BMW X Models 2009 News

In a swiftly changing motoring environment carmakers are searching for new ways to cut fuel use and emissions and improve efficiency.Among the hundreds of concepts and new and updated models on display at the Paris motor show over the next 15 days are some definite standouts. Renault has combined gull-wing doors, comfort, refinement and a slippery design with a hybrid diesel engine and plonked it all on massive 23-inch wheels in its range-topping Ondelios concept car (cover picture).It's 4.8m long and has a hybrid 150kW version of the 2.0-litre dCi engine.There are also two 20kW electric motors at the front and rear to provide extra boost recovered during braking.Mercedes is unveiling one of the world's fastest cabriolets. The SLR McLaren Roadster 722S has 478kW of power and accelerates from 0-100km/h in 3.7 seconds before reaching a top speed of 335km/h.Just 150 of the two-seater supercars will be built. It complements Mercedes' other show star the ConceptFascination, a wild two-door sportswagon. It's a modern version of the old British “shooting-brake” where a wagon tail has been planted on a sporty saloon.Citroen's crossover concept, Hypnos, hasa 150kW engine that boasts miserly fuel efficiency figures of 4.5-litres per 100km.However, it what's inside that is different. An extremely colourful rainbow light show highlights its sleek styling.Honda is using the Paris show to highlight its green commitment. Star of its stand is the new Insight Concept, a dedicated petrol-electric hybrid car in the vein of Toyota's Prius.It is expected to go into production within the next few years.From the US, GM will debut a close to production version of its revolutionary Volt electric car. Chevrolet is showing its new crucial small car the Cruze, plus its first seven-seat multi-purpose family car, the Orlando show car.A form of SUV-family van and wagon crossover, it has a 2.0-litre diesel engine.Alfa Romeo is unveiling its little MiTo compact which is due to come to Australian the middle of next year.Fiat is showing the MiTo's likely competitor in the super-mini category, the 120kW 500 Abarth EsseEsse (SS) plus its PUR-O2 eco-range of cleaner, greener 500s. New technology includes the ability for the engine to turn itself off while idling and back on to continue driving.Mini will show its all-wheel-drive Crossover Concept, while BMW will premiere its X1 wagon. The Mini is intended for adventurous twenty-somethings, while the Concept X1 will go into production as a safe, practical family car.Chasing a similar small, sporty car market is Audi with its new A1. The near-production version will be a feature of its stand.Saab is exhibiting its 9-X Air concept car, while Volvo is debuting its production-ready ultra-safe XC60 crossover which is headed for Australia.Porsche has several new models in the911 range plus the go-anywhere Cayenne S Transsyberia super-4WD.Mazda's all-new Kiyora urban compact four-cylinder concept car will sit alongside the world debut of production cars, the new generation MX-5, the Mazda6 with a 2.2-litre turbo diesel engine and the Mazda2 1.6-litre diesel.Lamborghini has joined the rush to GT supercars with its four-door Estoque concept.Like Porsche's Panamera, Maserati's Quattroporte and Aston Martin's upcoming four-seater, the Estoque, brings a new versatility to one of the world's most uncompromising sports marques.Lamborghini stresses that although there are no production plans for the AWD Estoque it has been developed as fully production capable.Toyota has three world premiere vehicles ranging from its little four-seater city car, the iQ, to the all-new Avensis sedan and wagon and the 1.4-litre diesel-engined Urban Cruiser All Wheel Drive.Ford is debuting the all-new Ka city car with a choice of 1.2-litre petrol and 1.3-litrediesel engines, the hot Focus RS and the new economic Fiesta.Volkswagen will show off its latest Golf GTi. The hot hatch for 2009 is cleaner, smoother and much more refined than earlier cars.It will still come with a 155kW turbo petrol engine and the promise of a 7.2-second sprint to 100km/h, but is missing the wild body bits of earlier GTi road runners.Nissan's debuting Nuvu concept is just three-metres long. It only has two normal seats plus a third that folds down for luggage and groceries. The city car has solar panels on the glass roof.Ferrari will debut its chic two-seater V8 California sports car.From Korea will come Hyundai's i20 small car and a 2.4-litre engined hybrid SUV.Kia is showing its Soul range of urban crossover concepts that come with either petrol or diesel engines. There's also a hybrid version. Additional reporting by Kevin Hepworth and Paul Gover. 

Its latest bonny baby, the compact four-wheel-drive GLK, is heading our way.But when the pre-shrunk version of the M-Class gets here, probably late in 2010, it will be missing one vital ingredient - all-wheel drive.Benz has confirmed the Daimler-developed GLK compact will initially be sold here as a rear-wheel drive.An all-wheel-drive version won't hit our market until the second-generation model, now under development, is released. It is also tipped to feature a hybrid diesel/electric power train.By then Benz will have sorted out an oversight in the GLK's design.The right-hand-drive versions can't be fitted with all-wheel traction because there is no room for the system without making costly engineering changes.The GLK wasn't on the radar for Australia because it was designed for left-hand-drive markets.That left Benz without a contender in the booming Australian SUV market to fight BMW's X3, Audi's Q5, VW's Tiguan and the Volvo XC60.Now it appears Benz has had a change of heart after reviewing a business case study put up by Britain and Australia. When it does arrive, there will be a choice of 3.5-litre V6 petrol or a 2.2-litre diesel with 400Nm of torque on tap.Meanwhile, Australians are being denied one of the more potent models in the Benz coupe line-up - the 4Matic version of the stunning C-Class CL500.It's the first time the all-wheel-drive system has been fitted to a luxury coupe and would have fitted the Australian market well, but it is also not made in right-hand drive.The lightweight 4Matic system splits drive between front and rear wheels through a planetary gear centre differential, which also has a twin-plate clutch to allow some variance in torque between axles. 

It's the sort of odd-couple relationship that really shouldn't work ... but does. North America's eternal fascination with giant trucks and muscle machines continues

It has confirmed early details of its new X6 and believes it will create a new path as 4WDs move deeper into the crossover world between existing car classes. BMW is convinced there are plenty of potential customers for a vehicle that will look and drive like a prestige car but still sit high in traffic and move away from the existing family wagon styling. “The X6 is a new concept. This is the most refined coupe SUV you will find in the world,” BMW Australia managing director Guenther Seemann says. “This is a real coupe. It will be coming at the beginning of next year.” The man who heads the X6 program, former BMW motorsport engineer Albert Biermann, has been in Australia for the introduction of the X5 and confirms Seemann's glowing praise. “This is something very different ... but still an X car,” he says. BMW is expected to preview the X6 late this year or early next year, most likely at the Detroit motor show in January, once it has fired its new M3 V8 super coupe into action. The X6 will be built at the BMW factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where the success-story X5 is also built. “I believe it will not compete with the X5 because it is a four-door, four-seater,” Seeman says. “Some 6 Series and Porsche 911 customers may want to drive a different car and this could be the X6. “Porsche Cayenne and Range Rover Sport are the kind of cars that will compete.” Seemann says BMW will renew its vehicle line-up by 2011, hinting at new premium models beyond the X6.

Snow had fallen the night before and lay thickly across the road, with a fresh fall starting as we pushed BMW's shiny new X3 softroader through the icy mountain landscape above Launceston in northern Tasmania. It was an almost surreal scene as the white carpeted road chased telegraph poles into the distance, snow swirling across the invisible surface with only the guide posts to mark our way. The outside temperature display of our car read zero degrees Celsius, readouts in other cars actually dipped below freezing. As the road began a series of short sharp, climbing turns the high-priced Pirellis of some cars scrambled for traction. Other less fortunate motorists had slewed off the road while one unlucky camper van sat with its nose pushed into an embankment. At no time however did BMW Australia consider calling off the jaunt that took us in a large 200km plus loop around the Great Lake before heading back to warmer climes of Launceston. The much anticipated X3 joins larger brother the X5 that has been a "tear away" success for the company since its launch a couple of years back. Like other manufacturers BMW has discovered there is a huge demand for off-road and soft-road style vehicles, particularly in the luxury segment. BMW describes the vehicle not as a traditional 4WD, not in the current idiom SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle) but as an SAV (Sports Activity Vehicle), with even more car-like dynamics, claiming it creates an entirely new segment. "The X3 will form a substantial pillar in our growth beyond the core brands that we have," spokesman John Kananghinis said. The X3 does not look that much smaller than X5 until you venture inside where the accommodation is more in keeping with that offered by a 3 Series model. But there is still a substantial amount of rear legroom and the useable luggage area is almost as large. There are three different models, a manual and automatic 2.5-litre straight six and a 3.0-litre straight six – the latter the same engine that powers the base model X5. Prices for the X3 start at $65,300 for the 2.5 six- speed manual, climbing to $67,900 for the 2.5 auto and toping out at $74,600 for the 3.0-litre six auto. We were able to sample both the 2.5-litre and 3.0-litre five-speed, tipshift autos and can report that both deliver plenty of punch. There's nothing disappointing about the smaller engine, certainly at the price. And there's not much to differentiate the cars, which all have the same tailpipe arrangement unlike the X5. The 2.5-litre straight six is good for 141kW of power and 245Nm of torque and in manual form can sprint from 0-100km/h in 8.9 seconds (auto 9.8secs) with a top speed of 208km/h.. The larger 3.0-litre engine produces 170kW and 300Nm and is good for 8.1 seconds, with a top speed of 210km/h (221km/h with the sport pack fitted). Drive is transmitted to all four wheels through BMW's XDrive system, with torque split variably and infinitely between front and rear wheels. Ground clearance is rated at 201mm. BMW claims the xDrive neutralises understeer or oversteer in fast cornering, but we discovered the vehicle still had a tendency to oversteer on the wet, slippery bitumen hairpins that we encountered. Overall, however, the X3 remained supremely confident in a range of conditions. Backing up xDrive is stability control, ABS brakes, Hill Descent Control and Cornering Brake Control. Standard equipment includes 10 airbags, multi- function leather-wrapped steering wheel with cruise control, 17-inch alloy wheels, roof rails, rain sensor and automatic headlight control, fog lights, climate control airconditioning, trip computer, and CD sound system. The quality is typical BMW with excellent fit and finish, but we disliked the overuse of grey, lower body protective cladding on lower spec cars, particularly those with lighter contrasting paintwork. Meanwhile, the rear seats seemed rather firm and the vehicle packs only a space saver spare wheel. The 3.0-litre diesel engine from the X5 is also under consideration for the car, but as yet is not available in right-hand drive – and if we get it will not arrive until later in the vehicle's life cycle.