When thinking of BMW’s Z4 sDrive35is the word ‘ultimate’ is called to mind. It seems the perfect descriptor given this little ripper is seemingly the ultimate convertible sports model under $150,000. Equipped with its 3.0-litre, six-cylinder twin-turbo petrol engine, this beauty is not only capable, but resonates an inherent sense of power and control. With [...]

I always prefer to get the unpleasantries over with first, to leave more time to revel in the things that make you think and feel nice. To brief you, there are plenty of those to throw around when, as now, we are discussing a gleaming new BMW running on a twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 with 547bhp, [...]

Standing water and driving rain means only one thing: I start in the M5. This is one of 50 run-out LE models, but is mechanically identical to any other six-speed 3.8-litre M5 (the M5 ran a 315bhp 3.6-litre straight-six up to ’92). And despite a notable lack of traction control or stability systems it’s a [...]

BMW has finally announced a price list for the 2010 5 Series, which was unveiled late last year. Specifically, the BMW 5 Series Sedan will be available for sale in early June in three models – the 528i, 535i and 550i. The diesel version 520d will be available from September onwards. The vehicle’s impeccable styling [...]

BMW has been getting itself in a bit of a fuddle with its model numbering system. It’s not the first time this has happened, but it’s just as serious as the last outbreak, which saw a 2.5-litre 323i and a 1.8 litre 316i. This time what should have been called the 648i has been given [...]

The new BMW X1, based on the current 1 Series platform, completes the X line-up of X3, X5 and X6 models. However the X1 is less obviously a brashly styled 4×4, it looks more of a chunky five door, five seater estate with a bit more ground clearance than a conventional BMW Touring model. Unlike [...]

Late last year I drove a pre-production version of the BMW 320d Efficient Dynamics saloon. Here we have the production car, which goes on sale this month (April 2010). It’s not a whole lot different bar some minor statistical variations. We liked it then; we still like it now.??The fundamental visual difference is that the [...]

The new BMW is an amusing car. There I was, dawdling along at about 100 with the gearbox in full auto mode, when I decided to try out the manual ‘Steptronic’ option and slid the gearstick across into the +/- plane. As I did so, the dashboard display flashed up the legend ‘M5′. That’s M [...]