BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team heads to Canada

The month of August has been the most intense period on the 2009 American Le Mans Series calendar. The rush of events at Mid-Ohio, Road America and now Mosport provide race fans with nearly uninterrupted action. The BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team heads to Canada and Mosport International Raceway fresh from its first GT2 win on August 16 at Road America, where the No. 90 M3 of Joey Hand and Bill Auberlen led a one-two class sweep for the team in only the seventh race of its inaugural season.

With three high-profile events remaining in the season, the team has had no time for rest. Mosport is known as the fastest track in the history of the American Le Mans Series. The circuit’s high-speed corners and elevation changes require complete preparation and focus by the crew and drivers.

The two-hour-and-forty-five-minute race will also provide an excellent opportunity to fine tune for the equally demanding Road Atlanta and the grueling ten-hour Petit Le Mans on September 26.

BMW Pull-Ahead Extended and Expanded!

Great news for current BMW owners! According to our friends at Classic BMW, BMW North America announced today that their Pull-Ahead offer would be extended through the end of September. Originally it was to expire August 31st.

In even bigger news, there are even more vehicles that are now eligible for the offer. Until now, only 2006 & 2007 Rear-Wheel Drive vehicles were eligible for the program. BMW has now lifted the restriction and is offering Pull-Ahead to ALL 2006 & 2007 BMWs as long as the current BMW Financial Services lease has a maturity date of December 31st or earlier.

For those of you that are not familiar with this program offered by BMW Financial Services, let us explain it in a few words. Basically if you lease one of the vehicles listed above, you can get out of your 36-month BMW lease up to 3 months early, BUT with the condition of new lBMW lease from Financial Services.

New information on the 2011 BMW X3

The second generation BMW X3 is one of the most awaited BMW models in 2010. With Audi Q5 and Mercedes-Benz GLK looking to gain market share in the mid-size SUV market, BMW has no choice but to get the design right.

The current X3 sales have exceeded their expectations throughout the years, but there is still room for improvement. Moving up in size, will allow the X3 to be positioned at the level of the first X5 model, but at a lower price.

Several test mules have been already spotted in Europe and on U.S. soil, but as usual, the funky camouflage hides the fine details, opening the door for more speculations and rumors. Sources close to BMW came to clear some of the mystery around the 2011 BMW X3 and also to provide new information: X3 Hybrid…anyone?? X3 M?

The “kicked-up” window line that first saw the light of day in the X3 will be evident as it is now an X3 characteristic and a design element that will be associated with the X3. Although the current car has earned a lot of bad response because of this feature . The new sloping roof on the X3 begins a better interpretation of this feature. As the roof slopes downwards the glasshouse rises to give a quarter light that is more like the kicked up shape as seen on the new X1.

The next X3 will be a very huge moment for BMW because it will be launched in the market aimed at customers who want a really dynamic SAV. The weekend car to the daily 3er and by that the customer should not miss out on an engaging drive.
As seen with the X1 we are not offering the latest Turbo charged Six Cylinder this will be featured in the X3 because of it’s more unique positioning.

Later after the launch BMW will introduce an Active Hybrid X3 which will use a mid-line diesel powerplant, but further down the line BMW will adapt in petrol or diesel , a six cylinder, four cylinder, and a three cylinder to a hybrid drivetrain for use in the 1er and 3er and their variants. By 2015 every core BMW model will have either a full or mild hybrid and that is across the core range.

The X3 will be eagerly awaited because of BMW’s decision to entirely base the new X3 on the next generation platform that will be found underneath the 3er. Will there be an X3 M? it all depends on market response but BMW are now cultivating “Sub Brands” such as seen on the 320d ED.

BMW will wait till the cars response which could see a portfolio of models strictly under “Efficient Dynamics” , The Tri-Turbo diesel which is on the radar could be sold under a sub brand similar to (but not under) BMW M to distinguish these performance diesels from their regular counterparts.

Two new cars from BMW to meet sales target of 3,000 units

"We will launch a roadster Z4 in October with a 3.5 litre engine. The model is expected to be priced between Rs 50 and 60 lakh," BMW India President Peter Kronschnabl told reporters on the sidelines of the SIAM annual convention here.

BMW India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the BMW Group, would also launch a new petrol variant of its 7-Series cars with a six cylinder engine in September, he added.

"Last year, we sold 2,908 units and this year we are confident of crossing 3,000 units on the back of new launches and robust demand for our products," Kronschnabl said.

The company has so far witnessed a 14 per cent jump in its sales during January-July period, he added.

BMW India has its assembly plant in Chennai with a production capacity of 3,000 units per annum. It produces 3-Series and 5-Series cars from the plant.

Earlier, the company had announced that it would consider increasing the capacity of the plant in 2011.

"We will launch a roadster Z4 in October with a 3.5 litre engine. The model is expected to be priced between Rs 50 and 60 lakh," BMW India President Peter Kronschnabl told reporters on the sidelines of the SIAM annual convention here.

BMW India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the BMW Group, would also launch a new petrol variant of its 7-Series cars with a six cylinder engine in September, he added.

"Last year, we sold 2,908 units and this year we are confident of crossing 3,000 units on the back of new launches and robust demand for our products," Kronschnabl said.

The company has so far witnessed a 14 per cent jump in its sales during January-July period, he added.

BMW India has its assembly plant in Chennai with a production capacity of 3,000 units per annum. It produces 3-Series and 5-Series cars from the plant.

Earlier, the company had announced that it would consider increasing the capacity of the plant in 2011.

Wiesmann to unveil limited production MF5 Roadster in Frankfurt

With the international auto show rolling in to Frankfurt only once every other year, you can bet that Germany's automakers will be there in full force to show off their latest wares. And in between the new Porsches and BMWs, niche automaker Wiesmann will also be showcasing its new limited production MF5 Roadster.

Wiesmann MF4 Roadster – Click above for high-res image gallery

Taking the best attributes from the MF4 Roadster and the MF5 GT, the MF5 Roadster packs the 507-horsepower V10 engine from the BMW M5 and M6 and packs it into a lightweight retro roadster frame for what promises to be an exhilarating drive. The sprint to 100 km/h (62 mph) comes in just 3.9 seconds before topping out at a claimed 310 km/h (192 mph).

Only 55 examples will be built, and sold at a list price of €189,500 (circa $313k USD). You can check out the details in the press release after the jump, and while Wiesmann hasn't released images of the MF5 Roadster specifically, you can check out its MF5 GT and MF4 Roadster stablemates in the galleries below.

Gallery: Wiesmann GT MF5: Pre-preview

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Gallery: Wiesmann Roadster MF4

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

F1 Updates: BMW seeks new buyer, FIA re-opens selection process, Renault granted appeal, etc.

It's anything but business as usual this year in Formula One, and this past week has been no exception, with one team scrambling to secure its future, another receiving the go-ahead to continue racing, and others re-submitting applications in the hope of joining the grid for next year.

First up is BMW, which announced it would be withdrawing its support from the Sauber team at the end of this year. After the team's eponymous founder failed to put the cash together to buy his team back from the Bavarians, the outfit is going ahead with its program to launch successive updates to its current car for Valencia this coming weekend and Singapore later this season in to demonstrate its capabilities in the hope of finding a new buyer before the season's out.

The FIA isn't holding its breath, however, and has informed seven outfits that submitted so-far unsuccessful bids to participate in F1 next season that there'll be another spot opening up on the grid for next year. In addition to BMW Sauber, reports suggest that Epsilon Euskadi and Prodrive are vying for the spot.

Meanwhile the Renault team has been given the green light to race at Valencia after successfully appealing the ban imposed on the team at the last grand prix for a loose wheel nut. The team will have to pay a $50,000 fine, whiole newcomer Romain Grosjean is confirmed to replace Nelsinho Piquet and partner Fernando Alonso.

As for Felipe Massa, the injured Ferrari driver currently recovering, the latest reports indicate that while he could be ready as soon as the Italian Grand Prix – the home race for his team – he'll more likely wait until the later race in his home country of Brazil to make his comeback.

BMW teases Vision EfficientDynamics concept ahead of Frankfurt

We know that BMW will be unveiling its new Vision EfficientDynamics concept at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show, but so far the automaker has been very tight-lipped as to the details of the actual machine. What we think we know – which, admittedly, isn't a whole heck of a lot – is that this will be a sustainable sportscar of sorts that will highlight all of BMW's eco-friendly efforts under its Efficient Dynamics initiative.

BMW Vision EfficientDynamics teaser

While BMW is keen to keep us in the dark, the German automaker has at least unleashed a short teaser video for the concept that whets our appetites for more. There's not much meat to the video, but we do get a brief glimpse at what appears to be the concept's rear tail lamp and an intriguing use of negative space. It's not much to go on, but the machine in this teaser doesn't look to our eyes like the BMW concept car spied a few weeks back being loaded for shipment.

BMW chose to release this teaser via its BMW TV site, which just recently exited from its initial beta stage. We'll be sure to keep watching for more, but in the meantime, hit the jump to watch the video.

[Source: BMW TV]