Luxury cars.

BMW cars are considered luxury cars. Here are some information about different models the company offers as well as some information about accessories.BMW 5 Series are very expensive cars. Five people can seat comfortably in it. There exist different types of BMW 5 such as the 525i, 530i, 530d, 540i and 550i. The performance of the engine is what you need to refer to tell these models apart. Prices start around $94 000 up to $163 000. As for BMW 7 series, those look a lot like the 5 Series, but they are more expensive because their engine is bigger. You need to pay at least $183 000 for a BMW Series 7.If you would like to buy a BMW convertible, you can choose between three models: the BMW 6 Series, the BMW M6 and the BMW Z4. All of them are coupes. Depending on the model, you can either have a manual or an automatic transmission.There are numerous BMW accessories. You can buy products for the engine, the interior or exterior of your car, lighting, brakes, wheel, performance, audio & electronics, etc. Finally, if you are looking for a BMW for sale, I suggest you to look on the Internet to see what is available to you and you can also have an idea of how much cost a new or used BMW.

Bmw To Build Cars In Russia.

BMW has signed a deal with Russian car maker Avtotor to assemble the BMW 5-Series and Land Rover Defender at one of Avtotor's two plants in Kaliningrad. It plans to begin production of the cars by the summer of 1999, and the projected capacity of the enterprise is 10,000 cars a year. The volume of investments in the development of the production base will amount to about $28 million.

Avtotor's other plant assembles a number of Kia models from CKD kits. About 1,500 were sold in 1998.COPYRIGHT 1999 Cahners Publishing Company
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group Britain's Mini defined space efficiency like other car, paving the way for today's A-class runabouts -- and the 2001 Mini.
It's October 1959 and the air in Britain is full of optimism. The nation that emerged from World War II victorious, yet virtually bankrupt, is finally enjoying its first real taste of post-war prosperity. Gone are gasoline rationing and other stringencies that plagued consumers for much of the decade. "You've never had it so good," beamed Prime Minister Harold MacMillan to his fellow citizens. He may have been right.
The buoyant economy is giving many people the means to purchase a new car. That's why there are so many new model introductions at the famous Earls Court Motor Show in London. The British market is ripe for an economical small car, roomy enough to carry four adults, and three potential show-stealers have emerged: the all-new Ford Anglia, Triumph Herald and British Motor Co.'s (BMC) Morris Mini-Minor and Austin Mini Seven -- identical except for their badges and collectively known as the Mini..

The Mini enters Earls Court riding the crest of its official debut two months earlier. Show-goers who flock to the Austin and Morris stands are wowed by cutaway versions of the ingenious little car, its cabin, luggage area and engine compartment sliced open with surgical precision for all to see. Clearly this is the most package-efficient vehicle ever made. It measures just 120 inches long overall, yet offers a full 96 linear inches of usable interior.
Little did the show crowd realize how designer Alec Issigonis' idea of a transverse engine mated with front-wheel drive had redefined the automobile. Front-wheel drive was nothing new, of course. Alvis and Cord tried it in the 1920s, Citroen in the 1930s and later, DKW and Saab. None influenced vehicle design as much as the 1959 Mini.
The car was more clever than innovative, the sum far exceeding the individual parts. The 850cc ohv 4-cylinder engine was adopted from BMC's ubiquitous A-series unit. Mounted east-west in the unibody, it had the 4-speed gearbox located in its sump. This helped drastically shorten the powertrain, allowing for a smaller engine compartment. The Mini's donut-like 10-inch wheels -- one of the car's trademarks -- were located at the very corners of the body. With little overhang front or rear, this further maximized the cabin area.

The car's fully independent suspension featured front wishbones and rear trailing arms and used rubber cones as springs. The elastomeric cones, developed by inventor Alex Moulton, absorbed energy well, stiffened progressively and coped with the greatly varying load demands of the small car. At the time of the Mini's launch, it was an inexpensive system. There was nothing cheap about the constant-velocity joints used in the front-drive, however. They were prentium components for a small car.
The British weekly Autocar heralded the new Mini as "a noteworthy breakthrough in small car design." So did the British public, who embraced Issigonis' baby as their own. The Mini soon outsold its three main European rivals already in production -- VW's Beetle, the Renault Dauphine and the Fiat 600 -- and put to bed the goofy "bubble cars" made by BMW, Messerschmitt and Heinkel. The Mini's success surprised everyone. Indeed, Ford alleged that BMC was selling the car below cost.
The Mini's squat stance and inherent stability gave handling superior to many contemporary sports cars. BMC sensed the car's potential and in 1961 introduced a tuned version, the Mini-Cooper, built in conjunction with Formula 1 chassis builder Cooper Cars. Throughout the decade, the Mini-Cooper became a genuine force in racing and rallying, often humbling larger, more powerful opponents. Factory-prepped Minis won the prestigious Monte Carlo Rally in 1964 and 1965. They also scored a 1-2-3 victory in 1966, but were disqualified over a technicality. They came back to win the 1967 Alpine Rally, among countless other events. By that time, the Mini had come to symbolize 1960s Britain -- melting the walls of social class and becoming a "mod" fashion statement in the process.

The Mini is still in production, basically unchanged after 40 years. Some 5.3 million have been built. It ranks with Ford's Model T, the VW Beetle and Fiat's Topolino as a milestone automotive design, and a bona-fide "people's car."
A successor, designed by a joint Rover-BMW team and powered by new BMW-DaimlerChrysler-developed engines, is due in 2001. Mini lovers past, present and future never had it so good.
COPYRIGHT 1999 Cahners Publishing Company
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group

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Bmw car insurance information
BMW is one of the pioneers of German car manufacturing. Its legendary insignia is tantamount with car driving performance. Car insurance for BMWs has been notoriously expensive over the years, however more recently the cost of base BMW models has come down and in turn the insurance lowered slightly. BMW cars are usually fitted with an immobilizer and an alarm this also helps to lower the insurance rate.

There are over 196 million motorists in the United States, driving about 231 million registered vehicles. With so many people on the roads, highways and interstates-many driving BMWs-car insurance coverage is there to make sure you are financially and legally protected in case of an accident. Shopping around for your BMW car insurance coverage helps you get the best possible rate and coverage possible for your BMW. By shopping around for their BMW auto insurance policy, BMW auto motorists can make sure they are getting the BMW car insurance coverage they need without paying unreasonably high rates. Comparing quotes from more than one company means you're more likely to find a BMW auto insurance policy from an insurer that is economical and fits your budget. For BMW motorists shopping for their BMW insurance coverage, kanetix.com can help. We've brought together some top insurers making shopping for BMW car insurance coverage simpler, easier and more convenient through kanetix.com

Identification

To describe its products that many people would call SUVs, BMW instead uses the term Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV). The truth, however, is that BMW SUVs are actually crossover vehicles. They are not SUVs, but they also aren't traditional cars. Instead, they combine elements of both vehicle types into a new product which attempts to offer all of the benefits of an SUV while also offering the benefits of a car.

Types
There are currently 3 separate crossover SUVs offered by BMW. The first type, the BMW X3, is based on the BMW 3-Series cars. The X3 features a 260 hp, 3.0 liter engine and is a front-engine vehicle with four-wheel drive. The next type is the BMW X5. The X5 is a slightly large vehicle and is available with several different engine types, the lowest one offering 225 hp and the high-end model offering 350 hp. The X5 is based on the BMW 5-Series cars and comes standard with all-wheel drive. The last BMW crossover SUV is the X6. The X6 is another mid-size crossover and also offers different engine configurations. Depending on the engine an X6 can generate anywhere between 235 and 406 hp. Four-wheel drive comes standard on all models of it. The X6 is the newest X-Series offering from the company.

Size
As crossover SUVs, all of the X-Series vehicles from BMW are considerably smaller than most traditional SUVs. They tend to be shorter and less wide than SUVs, but longer and wider than the majority of cars. In terms of cargo space, BMW's X-Series vehicles offer nearly as much room as a traditional SUV, including much more room than a normal car.

History
For the vast majority of its history, BMW did not offer any vehicle type resembling an SUV. Though the company got its original start as the maker of airplane engines, it has mainly offered cars and motorcycles as its chief manufactured goods since the end of World War II. During the 1990's, however, BMW decided to try its hand at competing with the auto companies that were selling SUV's. The company designed its X5 and released it to the public in 1999. The X5 was well-received and so popular that BMW decided to release a smaller version to compete with small SUVs. Thus, the X3 was born and hit the market in 2003. The latest manifestation, a more sheer-performance model known as the X6, was released in 2008.

Green car congress

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MW Developing Steam Assist Drive Based on Waste Heat Recovery
12 December 2005

BMW’s Turbosteamer. Click to enlarge.
BMW Group Research and Engineering is developing a steam-powered auxiliary drive—called the Turbosteamer—that uses the waste heat present in the exhaust gases and cooling system from a conventional gasoline engine as its source of power.

In tests with a 1.8-liter, four-cylinder engine, the new auxiliary power unit reduced fuel consumption by up to 15% while generating nearly 14 additional horsepower and 20 additional Nm of torque.
The Turbosteamer is based on the same principle as the steam engine: heated fluid forms steam in two circuits which is used to power the engine.

The primary energy supplier is the high-temperature circuit which uses exhaust heat from the internal combustion engine as an energy source via heat exchangers. More than 80% of the heat energy contained in the exhaust gases is recycled using this technology, according to BMW.
The steam is then conducted directly into an expansion unit linked to the crankshaft of the internal combustion engine. Most of the remaining residual heat is absorbed by the cooling circuit of the engine, which acts as the second energy supply for the Turbosteamer.
The Turbosteamer reinforces our confidence that the internal combustion engine is undoubtedly a technology fit for the future.
—Professor Burkhard Göschel, BMW Board of Management
BMW designed the components of this drive system to fit in existing model series. Engineers carried out tests on a number of sample packages to ensure that a car such as the BMW 3 Series provides adequate space. Their conclusion is that the engine compartment of a four-cylinder model offers sufficient space to accommodate the auxiliary units.

To describe its products that many people would call SUVs, BMW instead uses the term Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV). The truth, however, is that BMW SUVs are actually crossover vehicles. They are not SUVs, but they also aren't traditional cars. Instead, they combine elements of both vehicle types into a new product which attempts to offer all of the benefits of an SUV while also offering the benefits of a car.

Redesigned 2009 BMW Z4 convertible priced .

The redesigned 2009 BMW Z4 2-seat convertible will have a base price of $46,575 when it goes on sale this spring, BMW said.
The outgoing 2008 model had a base price of $36,700, though with less standard horsepower than the 2009 -- 215 versus 255. A 255-hp Z4 started at $42,700 in 2008.

The extra money does buy a retractable hardtop that replaces both the soft-top convertible and fixed-roof hatchback from the previous generation. The hardtop opens and closes in 20 seconds, BMW says.
The base (if the word may be used for a $47,000 automobile) Z4, the "sDrive30i," comes with a 3.0-liter inline 6-cylinder engine with 255 horsepower that BMW.

Z4 sDrive30i buyers have a choice between a standard 6-speed manual transmission or a $1,325-extra automatic. The manual base Z4 goes from zero to 60 miles per hour in just 5.6 seconds; the automatic takes 6.0.
$46,575 does not buy leather seating, which costs an extra $1,250 over the standard vinyl imitation "leatherette." To be fair, BMW's leatherette has generally felt convincing, but the real deal is a head-turning omission at this price point.

BMW M product.

Immediate response and remarkable thrust characterize the new V8 twin-turbocharged engine from BMW M GmbH. The impressive onset of power is accompanied by unique, engaging engine sounds that accentuate the quick-revving characteristics with the dynamic acoustic effect typical of a BMW M product. The sounds are always civilized, but transform from relatively calm to extraordinarily intense as the boost and revs build from idle.

Reflecting the tremendous power of the engine, the turbocharged M V8 is equipped with an advanced cooling system developed specifically for the two new models.

One notable feature in this context is the presence of two high-capacity water-to-air intercoolers which consistently optimize performance under the most demanding driving conditions. An aluminum oil sump exclusive to BMW M with a special finned surface guarantees optimum cooling at all times even under an extremely demanding style of driving.

The turbocharged M V8 engine develops its outstanding power with remarkable efficiency. In addition to BMW’s High Precision Direct Injection, both the BMW X5 M and the BMW X6 M are equipped with a range of technologies from BMW’s EfficientDynamics engineering strategy.

These include on-demand control of the electric fuel pump, an on-demand compressor for the air conditioner, and a flow-controlled supply of hydraulic fluid to the Active Roll Stabilization system. By operating these features specifically on demand, energy waste is minimized. The engine fulfills the requirements of the US LEV II standard as well as the EU5 requirements in Europe.