Looks like those Olympians have it made.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) has taken BMW on board as the official automotive partner for the 2012 London Olympics. The German auto make is expected to provide over $50 million in the form of services. 4,000 BMWs will transport athletes, officials, and media during the Games and the Paralympics.

LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe has shown his pleasure at having BMW as a partner. Coe says that BMW shares LOCOG’s vision to stage sustainable games in 2012, and that having a Tier One partner is an achievement that illustrates the inspiration brought by the Olympic and Paralympic games.

Source: 4WheelsNews

BMW’s feeling good about sales in 2010.

Because of increased demand, special sales programs, and a newly-revised model, BMW’s looking to make a 10% increase in sales by next year.

The German auto make’s hoping that anticipation for the redesigned 2011 5-series sedan will help boost sales. The sedan’s exterior and interior panels will be reworked, and a new engine might be put under the sedan’s hood.

BMW’s executive vice president of sales, Peter Miles, said, “BMW hopes to end 2009 with sales of 198,000 down from 249,113 in 2008.”

Source: Left Lane News

BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept

This may be my favorite reveal at this year’s Frankfurt auto show. It’s green, too! Ü

Engine: 1.5-liter, 3-cylinder, diesel
0 to 60: 4.8 seconds
Max hp: 163 hp
Standard features: six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, 80-hp electric motor, lithium-polymer battery pack, interior information display
Creature comfort/s: spacious trunk area, fold-down rear seats
Release date: unannounced

Source: AutomobileMag

“I tried to portray speed pictorially. If a car is moving really quickly, all the lines and colors are blurred.” - Andy Warhol

Inspired by an idea by Hervé Poulain (French racecar driver), the BMW Art Car Collection was put into practice in the mid-70’s. To date, more than 10 artists have redesigned the exterior appearance of a handful of BMW models.

Pop art legend Andy Warhol, however, wasn’t content with the 1:5 scale models most BMW Art Car artists created their designs on. Warhol wanted to paint the real thing - in this case, a BMW M1.

In just 23 short minutes, Warhol managed to give the M1 a totally new look. The artist even ran his fingers through the paint, “to leave it a personal touch”.

Not bad, Mr. Warhol.

Source:
http://www.bmwdrives.com/

Could we be seeing this orange-hued Bimmer cruising the streets soon?

Well, BMW’s design director Adrian van Hooydonk says that it might be difficult for the automake to launch the supercar given the current economic climate. But the design and concept of the BMW Z10 ED definitely exist.

Pitched as a competitor of the Audi R8, the BMW Z10 ED is expected to deliver “an exciting dynamic experience”. The Z10 will be featuring BMW’s new ED (Efficient Dynamics) technology, which includes a heat collector that turns heat energy into electricity.

The lightweight Z10 ED will also most likely be a hybrid, with an additional lithium-ion battery storing energy from the brake energy regeneration system.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed that this one makes it to production.

Source:
http://www.autocar.co.uk

(The recently-held 2008 Mondial de l’Automobile (Paris Motor Show), held at Porte de Versailles, showcased over 20 concept cars. Nineteen of these concept cars were brainchildren of European or Asian auto makes. I think that factoid says a lot about Europeans’ and Asians’ creativity and innovation. *wink*)

Even now, details and specifications on the BMW Concept XI are few. All the auto world knows can be said in a few sentences. The BMW Concept X1 is BMW’s first venture into the compact crossover utility vehicle (CUV) class. Basically, the BMW X1 CUV is styled the same way as the X5, X3, and X6. At 14.63 feet long, 6.64 feet wide, and 5.03 feet high, this compact CUV is the smallest sports activity vehicle to be produced by BMW. The BMW X1’s small size allows drivers to use the said CUV on more narrow streets and to park in tighter spaces. Despite the BMW X1’s diminutive stature, though, the interior boasts of CUV-style roominess and comfort.

Sadly, engine specs for BMW’s latest concept car are still up for speculation.

And to placate ourselves while we wait for the public release of the BMW Concept X1 (within a year), here are some photos from the 2008 Paris Motor Show:

Personally, I prefer the gold-colored BMW X1.

(source: http://www.motortrend.com, http://www.cartype.com/, http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/, )