RECENT ARTICLES
Petersen Automotive Museum: January Cruise-In Benefitting First Responders
Mark your calendars for Sunday, January 26th, and be part of a special event that brings together car enthusiasts and compassionate individuals for a vital cause. As devastating fires impact the Los Angeles area, our heroic first responders work tirelessly to protect lives, homes, and our community. This unique...
BMW M Motorsport Confirms LMGT3 and GTD Drivers for FIA WEC and IMSA
Just a few weeks after announcing the Hypercar line-up, the GT drivers who will represent BMW M Motorsport in 2025 in the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA series) have been confirmed. Valentino Rossi will enter his second year in the LMGT3...
50 Stories for 50 Years Chapter 1: “Turn Your Hymnals to 2002”
Can one magazine article change the course of automotive history? Though it’s hard to imagine in today’s fractured media landscape, that’s exactly what happened in April 1968, when Car and Driver published “Turn Your Hymnals to 2002,” an ecstatic review of a new BMW by contributing writer David E....
BMW M Breaks Sales Records in 2024
BMW News, Community, Motorsport
BMW M GmbH broke historic sales records in 2024, selling over 200,000 vehicles for the first time, continuing a 13-year sales-growth trend for the high-performance brand. Enthusiasts have enjoyed the variety of models, styles, and performance levels available from BMW M GmbH, with executives crediting their technology-neutral stance, making...
BMW Works to Recycle EV Batteries
Recycling the massive batteries of electric vehicles, which lose potency over time, remains one of the criticisms of the environmental “green” labels often used to promote EVs. Historically, recycling batteries has been problematic and expensive. So, BMW, with other technology partners, continues to develop new approaches to making the...
M Chapter Virtual Garage Webinar Series – Creating the Ultimate BMW Garage
The BMW CCA M Chapter is preparing to launch the 2025 episode of its Virtual Garage webinar series, Creating the Ultimate BMW Garage! This year, we will hear what projects fellow club members have worked on over the last year and eagerly look forward to live virtual tours of...
A Ford Raptor and Hyundai Ute lead to the BMW G60 5 Series
The closing months of last year required me to head back east to Maryland to help transition my mother into assisted living. This happened over multiple trips requiring several rental cars, including a stint in the relatively new G60 BMW 5 Series. First, let’s talk trucks. For the initial...
E30 A/C Rejuvenation – Part II (Trying To Reuse the Compressor)
Last week I took the first steps to resurrect the a/c in the FrankenThirty 1988 325is. Its wing-cell compressor turned freely but had no belt on it, and due to the car’s salvage title history, it makes me wonder whether the a/c was ever even fully reconnected and recharged...
Turner Motorsport To Compete in Three IMSA-Sanctioned Series in 2025
Turner Motorsport is expanding its IMSA racing programs to include entries in the VP Racing Challenge series in 2025 and entries in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC) and Michelin Pilot Challenge. Turner will return to the IWSC with the same lineup they had in 2024, with Robby Foley...
BMW Wins Dubai 24 Hour
The Dubai 24 Hour has become an important international endurance race over the years, with the 20th running of the race this year featuring the largest GT3-class field in its history. BMW won the first Dubai 24 Hour race 20 years ago, with BMW legends Hans Stuck and Dieter...
A Ford Raptor and Hyundai Ute lead to the BMW G60 5 Series
The closing months of last year required me to head back east to Maryland to help transition my mother into assisted living. This happened over multiple trips requiring several rental cars, including a stint in the relatively new G60 BMW 5 Series. First, let’s talk trucks. For the initial...
E30 A/C Rejuvenation – Part II (Trying To Reuse the Compressor)
Last week I took the first steps to resurrect the a/c in the FrankenThirty 1988 325is. Its wing-cell compressor turned freely but had no belt on it, and due to the car’s salvage title history, it makes me wonder whether the a/c was ever even fully reconnected and recharged...
YouTube: The Invitation – BMW at CES 2025
Welcome to CES 2025. Join our cast of Hollywood stars and tech geniuses as we take over the entertainment capital of the world for our very own party to celebrate our new innovative in-vehicle experience. Be sure to follow BMW on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@BMW
Bring A Trailer: Collection of BMW and Alpina 2002/1600 Parts
This collection of BMW and Alpina parts was assembled by the selling dealer and comprises hundreds of pieces that are said to be suited for 1600 and 2002 cars built from 1966 to 1971. The selling dealer states that it includes an engine camshaft, an Alpina radiator, Italian-made Weber...
E30 A/C Rejuvenation – Part I (of many)
Last week, I whined that when I bought the ’69 Lotus Elan +2 a few months after I’d bought the FrankenThirty, the former kicked the latter out of the garage, which not only forces the E30 to sit outside over the winter (hey, ratty rebuilt-salvage E30; the world will...
BMW CCA Award Season Is Here! Deadline Extended!
UPDATE! Award nomination deadline has been extended to February 28, 2025! Your BMW CCA Recognition Program Committee (RPC) would like to remind you that it is time to recognize your fellow members and BMW Centers and Independent Businesses, who have gone above and beyond in 2024 for the betterment...
100 Years of BMW Motorrad Exhibit to Close in 2025
The major anniversary exhibition at the BMW Museum, which marks 100 years of BMW Motorrad, opened its doors on May 12th, 2023. Visitors were able to embark on an intense, exciting journey through 100 years of BMW Motorrad history over the exhibition’s approximately year-long run. The exhibit has been...
The Winter Space Crunch
There are certain automotive beds we make in which we must lie. My big one is owning a dozen vehicles and not moving out of my house in Newton to a car-centric property with a big metal outbuilding. Instead, I continue to rent space for five cars in a...
BMW Blog: 50 Years of the 3 Series at Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este
2025 is right around the corner, so BMW is getting ready to celebrate half a century of the 3 Series. Replacing the 02 Series, the E21, designed by Paul Bracq, came out in 1975. The long-lasting luxury sedan will live to see an eighth generation. The G50 is expected...
Evolution of the BMW iDrive
BMW iDrive is the intuitive display and operating concept in every BMW. It’s the driver-vehicle interface and works through innovative collaboration between hardware and software. From finding a destination or adjusting the air-con to choosing your favorite music, BMW iDrive does it all – responding to speech, touch, or...
The Key to Happiness
I’ve owned my daily-driver 2003 E39 530i for eight years now. It only had one key when I bought it, and I never could get the remote in the key fob to work, even after replacing the battery and going through the programming procedure. Neither of those things really...
BMW Wins Global SRO GT4 Championship
The SRO (Stéphane Ratel Organization) sanctions racing series around the world, including the SRO GT World Challenge, GT4 America and TC America series here in the US, along with other regional series in Europe, Asia and Australia. In 2024, the SRO tallied the points scored in the various classes...
Auto Technic Racing Announces Michelin Pilot Challenge Program for 2025
Auto Technic Racing has a very successful history of racing in the SRO GT4 America series with BMW and will expand their racing program into the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series for 2025. The New Milford, Connecticut based team has purchased a new M4 GT4 EVO that will be...
BMW 3 Series Anniversary Celebration at The Amelia
Registration deadline is Fri, Jan 10th!!! Will you make the cut? Come join BMW CCA and BMW NA as we celebrate the car that started it all, the iconic BMW 3 Series!!! 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the BMW 3 Series and BMW of North America, and we...
MINIs to the MAX Exhibit – 65 Years of Spirited Adventures
Join The Ultimate Driving Museum for the last chance to see the MINIS TO THE MAX exhibit! The closing ceremony will be held on Saturday January 18, 2024. Guest speakers, Phill Wicks and Brad Davis, will be sharing a lively presentation of all things MINI! Phil Wicks, is renowned...
E30 A/C Rejuvenation – Part II (Trying To Reuse the Compressor)
Last week I took the first steps to resurrect the a/c in the FrankenThirty 1988 325is. Its wing-cell compressor turned freely but had no belt on it, and due to the car’s salvage title history, it makes me wonder whether the a/c was ever even fully reconnected and recharged...
E30 A/C Rejuvenation – Part I (of many)
Last week, I whined that when I bought the ’69 Lotus Elan +2 a few months after I’d bought the FrankenThirty, the former kicked the latter out of the garage, which not only forces the E30 to sit outside over the winter (hey, ratty rebuilt-salvage E30; the world will...
The Winter Space Crunch
There are certain automotive beds we make in which we must lie. My big one is owning a dozen vehicles and not moving out of my house in Newton to a car-centric property with a big metal outbuilding. Instead, I continue to rent space for five cars in a...
The Key to Happiness
I’ve owned my daily-driver 2003 E39 530i for eight years now. It only had one key when I bought it, and I never could get the remote in the key fob to work, even after replacing the battery and going through the programming procedure. Neither of those things really...
The Bowden Cable That Isn’t
If you’ve ever had to remove the heater box in a 2002 to replace the blower fan, leaky heater core, or—heaven forbid—de-mouse it, you’ve had to deal with the Bowden cables. They’re the stiff cables that connect the dashboard sliders to the heater valve and the flaps in the...
You Nearly Left Me Again, Loose Wheel
I drove the winter beater 1600 home from work 40 years ago this winter after swapping the winter wheels and snow tires earlier that morning. I heard and felt a vibration in one of the wheels. As my brain began to wonder if maybe I hadn’t snugged down the...
