BMW is starting to take a liking to blurring out the vital parts and trying to tease us about what’s next on the horizon from the German automaker. First it was the X6 M Diesel that got teased, and now BMW is showing off its M Performance Parts for their 1-Series hatchback model.

Now to be clear, this isn’t the 1M, but rather a standard 1-Series that has been outfitted with M Performance Parts to spice it up. The Bavarian automaker announced that they have intentions of expanding their M Performance range, releasing variants of all their vehicles packed with M Performance Parts.

This isn’t entirely new or revolutionary from BMW, having offered M Sport packages in the past. This video teases the products that BMW has for the 1-Series hatchback which appears to feature M Performance interior accessories, a body kit, exterior logos, and M-badged brake calipers. It’ll be more interesting to see whether or not we’ll see a M 135 or something similar to the M Performance Diesel models that were recently announced.

Check out the video after the break.

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Coming to grips with the taxing nature EVs can have on a residential power grid is causing some car companies to explore products more akin to the housing market than the auto industry.

BMW is the latest company to announce special plans and research designed to counteract that burden by rethinking how homes use electricity. The German automaker expects to have a demo home as part of their Mountain View, Calif. technology office, completed by the end of March.

The home is designed to efficiently charge their EV, the ActiveE, which is a variation on their 1-Series while maintaining flexible power consumption to compensate for increased consumption during charging times.

Toyota introduced something similar in October, 2010 called the Toyota Smart Center, which they said would be commercially available in 2015… Do you love your Camry enough to let the same person style both your car and home? In Japan, Nissan built a demo house called Kan-kan-kyo for the same purpose.

As for BMW, they’ve paired up with Tendril, an energy management company that is helping provide data to fully examine how an EV changes household power consumption.

“We’re keen to understand how utilities will gain benefit from a program like this,” Tendril CEO Adrian Tuck said to the New York Times. “The car guys don’t want to have 3,000 relationships with all the different utilities.”

Tuck also said that even a small number of EVs charging at once could actually create demand peaks. While we’re still a long way off from having electric vehicles in every driveway, or even more than a handful per city, it could feasibly create a problem.

The auto industry is not known for sharing ideas between competitors, in fact that behavior routinely rips contracts between car companies to shreds, but keep your eye out for some serious copy cat strategy down the road.

Chevrolet is offering Volt owners a service via their OnStar system and a smartphone app that will show sources of renewable energy. That sort of power is at its peak availability during otherwise off-peak hours, encouraging Volt owners to charge off-peak.

Perhaps a similar service will be available in the future from other companies as well. For now, there are only 700 BMW ActiveEs available by lease, so it seems unlikely that they will actually market streamlined home services any time soon.

GALLERY: BMW ActiveE

[Source: New York Times]

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A while back we revealed that Infiniti‘s working on a new entry-level, FWD compact that would be based on Mercedes-Benz‘s A-Class platform. We now have news that Canadian-Austrian auto supplier Magna Steyr will be in charge of developing the entry-level model for Infiniti.

The final contract is expected to be agreed upon soon, allowing Magna to begin production at their factory in Graz, Austria starting in 2012. As we reported earlier, the new compact will be based on Mercedes-Benz’s MFA architecture which is seen in their A- and B-Class vehicles. Daimler will also be supplying preassembled complete parts to Infiniti.

According to sources, Infiniti’s new compact will be powered by Mercedes’s four- and six-cylinder powerplants, with diesel variants for the European market. The plan is to produce around 50,000 to 60,000 units a year in Graz, exporting them globally to compete against BMW‘s 1-Series and Audi‘s popular A3.

As mentioned earlier, Infiniti’s new FWD compact will be based on the Etherea Concept we saw at the Geneva Motor Show.

GALLERY: Infiniti Etherea Concept

[Source: Automotive News]

BMW is set to debut what it calls the 1-Series Performance concept car at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show, outfitting the all-new 1-Series with a full aerodynamic package along with several BMW Performance parts. The styling package will come complete with front and rear aprons, a pair of side skirts, a modified rear spoiler and a pair of carbon fiber mirror covers. On the demo vehicle, BMW has opted to contrast the white exterior with a set of black racing stripes and dark gray 19-inch wheels.

In addition, BMW is offering interior upgrades which include a steering wheel with a decorative yellow stripe at the top, Alcantara trim and a carbon fiber shift knob to match a set of sportier pedals. Lastly, upgraded brakes will also be made available to 1-Series owners for added braking performance.

GALLERY: BMW 1-Series Performance Accessories

BMW may have just introduced their revised 1-Series, but it is wasting no time in making it hotter. For their Frankfurt stand, BMW is readying a Performance Concept version—and through these leaked camera phone shots, we now know what it looks like.

BMW unveiled the car ahead of time at a dealer meeting, and some enterprising James Bond took these shots and posted them on 1Addicts.com. From the photos, the 1-Series Performance Concept will have larger dual-spoke alloy wheels, a more aggressive front bumper, and—presumably—320d badging on the tailgate. Rumors abound that this car will have a hotted-up version of the 2.0-liter turbodiesel that produces 184 horsepower in stock form.

A diesel 1-Series hot hatch? It may be no 1-Series M, but it’s certainly compelling enough to warrant a leak ahead of the Frankfurt Auto Show.

In celebration of sponsoring the 2012 London Olympics, BMW has announced two new Performance Editions for the popular 1-Series and 3-Series. Inspired by their very own BMW London 2012 Performance Team, the Performance Edition models will feature M inspired body styling and accessories outfitted to the three-door and five-door 1-Series while the 3-Series Performance Edition will only be available on the sedan.

For the 1-Series, the Performance Edition features M aerodynamic bodystyling, 18-inch M wheels in a dark chrome finish, Shadowline exterior trim, dark chrome exhaust tips and dark line rear taillights. Giving the car a sportier ride and handling capabilities is M Sport Suspension while the inside receives Royal Blue stitching on the seats, an M Sport leather steering wheel and gearshift leaver and floor mats with Royal Blue piping. Of course on the exterior, the car will be representing its inspiration with London 2012 exterior badges.

The Performance Edition can be added for about $2,400 more than the equivalent ES model and pricing for the 116i Performance Edition three-door starts at around $31,125.

The 3-Series sedan receives a similar set of modifications, starting with the M aerodynamic body kit to the 18-inch wheels. Finishing off the exterior is a chrome exhaust tip and London 2012 badges. The interior features sport seats and floor mats with similar blue piping along with the M Sport leather steering wheel. With a little less modifications than the 1-Series offering, the 3-Series Performance Edition is only $800 more than the equivalent ES sedan. Pricing for the 318i Performance Edition sedan starts at a little under $40,000.

Either model is available in Alpine White, Titanium Silver, Bluewater and Black Sapphire colors and are currently on sale in the UK.

In addition to the London 2012-inspired models, BMW will be bringing several of their Efficient Dynamic diesel cars, hybrid and electric vehicles, bicycles and motorcycles to the London 2012 Games.

GALLERY: BMW 2012 London Performance Editions

BMW is giving its home turf a big, heaping pile of BMW-osity. The carmaker plans to debut no less than four production models at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September: the M5, the M3 GTS’s sedan version, a redesigned 1-Series, and the i3 electric city car.

The M5 and the M3 GTS, of course, will cause enthusiasts to salivate at an unhealthy, fluid-draining rate. But while the 1-Series will be redesigned for the first time since its debut in 2004—no insignificant debut at any other show—it’s the i3 electric car that will make the biggest impact at the show.
The i3, as leaked before, is BMW’s mass-produced electric car with a 160-mile range and a passenger cell made from carbon fiber. If anything, it’s BMW’s firing shot into the electric propulsion game, with much of the company’s reputation behind it.

[Source: AMS]

BMW‘s 1 Series is due for replacement next year, but so far BMW has only released a vague teaser of the car and its potential body styles. So far, observers seem to think that a 3-door and 5-door hatchback are set to be launched, at least in Europe. We’d expect that North America will get a coupe variant, due to the lack of love for hatches Stateside.

So far, BMW has released a commercial that alludes to the two body styles being offered. While its ostensibly a bit of avant garde advertising, we just get anxious and impatient due to a lack of car content. Hit the jump to check them out.

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The world’s two largest luxury car makers, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, are currently watching sales go through the roof in China.

Although the luxury vehicle market in that country is still growing (projections forecast about 20 percent over last year for 2011), both the Munich and Stuttgart based concerns together, sold a total of 102,497 vehicles during the  first quarter of this year, an increase of some 76 percent from the year before.

China’s economy grew 10.3 percent in the last year, the fastest rate increase since 2007 and despite Government calls to curb ‘Hedonistic Spending’ and unclog the roads, it looks like sales of luxury cars will likely continue to rise, putting China ahead of the U.S. for the first time in terms of premium car volume.

According to Klaus Maier, who runs Daimler’s Chinese operations, demand currently outstrips supply for Mercedes-Benz models and with the factories in Germany running at full capacity, the company is looking to expand local production in China.

However, despite the apparent increase in wealthy and upper middle-class Chinese, there are also signs that the gap between rich and poor is widening – the Gini coefficient, which is used to measure income distribution, has climbed from 0.3 in the mid-1980s to 0.5 today.

Whether China can sustain such rapid economic growth remains to be seen, nevertheless luxury car makers are constantly looking at new ways to entice buyers. Lexus has hired Kobe Bryant as the spokesman for its smaller models in China, while both BMW and Mercedes are doing their best to peddle cars aimed at a younger demographic, the introduction of the 1-Series and A and B-Class models being prime examples.

So far it appears that the strategy is working; in the case of Mercedes, A, B and C-Class models accounted for more than a third of total M-B sales in China last year, according to a statement issued by Daimler AG.

[Source: Automotive News]

The thought of  a front-drive BMW was inconceivable less than 5 years ago, but the Bavarian luxury car maker appears to be planning an onslaught of front-drive models for launch by 2016, including a couple crossovers, a sports car and a new compact.

The first front-driver will be a 1 Series GT, another pointless crossover, but one that BMW evidently feels earns a spot in its lineup. The silver lining is that it will share a platform with the wonderful MINI Clubman, giving it excellent dynamics even if its technically a “downmarket” car. More intriguing is the BMW Z1, a compact roadster that would mimic the Lotus Elan of the early 1990′s by sending power to the front via a turbocharged 4-cylinder.

A compact, as well as the next generation 1-Series will likely follow suit, since 1-Series drivers apparently don’t know or care about which wheels are being driven. Naturally, a whole new range of MINIs will follow, including an all-new variant said to be the size of the original Mini Cooper.

[Source: Inside Line]