BMW Z Models News

The Vision ConnectedDrive concept is not that far away from the sort of size and shape that would make a tasty new Z2. It's dressed up in all sorts of technical trickery for the Geneva Motor Show at the start of next month, including coloured light strips that highlight different systems, but the shape is the sort of thing that would sit comfortably in BMW showrooms around the world. And no-one should forget that BMW Group says it does not build dream machines these days, only future cars that point to production. The ConnectedDrive concept is the latest in a series of Vision concepts and BMW concedes that moves by other companies, most notably Audi, could be drawing it down the Z2 road as expands its small-car lineup below the current 1-Series. "This car is far from being confirmed for production. It is very much a concept car," says Piers Scott, spokesman for BMW Australia. "But our competitors are going into that segment. It might be the case that we will see the response to that." He refuses to be drawn any further, but says there are strong design elements in the car's shape and the flowing sides that point to BMW's future. "The main thing to extract is the layering. We've already seen it happening in the interior of the X3." Beyond that, it's simple: "It's very much about the technology," says Scott. The light fighter is intended to show the car's various connections - to the driver, vehicle and the surrounding environment. The cabin has three layers - comfort, infotainment and safety - with a corresponding light installation. Safety is - no surprise, red - with blue for infotainment and green for the various connections to the outside world, using a pair of aerials where the mirrors would normally live. There is a huge number of sensors in the car, from front and rear traffic cameras to connections to other cars and active roadside safety systems. But BMW has still had some fun with the roadster, bringing back the drop-down doors first seen in the limited-edition Z1 convertible. There is also an advanced 3-D head-up display and a programmable instrument cluster to provide the driver with additional information, optically emphasised to a greater or lesser degree. BMW has not forgotten the passenger, who gets a separate system and display to  evaluate information, music or navigation details that can be passed across to the driver.

BMW in the US yesterday unveiled its new turbocharged 2-litre petrol engine that is claimed to have the performance of a six with the economy of a ... well, four.Proposed initially for the X1 - and to be badged xDrive28i - in Europe later this year, the turbo is also bound for the entry-level Z4 and selected 1-Series and 3-Series vehicles.BMW Australia spokesman Piers Scott says it's coming, but it is still being determined when it arrives and in what model."It may not be the X1 that's first in Australia with this engine," he says. "Production scheduling could see the four-cylinder Z4 getting here first."The twin-scroll turbo four pumps 180kW and 353Nm of torque - more torque than the company's 3-litre atmo six that has 190kW/310Nm.It is the first time that BMW has launched a production turbo-four since the 2002 of 1974.The engine delivers its power at 5000rpm, 1500rpm lower than the peak power of the six, and the 353Nm of torque hits at 1250rpm - again, 1500rpm earlier than the six.BMW says the four-cylinder engine has an aluminum crankcase so is lighter and smaller than the 3-litre six. Its compact size will allow it to be placed at the back of the engine bay to improve chassis balance.The result of increased performance also comes with lower fuel consumption and emissions, though BMW is yet to release details.

Was it "Big Bopper" - the '79 XB Falcon from Mad Max, or Steve McQueen's '68 Mustang GT in Bullitt. Or could it be the '64 Aston Martin DB5 driven by Bond in Goldfinger. How about the Mini Coopers of 1969 in the Italian Job? Or, does the '77 Pontiac Trans Am from Smokey and The Bandit top your list?Take our poll below to tell us what you think, or leave a comment if your top pick is not listed.But if the Oscars gave out awards to cars instead of stars, Audi would probably get the most nominations. During the past few years, Audis have featured in all the Transporter movies, Ronin, I Robot, Mission Impossible 2, About a Boy, Legally Blonde 2, Hitman, The Matrix 2, Iron Man and now its sequel.In the first Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr plays Tony Stark (a.k.a 'Iron Man'). His workshop houses a 1932 Ford Flathead roadster, a 1967 Shelby Cobra, a Saleen S7, a prototype Tesla Roadster and a 2008 Audi R8.Supporting roles were played by the S5 sports sedan driven by American secret service agents and a Q7 SUV which is literally held up by Iron Man, who saves the family inside from the enemy. For the Australian premiere, Downey Jr arrived in a silver R8. In Iron Man 2 he drives an Audi R8 Spyder and his secretary, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), drives an A8 TDI.Audi Australia corporate communications general manager Anna Burgdorf could not confirm whether any payment was made for the placement. However, she could confirm that the super-sport R8 V10 Spyder will arrive here towards the end of the year.The R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI quattro features a lightweight-cloth top that opens automatically in about 19 seconds. Its V10 engine produces 386kW of power and launches the open-top two-seater to 100km/h in 4.1 seconds on its way to a top speed of 313km/h.Product placement of cars is not new to the sliver screen. Most critics believe it started with Bond films, notably the Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger, in 1964. Aston returned in 1965 for Thunderball and was replaced by the DBS for 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service.Other companies then got into the act of pushing their vehicles on to the Bond screen with the highlights being the amphibious Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me and the launch of the BMW Z3 Roadster in GoldenEye. Even a pre-production Aston Martin DBS scored a role in Casino Royale, and scored a Guinness record for "the most cannon rolls in a car at the same time" - seven - for its very brief appearance.Iron Man 2 begins screening in Australia on April 29.

As the first shoots of spring emerge, new car sales figures for September show a jump in convertible buyers. And money is no object, with many prepared to spend up big to pop the roof down.VFACTS industry figures show a modest sales surge of the Mazda MX5, Mini Cooper cabrio, Volkswagen Eos and Audi A3 convertible - all costing more than $40,000. Further up the price list Audi's A5 cabrio, the BMW Z4, Mercedes-Benz SLK and Volkswagen Eos are also popular with prices for some of the German cars topping out at more than $80,000.Dealers and carmakers say the warmer weather is helping. Mazda spokesman, Steve Maciver, said the order books for the company's popular MX5 were growing. "It's a combination of things but once the warmer weather hits, people like the idea of a convertible," he said.September sales figures show a 17 per cent jump in sportscar sales, which includes convertibles. Apart from topless motoring, luxury off-roaders are also proving popular. BMW spokesman, Toni Andreevski, said the company's popular X5 off-roader, which opens around $86,000, surged last month on the back of fresh supply from the United States. "We've got more stock and buyers are prepared to spend," he said.TOP 10  BRANDS    Sept           YTD 2009 (+/- on 2008)Toyota                   16,007             142,898       -22.3%Holden                      9744               85,667       -14.0%Ford                          8427               70,289       -13.7%Mazda                       7205               57,695         -7.2%Hyundai                    5484               47,625        36.4%Mitsubishi                4312               40,092        -16.3%Nissan                       4079               38,446       -15.8%Honda                       3939               31,787       -22.9%Subaru                      2807               27,225         -9.0%Volkswagen             2307               22,717         -5.4%

It's a piece of automotive art created by the luxury carmaker, BMW, for a television commercial that was outlawed because it promoted irresponsible driving.The colourful canvas will be auctioned next month at a gala Melbourne event for the Make Breast Cancer History organisation. The carmaker's painting is one of more than 20 unusual items to be auctioned to raise funds for breast cancer research. Both event organisers and BMW believe the piece - which measures 2.5m by 1.2m - will attract strong bids.Make Breast Cancer History spokesperson, Rachel West, said it was priceless. "Considering its history, it is unique so we hope it will fetch a good price," she said. Apart from the BMW painting the charity will flog off a Kokoda Track walk in PNG, a private cocktail party for 30 and a year's supply of meat, fruit and vegetables. "It is a charity auction with a twist," West said.The BMW ad featured a Z4 coupe creating the giant artwork in a warehouse by driving with painted tyres. The work is now a part of BMW's Art Car Collection. Company spokesman, Toni Andreevski, said the German carmaker did not normally donate pieces from its collection. "It's certainly unusual but it's for a good cause," he said. "Rather than leave it in storage, we thought we would donate it." Andreevski welcomed the opportunity to turn the negative publicity surrounding the ad, into a positive.The ad was outlawed by the Advertising Standards Bureau in June because the stunts shown in the clip broke Australian road rules. The bureau found that the ‘artistic’ ad encouraged hoon driving because it showed the car spinning its wheels and skidding.The clip was used around the world but Australia was the only country to ban it. BMW commissioned South African artist Robin Rhode and famous film director Ridley Scott's son, Jake, to make the huge football-field size canvas.The company also has works by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella and Ken Done.The charity auction aims to raise $100,000 and will be held on Saturday, October 10.

This time they have scored a victory over commonsense by having the BMW Z4 television commercial pulled from our screens.You know the one. It shows a Z4 sports car being driven over a giant canvas to 'paint' the latest in BMW's 40-year run of 'Art Car' creations.In the past the company has given cars to artists and asked them to use them as a canvas. Andy Warhol did a BMW M1 and, more than a dozen cars later, even Ken Done has daubed a piece of art-in-motoring history.The television commercial was filmed during the art work and, to the vast majority of people, has nothing to do with hooning.The engine does not race, the driver is not wild or wicked or out of control, and there is no tyre smoke or loss of control. But the wowsers are worried that it sets a poor example and so BMW has taken it off the television.Will it make a difference? Not likely.        

The Herald Sun reports Australia's advertising watchdog outlawed the ad for a BMW convertible because driving stunts shown in the clip would break Australian road rule laws.The ad features the BMW Z4 coupe creating a giant artwork in a warehouse by driving with painted tyres, and includes the vehicle spinning its wheels and skidding.The clip, which has been used around the world, was made by artist Robin Rhode and famed film director Ridley Scott's son, Jake.The ad sparked a backlash; one viewer told the Advertising Standards Bureau and Channel 9 the clip "would encourage car hoons to spin and burn their tyres".The watchdog banned the ad on the basis it depicted illegal driving."The board noted that the advertisement does depict in a number of places the driver intentionally allowing the wheels of the car to lose traction and perform ... a four-wheel drift," the bureau's judgment said.BMW hit back, claiming it was art, not hooning."We believe the audience can distinguish between fantasy and reality," a statement from BMW to the board said.Read the full story at the Herald Sun   

BMW is currently experiencing a great deal of success with their current roadster, the second generation Z4.

And few have declined the opportunity. Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Ernst Fuchs, David Hockney and Australia's own Ken Done have all taken up the brush and palette to be part of the Art Cars collection.When South African artist Robin Rhode was invited to join the elite collection he decided to bring something very different to the table."For all the other artists the car was the canvas," BMW Australia's general manager of marketing, Tom Noble, said. "For the new Z4 Rhode decided to use the car as the brush."The result is a vast canvas almost the size of a football field on which a driver under strict choreography instructions from Rhode has swirled and spun their way through a storm of vibrant primary colours to produce An Expression of Joy.Organising the artwork was a nightmare of practical logistics with each colour applied by a fresh set of tyres from a paint reservoir mounted to the rear axle and remotely activated by the artist as the car performed its motorised ballet on the canvas.To record the moment Rhode was joined by young British director Jake Scott — son of highly-acclaimed director Sir Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator and the new Robin Hood film).Rhode and Scott completed the one-take, no-repeat performance in just 12 hours capturing both the essence of the art and one of the most complex and artistic television commercial campaigns BMW has ever planned. To make sure nothing was missed during the performance Scott used 45 simultaneous cameras.

BMW's Z4 could be forgiven for being just a little confused. The sharp-edged drop-top, which had been tasked with sweeping away the ‘hairdresser’ image of the marshmallow-soft Z3 when it was originally launched in 2003, has now been toned down to make it more widely accepted. Whether it was the intention or not, the result of the BMW Z4's reinvention is a softer, more gentle creature ... something in the nature of a frontal lobotomy for what was once a a bit of an edgy wild child with attitude. "The original Z4 — while being very successful and selling over 180,000 world-wide — was youthful, dynamic and polarising ... targeting a very niche part of the market," BMW Australia managing director Stavros Yallouridis said at the car's Australian launch this week. "With the new Z4 we still wanted to attract those customers but also win new customers who put more emphasis on elegance, quality, practicality and comfort." To that end two of BMW's brightest young female designers set about knocking the rough edges off Bangle's original design. Juliane Blasi and Nadya Amaout applied a gentler and more modern eye to the exterior and interior respectively to sweep up those customers who may have found the original car too confronting. That is not to say the new generation roadster — for that is how BMW now refers to the convertible it has given a folding tin-top — is soft. Far from it, but certainly more polished and with a little less character than the original car which burst onto the scene with a "love me or loathe me" attitude and a look to match. Exterior The first thing that is diminished is the sharply divisive "flame" surfacing that gave the Z4 it's Chris Bangle stamp of individuality. The original blend of convex and concave surfaces were nothing if not confronting and yet when viewed on the move gave the impression of a wraith or changeling — you just couldn't be certain from glance to glance just what had caught your eye. The result of the sheetmetal changes are that this car looks bigger, wider and shows a real family resemblance to the more up-market 6 Series coupes. In a world of homogenised motoring design that is apparently the target ... and BMW has hit it. Drivetrains The only models on offer for the Australian launch drive were the naturally aspirated 3-litre, 190kW sDrive30i ($98,100 for the 6-speed manual or add $3300 for the 6-speed sports automatic) and the range-topping 225kW bi-turbo version of the same proven inline six cylinder powerplant at $116,900 or $120,400 for the 7-speed automated manual. Sadly there was no sign of the entry-level — if you can really call an $86,200 two-seater entry level — 2.5-litre sDrive 23i. Interior Cabin space is impressive. There is ample shoulder, elbow, leg and headroom for a pair of economy-sized passengers who need not spend the day looking nervously at each other as gearchanges lead to unwanted hand-leg contact. The Z4 gains a huge win in that its i-Drive control centre is the far more practical and intuitive revision unveiled in the latest generation of the top-end 7 Series limousines. With less layers of complexity and most functions signposted by a select array of buttons the new i-Drive is not only less intimidating it has the elegant simplicity that can only come with a couple of generations of tweaking — both by BMW and some of its rivals. Yet, with that box ticked it is a disappointment to find that against the trend of almost every other convertible of note the Z4's roof can only be raised or lowered when the car is stationary and Park engaged. The practical advantages of being able to close the roof on the move — and there are plenty of manufacturers who offer this — are manifest. The niceities in the cabin extend to a much-improved range of storage solutions — from folding door bins to storage nets behind the seats and a ski hatch from the boot, sun-reflective leather which absorbs up to 20 per cent less heat, a 15gb music storage capacity on the iDrive and 40 per cent improved vision and 50 per cent less noise intrusion thanks to the folding hardtop. Safety, chassis and dynamics While the exterior design has been softened, it would be much fairer to describe the work done under the skin as refinement. The Z4 rides better, it is less nervous than the original and the general feel is of a car that has had far more thought put into it — from both the point of view of driver enjoyment and driver comfort. The full suite of safety acronyms are standard across the range with dynamic stability control, cornering brake control, four airbags, a rollover safety system and cruise control with brake function. Also standard is dynamic drive control (DDC) which can be set at one of three stages — normal, sport or sport plus — and modifies sharpness in throttle control, steering and shift patterns on the automatic gearbox. On cars fitted with the optional Adaptive M Suspension, the DDC control extends to mapping for the electronic damper adjustments. There is little new about the Z4's suspension architecture — a double-joint tiebar front axle and independent centrally guided rear axle with a high proportion of aluminium components — yet it is all well balanced and well suited to the rear-wheel drive sports car. Driving The ride is both controlled and compliant with confidence inspiring stability both on turn-in and mid-corner. The electronic power steering has a nice solid feel to it with adequate feedback — not benchmark but at the better end of the scale. All three engines are proven performers and the two we were able to test at the launch were both a good match to the Z4. The naturally aspirated 3-litre six coupled to the six-speed auto is a well balanced unit capable of a 6.1 second 0-100km/h sprint but there is no doubt that the hero of the family is the force-fed version of the same engine. The bi-turbo punches out a very respectable 225kW but it is the 400Nm of torque on tap from 1300rpm right through to 5000rpm that gives the engine its outstanding character. Raw figures — 0-100km/h in 5.1 seconds and top speed of 250km/h — don't start to tell the story. With the meat of the torque just a tap of the throttle away the true charm of the 35i is its tractability. Price: from $86,200 to $120,400 Engine: 2.5L/6-cylinder 150kW/250Nm; 3.0L/6-cylinder 190kW/310Nm; 3.0L/6-cylinder bi-turbo 225kW/400NmTransmissions: 6-speed manual, 6-speed automatic, 7-speed automated manual; rear-wheel driveEconomy: 9.2L/100km (sDrive23i), 9.2L/100km (sDrive30i), 9.8L (sDrive35i)