BMW News: week 24

• BMWs biggest news this week concerns the new BMW M5 F10, as BMW has released more details and a few pictures on this new car. The M5 F10 will feature a high-revving 4.4-litre V8 engine with a TwinPower Turbo package, delivering 560hp (412kW) with a maximum torque of 680 Newton metres. From 0 to 100km/h (62mp/h) the M5 takes 4.4 seconds with a top speed that is limited to 250km/h. However, a M Driver's Package is also offered with the limiter increased to 305km/h (190mp/h) for enjoyable high-speed cruising on the German Autobahn (probably only possible on early Sunday mornings). As with the previous M5 E60, BMW North America will probably offer the new M5 F10 with a manual transmission, although no official information has been released concerning this subject. For more technical information please visit BMW's press release, while picture's of the new M5 can be found here.

• As reported last week, the production of the current 3-series (E90) is drawing to a close. As a farewell, the M3 E90 will be send towards the Nürburgring to perform as the new Ring Taxi. Some new rendering of the 3-series F30 are available to give you an impression of what it will look like.

BMW News: week 23

Another new section I would like to try is a small "news" section on Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz. Besides my own experiences in the other blogs, you will find a short and compact overview of the latest news on these car brands with links to other media that will take you more in depth.

Major news was the world premier of the new BMW 1-series (F20) that has been in production since a few days now. As with the previous (E87) model, both a 3- and 5-door 1-series will be available with the following engines:

• 116i (136hp)
• 118i (170hp)
• 116d (116hp) - with a whopping 4,3 liter / 100km (or 54,7mpg US)
• 118d (143hp)
• 120d (184hp)

For more technical information and pictures on the new BMW 1-series visit bimmerfile.com or go to the BMW-website directly.

In 2012 the new BMW 3-series F30 will be introduced (interestingly sharing the platform with the aforementioned 1-series F20), so the production of the current 3-series platform (including E90, E91, E92 and E93) will come to an end in October of this year.  Through autoblog.com

BMW's current 7-series has been on the market for almost 3 years now, which means that the LCI (or facelift) is due to come in the next 12 months. BMWblog reports that it will be fitted with a fully configurable LCD gauge cluster which Mercedes Benz already offers since 2005 in the S-class W221, allowing the gauge cluster to provide more and specific information to the driver (from the regular speed dails to satnav and entertainment info).

This is it for now, stay tuned for a new small update on BMW next week and for an update on Audi and Mercedes Benz in the days to come!