Latest news with #Bimmer
Miami Herald
08-05-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
BMW Launches Killer 2-Series Gran Coupe Lease Offer
When the 2-Series Gran Coupe debuted in 2020, some critics viewed it as a BMW-lite given its front-wheel drive architecture, tight back seat, and watered-down performance, but it found success as a more affordable Bimmer that provided a degree of sportiness and a handsome, high-tech cabin. Its $39,600 starting price seriously undercuts the 3-Series sedan's $45,950 MSRP and even the X1 SUV's $41,350 MSRP. To keep costs low, the car shares a platform with MINI, resulting in a front-wheel drive architecture with all wheel drive available on the lower trim and standard on the higher trim. The two models available, the 228i and the M235i, are powered by turbocharged four-cylinder engines that deliver 228 horsepower and 301 horsepower, respectively, through an eight-speed automatic transmission. It used to be the case that Bimmers focused on rear-wheel drive dynamics, something they've been famous for and have adhered to. All-wheel drive debuted on the 1985 E30 325iX, and is now available on multiple BMW models, a huge benefit for those wet and snowy climates. The 2020 BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe 228i sDrive marked the brand's first front-wheel drive model, something nobody really saw coming, but it allowed BMW to deliver a much cheaper model for customers who might not have the brand on their radar for budgetary reasons. Because the 2-Series Gran Coupe is front-wheel drive biased, it feels dynamically different from the 3-Series sedan, which is to say it's less rewarding to toss or hit apexes with. 0-60 mph arrives in about 5.1 seconds. If it's more oomph you desire, then opt for the M235i xDrive, which rockets to 60 mph in a hair over four seconds. In terms of fuel economy, the 228i xDrive Gran Coupe is EPA-rated at 23 mpg city, 33 mpg highway, and 27 mpg combined. The more powerful M235i is rated at 23 mpg city, 32 mpg highway, and 26 mpg combined. The Gran Coupe's cabin aligns with the 3-series sedan. It's refined, driver-focused, and modern, with a 10.3-inch digital instrument panel and a matching 10.3-inch infotainment touchscreen. It retains some good physical controls on the instrument panel and center console, making operation less distracting. It also has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, navigation, SiriusXM satellite radio, and ambient interior lighting. Standard safety features include automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind-spot monitoring with rear-cross-traffic alert, and lane-departure warning with lane-keeping assist. The 2-Series Gran Coupe provides 34.4 inches of rear legroom, which can be tight for tall passengers. It's about an inch less than the 3-Series sedan. Trunk space measures 15.2 cubic feet, a bit less than the 3-Series sedan's 17 cubic feet. Unlike the 4-Series Gran Coupe, the 2-Series Gran Coupe is not a hatchback-style four-door but a sedan with a separate trunk. BMW recently refreshed the Gran Coupe for the 2025 model year with small visual and power tweaks, but the 2024 2-Series Gran Coupe still provides a solid point of entry into the world of BMW. The 2024 model is still available to lease, and BMW's current lease offer is seriously attractive. BMW wants to draw in more customers to the 2-Series Gran Coupe and is doing so by way of a $399 per month lease deal for 39 months/32,500 miles for the 228i Gran Coupe with front-wheel drive. There's a $2,975 down payment and a $925 acquisition fee, but a $0 security deposit. The total due at signing is $4,299, which includes the first month's $399 lease payment. There's no price difference wherever you live, so the lease deal remains the same across the nation. The lease offer is good through June 02, 2025. If you need all-wheel drive, there are still some solid lease deals for these higher-priced versions. The 2024 228i xDrive Gran Coupe is available for lease at $419 per month for 39 months/32,500 miles. There's a $3,195 down payment along with a $925 acquisition fee, but with a $0 security deposit. Total due at signing is $4,539, including the first month's lease payment. The more powerful 2024 M235i xDrive Gran Coupe leases for $519 a month for 39 months/32,500 miles. There's a $3,355 down payment and a $925 acquisition fee, but still no security deposit. The total amount due at signing is $4,799, including the first month's lease payment. These lease deals apply at BMW dealerships across the nation, so the prices remain consistent. You don't have to break the bank to get a German sedan, and this 2-Series Gran Coupe lease deal at a mere $399 a month undercuts many mainstream carmakers' leases. If you want all-wheel drive or a more powerful engine than the 228 horsepower 228i Gran Coupe offers, the prices are a bit higher. The good news is that lease prices aren't variable based on the region you live in, and are good through June 2, 2025. While the 2-Series Gran Coupe isn't as rewarding to drive as rear-wheel drive biased BMWs, it still provides a fun and premium driving experience with aesthetics that will turn heads. Fuel economy figures are equally as impressive for all 2-Series Gran Coupe models. Contact your local dealer for all lease details, read the fine print before signing, and make sure to consider the monthly payment cost, taxes, and fees in your budget. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Top Gear
07-05-2025
- Automotive
- Top Gear
BMW: M buyers 'aren't the most natural to go electric'
Electric M's vice president remains confident that Bimmer's skunkworks division will continue to deliver Skip 4 photos in the image carousel and continue reading With BMW's product lineup becoming increasingly electrified, how exactly do you bring along those raised on a diet of metallic straight-sixes and tail-happy dynamics? 'It's been a challenge to keep this up', M's vice president Sylvia Neubauer told Top Gear. 'If you look at our following, which mostly consists of enthusiasts, they aren't the most natural types to go electric. But I think we should not describe this target group as the only target group, because we are seeing a change already. Advertisement - Page continues below You might like That's not the case for all M cars, of course. Take the current G90 M5 for instance: it's been stuffed with a 727bhp plug-in hybrid V8, sure, but it's also gained 600kg over the previous F90 as a result. 'On paper, it does shock people, especially the higher-performance clientele," she said. "But our engineers knew just how much weight the saloon and Touring would have if we wanted a battery, and they still managed to find such strong performance. 727bhp from a pure combustion engine is a challenge these days, and given the regulations in Europe, offering an M5 that can also be driven as an EV was an attractive proposition for us.' Advertisement - Page continues below Sure, driving on zero emissions is all well and good in the modern world, but the main reason for buying an M5 is because it's a moniker that's spent the better part of four decades forging a very distinct reputation. How does Neubauer think this will be preserved going forward? 'It's not just about acceleration, but the feeling that connects you as a driver with the car and the load. It's about giving you that added trust, to the point where you know exactly how the car will react at any given millisecond.' Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox.
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Yahoo
Seven Cops Hospitalized After Disastrous BMW Chase
Read the full story on The Auto Wire A bizarre twist in the UK unfolded as police in Northumbria chased suspects in a BMW at high speed, only for the cops to crash into the suspect and each other. Seven officers were hospitalized and it's no wonder when you see how mangled their cruisers whole thing unfolded at about 2 am on April 9 when police tried pulling over the Bimmer for reckless driving. Rather than comply, the driver took off and got onto the A1as more officers joined in the chase. According to The Sun, the crash happened at 2:27 am. Thankfully, four of the police officers who were taken to the hospital have since been discharged. Of the other three, two were being kept for observation and one was still receiving treatment for an unspecified leg injury. As for the man and woman in the BMW, both of whom are in their 20s, neither one was injured in the crash. Police are staying tight-lipped about the suspects and a possible motivation for their attempted escape. In fact, Supt Michelle Caisley of Northumbria Police told The Sun people need to keep their mouths shut about why the chase even happened. 'We would also ask people to avoid speculation both online and in the community which could impact the investigation.' We've watched countless hours of police chase footage, but never before have we seen something like this. The closest thing we can think of was when a suspect in Arkansas ran from local and state police while driving a stolen Ford F-450 pulling a skid steer on a trailer down dirt roads, the poor visibility leading to a pile-up. But this chase out of the UK was on a freeway in what appears to be clear conditions. How did all those cop cars end up crashing together? Obviously, they were clustered, which is a huge risk to take when chasing an aggressive suspect at high speeds. However, we'll avoid speculation since that sort of exercise of free speech in the UK can and does get people thrown in jail. Image via The Sun/YouTube Join our Newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube page, and follow us on Facebook.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
BMW Once Restored Elvis Presley's BMW 507 Roadster
Read the full story on Backfire News Almost a decade ago BMW made a huge stir when it revealed Elvis Presley's fully restored BMW 507. The little white roadster was a thing of legend, a ride owned by none other than the King of Rock himself while he was serving in the military over in Germany. But for decades it disappeared and nobody seemed to know where it so many didn't know was the classic German car, worth millions of dollars, was just sitting in a warehouse in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, in horrific condition. That alone is amazing to think about. The car itself was already a celebrity before Elvis bought it. That very one was shown at the Frankfurt International Motor Show in 1957, wowing the crowd. Then Hans Stuck competed in several races behind the wheel before the white roadster was used for press test drives and video shots. It wasn't until December 1958 that a dealer in Frankfurt sold the 507 to Elvis Presley, who later had it painted red. After he was done with his tour of duty, in March 1960 the Bimmer was shipped back to the US. Eventually, it changed hands rapidly several times, slipping into obscurity. It turns out an engineer named Jack Castor bought it back in 1968 and he kept it hidden away. The guy had been able to ascertain the roadster was raced by Hans Stuck, but he didn't know about it being owned by Elvis. Once that fact was uncovered, BMW Group Classic made him an offer he couldn't refuse (we can only imagine how many zeroes there were). Then the automaker got to work painstakingly restoring the BMW 507. The finished product was revealed during Monterey Car Week in 2016, showing off to the public the beautiful, celebrity-owned roadster. The automaker also released photos of the restoration process, and now we have a short video sequence of it. This is truly the stuff of automotive history. Images via BMW
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Dodge Charger Daytona EV Hits 60 MPH Quicker Than a 797-HP Hellcat
We put the through its paces, and it beats the Dodge Challenger Hellcat Redeye to 60 mph, but it's close after that. The Charger's results neatly overlay the , but with almost 900 extra pounds, the Scat Pack doesn't like to turn as well. Despite its significant mass, the Charger EV had shorter stopping distances than the Bimmer and a . Welcome to Car and Driver's , where we zoom in on the test numbers. We've been pushing vehicles to their limits since 1956 to provide objective data to bolster our subjective impressions (you can see how we test ). There's not a single set of cars that the new Dodge Daytona Scat Pack competes with. It's a hulking two-door electric coupe, which is a pretty unconventional thing. And when we say hulking, we mean it. On our scales, it weighed five thousand nine hundred and twenty-five pounds. Yes, we've written it out like a check because it underlines the gravitas of the situation. That's just shy of three tons. For a two-door car. Yet, the 670-hp Daytona Scat Pack's 60-mph time of 3.3 seconds outruns the 797-hp Challenger Hellcat Redeye's time of 3.6 seconds. Of course, the Scat Pack has the advantage of an all-wheel-drive launch, while the Redeye tries to hook up only its rear tires to do the deed. It's hardly fair, despite the Challenger's relatively trim 4514-pound mass. Besides, after that, the story is mostly Redeye, as 100 mph comes in 7.8 seconds versus the Scat Pack's 8.0 seconds. The quarter-mile goes to the Scat Pack—barely, 11.7 to 11.8 ticks. But the velocity is all Redeye, 125 mph to 119 mph. That's because the Daytona poops out at 136 mph, while the Hellcat is good for a claimed 203 mph. For those keeping tabs, we tested a second Challenger Hellcat Redeye on the same surface as the Daytona and its 60-mph time was slower at 3.8 seconds, but its 11.6-second quarter-mile at 128 mph outgunned the electric two-door. Maybe the Hellcat Redeye isn't the best foil for our electric Daytona Scat Pack. Perusing our results, the 536-hp all-wheel-drive BMW i4 M50 seems like the better fit. In fact, they lay right on top of one another. All the metrics are the same. 60 mph? Check. They both need 3.3 seconds. It's the same for 100 mph at 8.0 seconds flat. The quarter-mile is a tie too, at 11.7 seconds—although the Bimmer does pip it for velocity, 120 mph versus 119 mph. You have to dig deeper to find the differences. The 30-to-50-mph time is 1.5 seconds for the BMW, but 1.8 seconds for the Daytona. Ditto the 50-to-70-mph times: 2.0 for the Bavarian and 2.4 seconds for the Dodge. Any of these times are good enough to compress the air out of your lungs, but it does get us wondering. Our 5-to-60-mph rolling-start test removes any launch-control shenanigans. In this test, the BMW needs just 3.5 seconds to complete that run, but the Dodge requires 4.1 seconds. They both have launch control, but the BMW doesn't deliver any more power in that mode. The Daytona, on the other hand, delivers its full 670 hp in launch mode, but that drops to 630 hp unless you hit the overboost PowerShot button on the steering wheel. Forty horsepower likely isn't enough to cover that spread. At 630 hp, the Dodge Daytona has an equal weight-to-power ratio to the BMW i4, both at 9.4 pounds per horsepower. That can only lead us to believe that it comes down to software, and the BMW is quicker to unleash all of its power. And that brings us back to mass. You'd think that would work against the 5925-pound Scat Pack in the braking department, but you'd be mistaken. From 70 mph, the Dodge stops in 151 feet. This slightly beats the i4 M50, which weighs 5063 pounds and does the deed in 154 feet. It even bests the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, which needed 153 feet and only weighs 4849 pounds. Up the stopping speed to 100 mph, and those gaps grow. It's 297 feet for the Charger Daytona, 304 feet for the Ioniq 5 N, and 308 feet for the i4 M50. It's worth noting here that the BMW and Hyundai wear narrower Pirelli P Zero PZ4 Elect summer tires on 20- and 21-inch wheels, respectively, while the Daytona sports chunky 20-inch Eagle F1 Supercar 3 tires, sized 305/35ZR-20 in front and 325/35ZR-20 in back. On the skidpad, all three are within a hundredth of a g. The Dodge and the Hyundai each score 0.96 g, while the BMW narrowly beats them both with 0.97 g. However, what those numbers don't highlight is the three cars' behavior at their handling limits. The lighter BMW and Hyundai take it in stride and exhibit good orbital balance, but the Scat Pack seesaws around the circle at its limit with excessive understeer. While there's no getting around the impact that the Daytona's size and girth has on its at-the-limit handling behavior, this is still an impressive machine that delivers massive straight-line thrust and serious levels of grip. Not only can it run with two of our favorite performance-oriented EVs, it's quicker off the line than any of its internal-combustion predecessors we've tested. You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
