that’s going to be released in the next few days and then hope to be one of the chosen one. The lease is just $850 per month after that.

via AutoblogGreen

My oh my, what do we have here? Check out those lines and that mean BMW look. It’s possibly the successor of the M1? This concept is said to be BMW’s green car of the future. Probably the M1 of 2012, although we are a long way to go on this one.

The car is rumored to pack a twin-turbocharged 3.0 liter inline six engine. Other features will be the use of direct-injection, brake regeneration, start-stop technology and the F1 kinetic energy recovery technology. Therefore fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions will be comparable with those of the 5-series sedans.

Well give this rumored M1 a final name, strap a price to it and bring it to some Auto Shows. I am sure it will raise an eyebrow or two!

via Autoblog

It seems BMW is dissatisfied with the current state of keys and is hoping to breath new life into it. Recently annuoncing their development of a new key that allows owners to use it like a credit card a la Mobil Speedpass.

But why do this? Well, BMW thinks that being able to use your key to pay for various things, tolls included, is a necessity for their high class audience.

But what happens when you lose your key, someone finds it, fills up their gas tank, and everyone’s they know? Oh BMW, you’ve thought of everything!

Wait just a second guys! Is this a bad joke? Is this where we have come to? Are we really going to see Mercedes cars with BMW parts inside? We like various models from both German car makers but we’d also like to have them create their own original cars. With no interaction from each other. After all they are rivals!

Klaus Draeger, BMW’s head of development is in advanced talks with Mercedes-Benz about licensing engines and possibly transmission too. BMW’s new V-12 engine might arrive under the hood of the S-Class and the Maybach, besides the regular place it should find itself in: the BMW 7 Series and the Rolls-Royce sedan.

What do you think? What are we going to see next? Bugs and Daffy signing a friendship agreement?

via Autocar

It seems that BMW is taking a lesson from Google and introducing efforts to start production for an open-source in-car platform for automotive electronics. Along with BMW, other car manufacturers including Honda, Chrysler, Ford, and GM, showed interested in the platform.

Developed on Linux by BMW AG and Intel, the new platform looks to standardize the consoles across many car manufacturers. But what does this really mean?

You know the App Store for Apple’s iPhone, right? Just imagine being able to download similar little programs, but for your car. Now that’s innovation!

It’s not everyday that we see BMW launch a motorcycle that’s ready to race. The S 1000 RR World Superbike was shown at the Intermot in Cologne, Germany. Although it seems designed with racing in mind, the bike will also go to massive production for the public. By massive I mean the 1,000 units which are said to arrive in 2009.

The S 1000 RR has an inline four-cylinder engine mounted transversly in the frame. Together with the standard chain drive this bike will get you some 150 horsepower to play with. No news about pricing yet, but we’ll keep you updated on the matter.

via Autoblog

After taking a look at Audi’s concept car let’s go to another German manufacturer and its concept. BMW has a Concept X1 car ready to be inspected at the Paris Motor Show tomorrow.

The Concept X1 is a CUV will join the curent X versions from BMW and I am sure the German manufacturer has great plans for it. And what’s there not to like? It’s a BMW which will get you places. Sure you might X5 and X3 ready to be picked up and driven home. But why not go all new with the Concept X1. We’d like to see some detailed features but we’ll have to wait a couple of days to see what Paris brings us.

via Autoblog

The BMW 7 Series ActiveHybrid is going to be unveiled at this year’s Paris Motor Show. The German manufacturer is going to rely on the a similar hybrid architecture to the one used by it’s long lasting rival Daimler.
We’re talking about a 120 volt lithium ion battery and a small motor which will hel the 4-4 liter V8 twin-turbo, direct injection engine.

The hybrid monster will get you about 400 horsepower from the combined force of the two engines while average fuel mileage will be around the low 20s.w 20’s.

It’s no longer a rumor anymore! BMW has official plans for electric cars. Its CEO, Norbert Reithofer confirmed the mega city car which will have a modern new look and two powertrains. A micro car will get a standard combustion engine while the other one will be simple electric.

The car will meet California regulations according to BMW’s CEO. That means an U.S. version is in the works. He failed to mention which BMW brand will bring the new cars to the public we’ll just have to wait and see.

The electric car vehicle will probably comply with a California mandate that says that by 2010 there must be a car which can go 200 miles on a single charge. Will the BMW create such car?

The German car maker is considering introducing four-cylinder options for the 3 Series in the United States. That comes as sort of a surprise. Sure in Europe BMW cars usually pack four-cylinders but in the USA you will find them packing 6 pistons.

BMW might be introducing the direct-inject 2.0L four-cylinder engine from Europe in the US market. You can find it in the 320i and 120i in Europe for example. And such an engine will get you 38 mpg, at least in Europe, which isn’t bad at all.

The move isn’t confirmed yet, but it might fit current needs given the rising fuel price. What do you say? Would you get a four-cylinder 3 Series Beamer?

You better put aside a couple more bucks for that brand new BMW you were planning on buying because it was just announced that the 2009 models will get somewhat of a price increase.

The price increase apparently won’t happen worldwide as BMW has only announced that the 2009 USA models that will hit dealers this October will have the 2.1% price increase, with the increase of raw material prices stated as the cause.

This probably doesn’t come as a surprise to most of you BMW heads as they just recently increased the price on their 2008 models in June by about 1%.

It seems that BMW has issued a recall on 200,000 of its vehicles due to the fact that the front passenger airbag may not deploy during a crash. Hmm, seems serious.

BMW goes on to say that the recall will effect the 2006 3 series, 2004-2006 5 series, and the 2004-2006 x3 SUVs.

Apparently, the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration), has found that small cracks could develop in the seat detection unit that could lead to the airbag getting unintentionally deactivated. Luckily, BMW lets us know that no injuries or accidents have been tied to this problem.

If your the type of person who frequently finds themselves under gunfire, but still likes to ride in style, the BMW X5 Security model may be just what you are looking for.

Featuring ballistic-resistant armored fiber body panels made in the Netherlands, the BMW X5 Security model is said to be able to withstand gunshots from a .44 magnum, .357 mangum, or a 9mm pistol. Also featuring 22mm thick laminated security glass windows, built in camera and intercom system, and a 4.8l 350hp V8 engine, the BMW X5 Security model is no joke.

To make up for the car’s added mass, BMW has upgraded the brakes and suspension to make for a more true to the X5 name driving experience.

How long ’till we see Kim Jong-il drivin’ around in one of these?