Tests and Features

This week, we’re getting our first chance to test drive the 2014 BMW i3, the brand’s small, 100% electric, urban car. It’s the first in the Bavarian automaker’s electric line – called “i” – which will eventually include more models. With a bold and ultra-modern design, the 2014 BMW i3 …

BMW is unwavering when it comes to broadening and updating the lineup of its famous Motorsport GmbH performance division, whose creations are known simply by the prefix M. The most recent batch includes the third generation of the M6, which caps off the freshly remodeled 6 Series. The M6 Cabriolet …

The urge to push into as many product niches as possible is one that has driven significant profits for BMW over the course of the past decade. Once focused almost exclusively on blending sport with luxury, in recent years BMW has grown increasingly comfortable attaching the Roundel to a wider …

For two decades the standard-bearer of the BMW brand has been the 3 Series, a versatile model available in coupe, sedan, convertible, and even wagon body styles. The German marque has also thrown nearly every conceivable drivetrain at this entry-level luxury car, with only rotary power absent from the list …

Luxury hybrid cars are nothing new, but the unique approach that several high end brands have taken when adopting battery technology separates them from their non-premium counterparts. It seems that for every Lexus RX 450h that leverages hybrid design to improve fuel efficiency, there's a vehicular counter-point that instead adds …

Palermo, Italy- In North America, the GT or Gran Turismo designation very often implies a performance-oriented sports car driving experience, but the true European definition is that of a comfortable touring car, one that can carry passengers and their luggage over long distances, and that is exactly what the 3 …

These days, every luxury brand has its own line of powerful and sporty models. Mercedes-Benz has the AMG Division, while Audi has its dynamic RS models. And then there’s Jaguar and its high-performance R models. At the Bavarian manufacturer BMW, the Motorsport division is tasked with creating cars that are …

The BMW 3 Series is the Munich-based manufacturer’s bread and butter. It’s offered in a wide range of configurations (sedan, wagon, coupe and cabriolet) and even the most basic of the various 3’s is desirable. Yes, the equipment level isn’t the greatest and the engine isn’t very powerful, but the …

When it comes to building big, comfortable, and eminently capable grand touring cars, no one can hold a candle to the cars that have come out of Germany. And how could they? With a long standing tradition of moving across their countryside unhindered by the obsessive convention of speed limits …

Alpina is a German outfit that has been modifying and transforming BMWs for a half-century with remarkable care, light-years beyond the garish and juvenile mutations of some European tuners. This firm’s creations have been wholeheartedly endorsed by the Munich-based manufacturer since 1964 and the company has been recognized as a …