Rides : U.S. luxury auto sales: Mercedes surpasses BMW in October

According to the recent official figures, in October Mercedes Benz sold more cars in USA than its traditional German rival BMW.

According to the official figures, Mercedes sold 22,637 vehicles (+23%) compared to the 21,873 vehicles (+13%) sold by BMW.
On a cumulative basis, for the full year seems like BMW is still on the first place in sales, with 199,552 units sold. Mercedes Benz registered 192,695 vehicles sold during the first 10 months of 2011.
While BMW had to increase incentive by 35% in order to encourage demand, Mercedes took advantage of the additional quality offered by its newer products and even decreased discounts by 15%. Its sales were boosted by an 88 percent increase in the demand of top-selling Mercedes C-Class.
Regarding the October’s performances of the other competitors on the U.S. luxury auto market, it must be said that Lexus registered a sales decrease of 14%, reaching 18,092 units sold in October, while GM’s Cadillac registered a 12% fell in sales, to 11,975 vehicles.

Rides : BMW 3 Series gets 'full-color' heads-up display

If you've been hankering for some HUD action in your next auto, you'll have one more choice come next spring: the all-new 2012 BMW 3 Series. The launch will mark the first time a heads-up display has made it into Bavaria's volume seller, after debuting as an optional extra eons ago on its 5 Series. Since then, HUDs of limited hues have permeated München's high-end, splaying speed and navigation directions in the line of sight of road-going elites everywhere. However, this iteration is "full-color," which besides pleasing ROY G. BIV fans, makes it "more intuitive," as the company reasons it'll aid drivers in recognizing crucial alerts faster. That, or we're really just a generation away from über cool AR wizardry and movies on our windscreens. Of course, no word on when the 3's brethren will get the technicolor treatment, but we're betting it won't be long, given that's the dash of a 6 Series you see above. 

 

Press Release

 

BMW Head-Up Display: Precision as featured in a fighter jet. This system was initially developed for aviation and is now making a decisive contribution towards driving safety.

28.10.2011

Munich. Low-flying over hilly terrain at a speed of almost 800 kilometres per hour in the cockpit of a Eurofighter jet is a challenge to even the most hardened of military pilots. "When you're flying at tree-top height at around 220 metres a second, only extremely accurate head-up display technology is able to provide the necessary ease of mind," comments Wing Commander Robert Hierl, test pilot at the Technical and Airworthiness Centre for Aircraft.

By means of a front panel projector, all flight-relevant data supplied by the flight management system as well as information and signals crucial to a mission are displayed on a second, vertically positioned panel located in the cockpit. In order to prevent the pilot from being distracted, all information is displayed in virtual form at eye level within the direct field of vision, thus guaranteeing the highest degree of concentration, supremacy and safety for both the pilot and the machine.

BMW was the first European car builder to adapt head-up display technology – a system initially deployed in aviation and constantly further developed over several decades – for use in volume-production vehicles. Since January 2004, this innovative driver assistance system has been an integral part of BMW ConnectedDrive offered for the BMW 5 Series. Consistently further developed and optimised, it is now a full-colour head-up display and optionally available for almost all series.

In terms of graphic representation, functionality and flexibility, the unique new Head-Up Display feature makes a significant contribution towards active safety by displaying driver-relevant information in high-quality resolution within the driver's direct field of vision, so that he or she does not have to take their eyes off the road. A crucial gain in safety as researchers know: A normal driver takes a whole second to read the speed indicator in the instrument panel or to glance at the navigation device. Whilst the driver is distracted, that is without his or her eyes on the road, the vehicle covers a distance of around 14 metres when travelling in urban areas at a speed of 50 km/h – virtually a "blind flight".

With Head-Up Display, the time required by the driver to assimilate information is reduced by more than a half, the system making a decisive contribution towards concentrated and focused driving. The virtual image projected onto the windscreen is perceived as "hovering" at eye level above the bonnet and is visible only to the driver. Moreover, this form of display is less tiring, as the eye does not have to constantly change between close-range and remote vision. Also, the brightness of the image adjusts perfectly to the surroundings, so that the eye does not have to readapt each time.

The reproduction of data is effected by means of an intense light source, which is located inside the instrument panel and shines through a translucent TFT (Thin Film Transistor) display, the image being transferred to the windscreen via specially shaped mirrors. Owing to the convex shape and the physical properties of glass, using the windscreen as a reflector is an extremely complex process. In a windscreen, the light path is normally refracted, resulting in double images.

In the case of the Eurofighter, this problem is solved by means of an additional panel located directly within the pilot's field of vision. BMW tackles this physical phenomenon with the aid of a wafer-thin foil, which is integrated into the windscreen, ensuring the superimposition of the projected images and, as a result, flawless, undistorted representation. Full-colour Head-Up Display offers the driver a tremendous increase in reading comfort. The complete colour spectrum facilitates a realistic and thus more intuitive display of images and symbols. These speak for themselves, are perceived even faster and do not have to be decoded or interpreted. Even Eurofighter test pilot Robert Hierl is highly impressed: "Our monochrome head-up display technology is unable to offer such a brilliant display quality."

Rides : BMW recalls over 32,000 cars and CUVs over fire risk

BMW has issued a recall of five different model lines covering the years 2008-2011 due to a fire risk. Turbocharged eight- and twelve-cylinder engines in the 5 Series, 5 Series Gran Turismo, 7 Series, X5 and X6 could suffer from overheating circuit boards that control the electric auxiliary water pump.

The overheating board could cause the pump to smoulder, and in extreme cases among the 102 failures, BMW has found there were two engine compartment fires. BMW will send recall notices for 32,000 vehicles and dealers will replace the pump free of charge.

 

Press Release

Report Date: October 30, 2011 at 04:45 PM
NHTSA Campaign ID number: 11V521000

Vehicle Make / Model:
BMW / 5-SERIES 2008-2011
BMW / 5-SERIES GRAN TURISMO 2008-2011
BMW / 7-SERIES 2008-2011
BMW / X5 2008-2011
BMW / X6 2008-2011

Manufacturer: BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, LLC
Mfr's Report Date: OCT 20, 2011

Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:OTHER FUEL TYPES:TURBO-CHARGER

Potential Number of Units Affected: 32,084

Summary:
BMW IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2008-2011 5-SERIES, 5-SERIES GRAN TURISMO, 7-SERIES, X5 SAV, AND X6 SAV VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH 8- OR 12-CYLINDER, TURBOCHARGED, ENGINES BECAUSE THE CIRCUIT BOARD FOR THE ELECTRIC AUXILIARY WATER PUMP CAN OVERHEAT.

Consequence:
THIS COULD LEAD TO A SMOLDERING OF THE PUMP OR AN ENGINE COMPARTMENT OR VEHICLE FIRE.

Remedy:
BMW WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE AUXILIARY WATER PUMP FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING NOVEMBER 2011. OWNERS MAY CONTACT BMW CUSTOMER RELATIONS AND SERVICES AT 1-800-525-7417.

Notes:
OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .

Rides : BMW painted pink for illegal parking

Curious cameras have caught a Russian man painting in pink a BMW 5-Series out of revenge after its owner has parked it on the pavement, so if you ever go there, be careful where you park your car, Paris Hilton might end up loving its color.

Remember the tank versus a Mercedes-Benz in Lithuania? Well this is actually the same because after what seems to be a Lithuanian mayor went over a Mercedes-Benz with a tank as a punishment for parking it on a bicycle lane, an angry Russian decided to take the problem into its own hands and decided to change a car’s color after its owner has parked it on the pavement.
Russia is one strange country and besides its billionaires who prefer going from A to B in their private helicopters and once they get behind the wheel they kill people who are legally crossing the street, it also has men like the one in the pictures who like putting some color into a “dull” world.

Rides : Check out BMW's car-to-x communication

What good is an Ultimate Driving Machine if it can't get a little help from its friends? A new hazard-dodging system from BMW could help these Bavarian autos get a bit more chatty, each vehicle talking to nearby traffic across long-range wireless networks. In a series of video demonstrations, the car maker shows how the car-to-x system could give advance warnings of traffic, emergency vehicles and weather hazards by enabling one car to beam warnings directly to others. BMW hopes to connect the system to mobile phone networks as latency times improve and possibly even access data from traffic light systems.

 

 

Press Release 

When cars talk to each other.

21.10.2011

The key to intelligent driving, which is synonymous with energy-efficient and safe driving, is forward thinking. To help drivers plan ahead, vehicles from the BMW Group are already fitted with a large number of sensors designed to improve safety, comfort and efficiency. Often, however, these sensors have only a limited predictive capability or "horizon". "Car-to-x" communication extends this horizon significantly, and will in future allow drivers to "see" long distances ahead, into areas currently hidden from view, and even around not just one but many corners.

Car-to-x communication means electronic networking of vehicles and roadside infrastructure, with the aim of exchanging information directly both between road users and between road users and roadside infrastructure such as traffic lights. Car-to-x communication is a comprehensive communication network which any road user can take part in.

Car-to-x communication usually operates via WLAN or mobile phone connections. For standard automotive application, car-to-x communication at present uses high-speed WLAN networking based on the high-frequency WLAN IEEE802.11p/ G5A standard, which is designed to allow real-time communication. The protocol allows large numbers of participants to communicate simultaneously without interference. At the same time the performance of mobile phone networks is improving steadily, with an increase in bandwidth and a reduction in data lag – the so-called latency times. Therefore, this type of medium, too, is becoming increasingly important for car-to-car communication, for example as a complement to direct communication via WLAN.

Connectivity brings added value.

Integrated and connected vehicle functions are nothing new within the BMW Group. Connectivity for infotainment applications already made its debut in the 1990s with BMW ConnectedDrive. For some years, the focus of development work in the BMW Group has been shifting increasingly towards integrated and connected comfort and, in particular, safety functions. Here, car-to-x communication opens up completely new potential. In the event of a hazard, extensive connectivity between vehicles allows oncoming and following traffic to be given advance warning of potential dangers, and therefore to react appropriately and in good time. But warnings are only one possible use of this communication platform. Since infrastructure data, too – for example about traffic light phases – can be integrated into this communication system, information is available which allows drivers to easily adapt their driving style for even greater efficiency, thereby significantly reducing vehicle emissions. This technology therefore offers new solutions not only for proactive safety and accident prevention but also for intelligent energy management.

"The more information I have about the rest of my journey – for example, if I know in advance when traffic lights will change, or if I know that an accident has just happened further along the route – the more promptly I can react, which means I have less stress and can either avoid hazardous situations altogether or at least reduce the risk." (Karl-Ernst Steinberg, Head of Information and Communication Technologies at BMW Group Research and Technology).

In combination with existing vehicle sensors, car-to-x communication provides a valuable starting point or enhancement for a wide range of BMW ConnectedDrive driver assistance and information systems of the future. These technologies, combined with the driver's own input, create an extremely high-performance macrosystem capable of ensuring a safe and efficient journey from start to finish.

Rides : 2012 BMW 3 Series to help brand keep its lead over Mercedes-Benz

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BMW is on its way to become the best-selling luxury brand in the United States this year and believes it can keep the momentum going in the first quarter of 2012. How? With the new redesigned 2012 BMW 3 Series Sedan.
“We have a window to stay No. 1 in the first quarter,” Ludwig Willisch, BMW North America’s new boss. “Our model lineup is broad. We have a lot of opportunities to get there.”
Mercedes-Benz has been doing its best to gain back ground and take the sales grown away from Lexus, which has been the leader in the luxury segment for 11 years.
BMW sold a total of 177,679 units during the first 9 months of 2011, while Mercedes-Benz sold 170,058.
Click here for our original post on the 2012 BMW 3 Series.

The 2012 BMW 3 Series will start rolling into U.S. showrooms in February.
Refresher: The 2012 BMW 3 Series three trim levels including Sport Line, Luxury Line and Modern Line – of course, an M Sport Package will follow. The 2012 BMW 328i is powered by a 2.0 liter TwinPower Turbo 4-cylinder engine making 240-hp at 5,000 rpm and 260 lb-ft of torque between 1,250 and 4,800 rpm. That allows 0 to 60 mph to come in just 5.7 seconds with a top speed of 130 mph (155 mph with Sport Line package). Power for the 2012 BMW 335i comes from the same N55 3.0 liter 6-cylinder TwinPower Turbo engine making 300-hp at 5,800 rpm with a maximum torque of 300 lb-ft between 1,200 rpm and 5,000 rpm. 0 to 60 mph comes in 5.4 seconds with a top speed of 130 mph (and 155 mph with Sport Line package).